“Pass the maple syrup, please.”

DeeDee looked over at me with a simpering smile, and I passed the jug of syrup to her across the table without returning her expression.

We were having a ‘family’ breakfast in Mom and Dad’s suite on the ninth floor. It wasn’t exactly a hotel suite by most people’s definition. Their section of the hotel was essentially a massive luxury apartment complete with a kitchen, dining room, and even spare bedrooms and bathrooms. It wasn’t exactly my style, but it was nice, decorated in cool blue and beige tones with a mix of modern and vintage furniture.

“Thanks, sis,” DeeDee said, beaming at me as she poured syrup over her pancakes. I could barely suppress the urge to roll my eyes, but I gave her a quick smile, seeing as Dad was looking at us now.

It’d been two weeks since her return, and one week since we made an official statement to the media. Like any decent hotel, the Mirabella had several conference rooms that could be used for press releases, and the biggest one on the ground floor was where we’d announced Allegra’s return.

Well, alleged return.

The room was enormous with oak paneling, high vaulted ceilings, and a polished hardwood floor. It was nearly the size of a ballroom, but the whole time I stood up at the front with the crowd of invited journalists watching my every move, I felt claustrophobic. I tried my best to paste on a happy expression as Dad announced my sister’s joyful, miraculous homecoming, but it would’ve been clear to anyone who studied me closely that I didn’t really want to be there.

Since that press release, the hotel had been swarmed by even more media employees who wanted to know more. They wanted interviews with us, photos of DeeDee, and they also wanted to know what was happening with the reopening of her kidnapping investigation. Did she remember who took her? Had anyone been questioned? Was she traumatized terribly? How was she settling back in?

That was just a small sample of the myriad questions thrown at us every day.

Journalists, photographers, gossip bloggers… you name it, they were there. Every damn minute of every damn day. They weren’t allowed into the hotel, and security had been beefed up around the entrances for that very reason, but it made it impossible for us to leave the building without being mobbed.

As such, we were essentially prisoners in our own home until this all died down. Even after I became a well-known socialite, I’d never experienced this level of media frenzy, and it made my mind feel fuzzy and exhausted. I’d stopped looking at the news sites over the last few days in an attempt to retain my sanity, though, and that was helping a little.

What wasn’t helping was my parents’ constant need to play happy families. Every morning now entailed a family breakfast, and wherever either one of my parents went, Allegra went too.

I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t stand her.

Dad suddenly stood up at the table. “Shit, I forgot—the F1 race is today. It’s broadcast live from Europe, so it must be about to finish. Would you girls mind if I catch the end of it?”

Mom rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was good-natured. “You can have fifteen minutes,” she said, standing up as well. “I have to go and make more pancakes, anyway.”

The breakfast nook we were eating in wasn’t far from the living room, which contained a huge black leather L-shaped sofa, a coffee table, and a wide-screen TV mounted on the wall. Dad went over to the sofa and flipped the TV on with a remote, and the sound was almost deafening.

“Sorry. I forgot to turn it down!” he called out. He lowered the volume, then began to switch through channels until he remembered the one he wanted.

The race was on a break, and a local news segment was playing. Dad hadn’t turned the volume down very low, so DeeDee and I could still hear everything that was being said.

“So that’s it for the weather. And now to local news—a dog has uncovered an old skeleton in the Araluen botanic gardens, just off Azure Boulevard. The dog’s owner was walking along the edge of one of the garden’s many lakes when her pet apparently went crazy and started digging. Police have told us that the skeleton is female, and sadly, whoever it belonged to was probably only five or six at the time of her death, possibly even younger. Initial analysis showed that the skeleton has probably been buried in the area for somewhere between fifteen and twenty years.”

I noticed DeeDee’s eyes widen as the news anchor spoke. Her hands began to tremble, and she almost dropped her fork as her face turned white.

I narrowed my eyes. Why was she so nervous?

