3: 3

3

I raised an eyebrow, quickly piecing together what was happening.

I turned to look at Yolanda.

The moment she heard those voices, the color drained from her face, and she started shaking uncontrollably.

I called for the butler.

"Let them in."

"My parents aren't home right now. Whatever they've got to say, they can say it to me."

The ones who came through the door were an old woman who looked to be somewhere in her seventies or eighties, and a middle-aged couple in their fifties.

The second they stepped inside, all three of them kept sweeping their eyes around the living room.

"Oh my Lord, they're rich, aren't they? Everything's gold-plated. Is this a palace or something?"

"So the TV wasn't lying. Rich folks in the city really are different from us country people. Probably eat lobster and abalone every single day."

"That little money-drain, that cheap thing. Looks like she really did turn into a golden goose and land herself the good life."

When she spotted Yolanda, the old woman leading them lit up inside.

"Oh, Yolanda, Grandma finally found you. You have no idea how much your mom and dad and I have suffered getting here."

"Grandma's missed you to death these past few days. Come here, let Grandma get a good look at you."

Without any change in my expression, I stepped in front of Yolanda.

"Say what you came to say. Keep your hands to yourself."

Maybe she decided I wasn't worth the trouble, because the old woman sullenly pulled her hand back.

"Fine, since you want me to say it, I will."

"Yolanda's back with you now, but the Butler family raised her for fifteen years, and that's a real fact. You just take her away like that? Doesn't seem right, does it?"

"All these years she ate our food, drank at our expense. You ought to give us some compensation for that, don't you think?"

"Here's the deal. I won't ask for much. You give us three million and we'll call it even. A family this rich, surely you wouldn't grudge that?"

I looked at the middle-aged couple behind her.

"And you two? Is that what you think as well?"

Probably thinking I was about to agree, the couple's faces brightened.

"Yes, yes, yes. In our family, Ma makes the decisions. Whatever she says goes. We do as she tells us."

"But three million isn't enough. You've got to add to it. Five million!"

Hearing that, Yolanda, who had been too frightened to make a sound, panicked at once.

"I... I'm not worth that much money. Ursula, don't agree to it."

The old woman's face shifted, terrified the duck in her mouth was about to fly off.

"You little wretch! An ungrateful animal we could never tame. You're deliberately trying to make life hard for the Butler family, aren't you?"

"You enjoyed fifteen years of good living in the Butler house. What gives you the right to not pay us a cent!"

"Everybody in the whole village knows you're a Butler child. If we don't get money today, you're coming back to Brook Hollow with me!"

Yolanda's voice trembled with fear, but she still worked up her courage.

"All right. I'll go back with you."

"Ursula is my sister. She's young. Don't give her a hard time."

Yolanda was about to walk toward the three Butlers when Leslie grabbed her by the arm.

"Can you not play the fragile little flower right now? Can you not read the room?"

"Your sister is standing up for you. If you can't help, then at least don't drag her down, all right?"

When Leslie grabbed her arm, I didn't miss the pain she was fighting so hard to hold back in her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes, walked over to Yolanda, and pushed up her sleeve.

At the sight of the scars piled layer upon layer on Yolanda's arm, not just me, but even Leslie sucked in a sharp breath.

Holding Yolanda's arm, I turned to the three Butlers.

"So this is what you meant."

"Fifteen years of good living?"

4: 4

4

Something uneasy flickered across the three Butlers' faces, but they pulled themselves together fast enough.

"Go look around our village. Which family doesn't hit their kids?"

"This little tramp wouldn't listen, so I taught her some sense. What's wrong with that? Isn't she standing here just fine?"

I didn't answer them. I eased Yolanda's sleeve back down, took her hand, and drew her to sit beside me on the sofa.

Her eyes were red, and her voice cracked as she leaned close to my ear.

"Ursula, Pearl is a master at twisting everything around. She won't listen to reason. Don't get tangled up with her."

"I don't want to cause you trouble. I can go back with them. Please don't get into a fight over me."

She was clearly terrified out of her mind, and still she was afraid I'd be the one to suffer for it.

Something in me went soft all at once, hard and aching.

I pushed the feeling down out of my eyes and patted the back of her hand to steady her, then turned to the butler standing off to one side.

"Leigh, call the police."

The moment I said it, the three Butlers came completely undone.

"The police? What police? You little tramp, what do you think you're doing?"

"We didn't break any law. What could the police do to me anyway?"

I toyed with my beads, not even bothering to glance at them.

"I was actually going to come find you. And here you are, showing up at my door yourselves."

"Fifteen years ago, how did my sister end up at your house? You know exactly, don't you?"

All these years, my parents had never given up looking for Yolanda.

The police leads had only ever confirmed she'd been abducted. Who she'd been sold to, that they could never trace.

A family like the Butlers would never take in a little girl out of kindness.

The most likely answer was simple. They were the buyers.

Sure enough, the words wiped the composure right off the middle-aged couple's faces. They grabbed the old woman and made to leave.

But the old woman refused to believe it, still shrieking at me.

"Don't you try to scare me! I've lived eighty years. What haven't I seen?"

"This useless little burden cost me two thousand dollars, bought to be a wife for my grandson!"

"Now I've finally raised her to eighteen, and you people say you'll take her and just take her? Is there no justice in this world!"

I gripped Yolanda's hand tight.

I could feel the thin sheen of nervous sweat in her palm.

"Her grandson. Her grandson is a simpleton, twelve years older than me. When I was brought to their house, he was already fifteen."

"She wanted me to marry him. To be his wife."

Not just me. Even Leslie's fists clenched hard.

"Animals. They're nothing but animals."

The middle-aged couple tugged at the old woman, trying to leave.

"Ma, let's go."

"If the police get here, we'll never be able to explain our way out."

But the old woman flung their hands off and stepped forward, reaching out to grab Yolanda.

"If we're going, we're taking this useless girl with us! She's the wife I raised for my grandson!"

"Fifteen years I fed her for nothing. There's no way I'm letting her walk off to some good life so easy!"

Leslie moved fast to block her.

Terrified the old woman would get the worst of it, the middle-aged couple rushed forward to shield her too.

In the scramble, the vase on the display stand beside the sofa was knocked hard to the floor.

Porcelain burst apart in an instant, and the living room went dead silent.

I looked at the pile of shattered pieces.

"You want five million, is that right? Fine. I agree."

Delight flashed across the three Butlers' faces.

But their joy didn't last a single second before my next words were already out.

"That vase was a masterwork from the Ming dynasty. My father brought it home from an auction five years ago. Worth thirty million."

"Deduct the five million I owe you."

"You still owe me. Twenty-five million in damages."

At that, all three of them went white as sheets.

Even the old woman, the loudest and most vicious of them, didn't dare say another word.

After a long moment, the three of them traded a look and turned to bolt for the door.

Their little move actually made me laugh.

"Leigh, have someone stop them."

Just then, several officers walked in through the door.

"Who called the police?"