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The distraction is short-lived. Mel gives me her signature, patent-pending Nice Try Look™ and settles back into her comfy couch spot. “Like I was saying, you need to cut ties. Tell them to kindly fuck off in a different direction, and then maintain that distance.”
“I… I can’t, though.” It comes out as more of a whine than an actual answer. “This is Mom and Dad we’re talking about.”
“Oh, I know. The same people who didn’t even blink when they disowned me. Which, whatever, I don’t fucking care. But that’s my problem, isn’t it? I never fucking cared what they think of me.”
“And I care too much.” I blow out a sigh of frustration. “Why do I care so damn much? Why am I such a people pleaser?”
“Are you a people pleaser? Or do you just try to avoid conflict and confrontation?”
“Both.” The timer on the pot goes off, so I turn my back to move it from the heat and add the sauce packet and egg. It also helps me avoid her scrutinizing stare.
“You should try apathy. It’s wonderful. Liberating. And probably better for my widdle, precious, sweet angel of a baby niece.”
I return the lid to the pot to let the egg cook and wipe the steam off my hands on my sides. “It’s easier said than done. Both Mom and Dad have been blowing up my phone trying to get me to spy on Pasha and get back with Conrad?—”
“What? Ew! Gross.” Mel scrunches her whole face in disgust. “Please tell me you’re not.”
“Not in a million years. For either one.”
That makes Mel go silent. I’m worried, for a moment, because I know she’s smart enough to put the pieces together. Pasha isn’t just some “baby daddy” I happened to run into.
He’s the reason she was disowned.
“You know what I just realized?” I turn again to pour the ramen into a bowl, careful not to splash any broth on me. As an afterthought, I add a handful of mozzarella cheese and wait for it to melt as I settle onto a barstool at the island. “You asked me how I’m feeling. But we haven’t talked about how you’re feeling.”
“Daph…”
“Seriously, Mel. I know you know who he is. To you, I mean.” I look down at my fork and finger the tongs self-consciously. “I didn’t know who he was at the time, but… that doesn’t change anything. He still ruined you.”
“Daphne. Look at me.”
I do as she says. I’m surprised to see her… smiling at me?
“Do I look ruined? That’s a rhetorical question—hell no, I don’t. Pasha didn’t ‘ruin’ me. He freed me. I ought to send the man a damn fruit basket.”
“But—”
“Shush. No. I was suffocating in that world. Mom never let up on her criticisms and Dad was always trying to find a way to wed me off like it was a business transaction. Why do you think I started an OnlyFans in the first place? I wanted my freedom. My own money, my own terms, and for once, it was nice to have people appreciate how I look rather than pointing out every microscopic flaw.”
My fork feels heavy as I slowly stir the ramen. “Damn. I’m sorry.”
“Stop that. Don’t be. My only regret is that I didn’t do it myself. I just didn’t have the balls to tell them I was leaving—and quite honestly? I was convinced they’d hunt me down and drag me back in. So when Mr. Chekhov ‘exposed’ my little side gig…” She sighs wistfully and rests her head on her hand. “I could have kissed him right on his arrogant lips.”
“Yo!” Jameson’s voice calls from their kitchen.
“I’m not gonna!” she calls back to him with a laugh. “Anyway, point is, I’m actually pretty fucking elated you’re with him. It’s so… so… so poetic!”
“Well, I mean, we’re not ‘together’ together?—”
“Nah, you’re just having a baby together. Immaculate conception, right?” Mel sticks her tongue out at me as I do her, and giggles. “Really, I am living for the drama that must be unfolding at the Hamish estate. And what does Pasha think about all this Shakespearean madness?”
I busy myself with the noodles and use it as an excuse not to answer right away. “I, um… I don’t think he knows. Our connection, I mean. That you’re my sister.”
“Oh.” Mel blinks in confusion. “Really?”
“I may have changed my last name and just… not told him about it?”
Mel snorts. “I don’t blame you. On the name change, I mean. But really, you should tell him sooner rather than later. You don’t want that mess to blow up with a baby in the mix.”
