Destiny Barnett, hidden behind oversized sunglasses and a surgical mask, moved like a phantom through the hospital's VIP wing. Her mother, Pamela Barnett, scurried behind her, equally disguised.

"Destiny, are you insane?" Pamela hissed, grabbing her daughter's arm. "You shouldn't be here! What if a reporter sees you?"

Destiny yanked her arm away. "I can't wait! I need to see that bitch's miserable face with my own eyes! And I need to make sure the doctors collected the cord blood!"

Pamela's face paled under her mask. "The cord blood was collected," she said, her voice low and strained. "But... there's a problem."

"What problem?" Destiny's voice shot up, sharp and shrill.

Pamela frantically shushed her, glancing down the empty corridor. She pulled Destiny into a nearby fire escape, the heavy door clicking shut behind them, sealing them in the cramped, concrete stairwell.

"What is it?" Destiny demanded, her voice a harsh whisper. "Wasn't there enough? Was the viability low?"

Pamela took a deep, shaky breath. "It's not that. The... the tissue typing was a complete failure. The doctor said the cord blood is useless for your leukemia."

Destiny froze. Her sunglasses slid down her nose, revealing eyes wide with disbelief. "How is that possible? She's my cousin! We're related by blood, how could it not be a match?"

Pamela's gaze darted away, unable to meet her daughter's. "The doctor said... it would only be impossible if you two weren't blood relatives at all."

"Not blood relatives?" Destiny laughed, a humorless, ugly sound. "Are you kidding me, Mother? Aunt Hillery was your sister!"

Pamela's lips trembled. The secret she had kept for over two decades finally spilled out. "Hillery was your aunt, yes. But Alicia... she wasn't Hillery's biological child. She was... she was a bastard your uncle brought home from the outside!"

The secret exploded in Destiny's mind.

It took her a full minute to process the information. Then, a rage more potent than any she had ever felt consumed her.

"That bitch! She's a bastard?" Destiny shrieked, her voice echoing in the stairwell. "She tricked us! She made me wait a whole year for nothing! My entire plan is ruined!"

Her leukemia was a lie, but the cord blood was meant to cement an even bigger one—a lie that would have secured her place as the next Mrs. Rivera. Now, the key piece of her puzzle was worthless.

"Destiny, calm down!" Pamela pleaded. "This isn't the time. Since the cord blood is useless, Barron..."

"Barron?" Destiny sneered. "He can never find out about this! If he knew I orchestrated this whole thing for a useless outcome, he'd kill me!"

A vicious light gleamed in her eyes. "Alicia ruined my plan, so I'll ruin her! She thinks she can use those babies to stay by Barron's side? I won't let her."

She shoved the fire escape door open and stormed down the hall toward Alicia's room, ignoring her mother's frantic calls.

Alicia was on her laptop, researching California family law statutes regarding custody of newborns.

The door flew open with a bang.

Destiny burst in like a hurricane, her face twisted with a crazed hatred.

"Alicia Barnett! You liar! You bastard!" she screamed, lunging for the bed.

Alicia instinctively threw her arms up to protect herself. The laptop flew from her lap, its screen shattering as it hit the floor.

Destiny's hands closed around Alicia's neck, pressing her down into the mattress. Her eyes were bloodshot. "Why don't you just die? You and your little mongrels should all die!"

Weak from childbirth, Alicia was no match for her. The world began to go dark around the edges as her air supply was cut off.

With her last ounce of strength, she grabbed the water glass from her bedside table and smashed it against Destiny's forehead.

The glass shattered. Water and blood streamed down the side of Destiny's face.

Destiny shrieked in pain, her grip loosening.

At that exact moment, nurses and security guards, alerted by the noise, burst into the room and pulled the hysterical Destiny away.

Pamela ran in after them, saw her daughter's bleeding head, and immediately started screaming. "Alicia! How could you be so vicious? Destiny just came to see you out of kindness, and you attacked her!"

Alicia gasped for air, her neck already showing the dark marks of Destiny's fingers. The screaming and accusations were a chaotic buzz in her ears, but one word cut through the noise like a shard of ice.

Bastard.

She stared at the mother-daughter duo, their faces a mask of false indignation. Her own face was a mask of cold, hard clarity.

She didn't argue. She just looked at Destiny and asked, her voice low and steady, "You just said... I'm a bastard?"