The anchor went on. “Unfortunately, forensics have stated that the skeleton is too degraded by this stage to obtain a reliable DNA sample. As such, police will probably never know who this young Jane Doe was, where she came from, or what happened to her. Very sad news.”

I was studying DeeDee carefully now, and I noticed that she breathed an audible sigh of relief when the news anchor stated that the recently-unearthed skeleton would be impossible to identify. The color was also returning to her cheeks.

My pulse sped up as I realized what this could mean—now there was even more of a chance that I was correct about her not being my sister.

If DeeDee was just a faker, then perhaps she was immediately worried upon hearing that tragic news article, seeing as it was about a young girl’s body being buried near a lake about fifteen years ago. For all she knew, it could be the real Allegra (although I hoped to God that it wasn’t). As such, she was terrified of possibly being caught out…. until the anchor mentioned that the body was unidentifiable due to degradation. That would make DeeDee feel like she was still safe for now.

Hence the sigh of relief.

I stared down at my plate with a frown, my mind racing as I thought everything through. When it came to DeeDee, it felt like all I had was a blank jigsaw in front of me—I had a few of the pieces, but not even the start of a picture.

I knew why someone might pretend to be a missing heiress. Money, duh.

But how?

DeeDee managed to pass a DNA test, and DNA didn’t lie. So unless there was some massive conspiracy involving a whole police precinct, an entire hospital staff, and several independent laboratories, then the DNA results were correct.

A conspiracy of that scale was absurd, but surely there could still be a way to tamper with the results. Perhaps someone hacked in to all three of the labs computer systems and altered the reports?

I wasn’t sure, but I intended on getting to the bottom of it, and I needed help to do so.

With my heart pounding, I stood up. The jug of orange juice on the table had been out for too long, so I picked it up and made an excuse about needing to chill it before slipping into the kitchen, where Mom was flipping pancakes.

“Mom,” I said, setting the jug down on the marble counter. “Can we talk?”

“Sure, sweetie. What’s up?”

I didn’t know where to begin, but I managed to get out a few halting words anyway. “I… I don’t think Allegra is here,” I said softly.

Mom frowned and paused, holding a pancake mid-flip with the spatula. “Peyton, she’s still right there at the table,” she said, pointing through the arched kitchen entrance before turning to face me again. “When was the last time you had your eyes checked?”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” I said. “I mean… I don’t think DeeDee is Allegra. I think we should get her tested again.”

The orange juice no longer needed chilling, because the sudden general atmosphere of the kitchen did it for us.

“What did you just say?” Mom asked quietly after a full thirty seconds of painfully-awkward silence.

“I think maybe she faked the DNA test somehow. That’s not Allegra, Mom. I swear, it can’t be.”

“What makes you say that?” she asked, her voice chillingly calm as she switched off the stove burner. I knew what that tone meant—she was trying her best not to blow up at me even though she wanted to.

“When she first moved in here, she said some things to me. They almost sounded… threatening. She had this crazy paranoid mood swing all of a sudden,” I said, recalling the day in the lobby a couple of weeks ago. “And not just that. So many of the things she claims to remember just aren’t true. Like, she claimed to remember the mosaic in the lobby, but it wasn’t even there when she was young. I thought maybe it was just a false memory… but then she also said she remembered having a very specific toy that she definitely never had, all because I mentioned it. It’s all too much.”

“And that’s it?” Mom said. I could see the anger simmering in her eyes. “That’s all you have as proof of this wild and outright horrible claim?”

“I guess so,” I said, looking at the tiled floor. Then I looked up. “Wait, no. There’s one other thing.”

I outlined what just occurred with the news segment and how DeeDee had reacted to it.

Mom listened in grim silence, and when I was finished, she held up an index finger. “Firstly, Allegra has been through a lot. Her memories are only just beginning to return, and they are very jumbled and difficult to sort through. Not only that, the trauma and confusion she has experienced could definitely cause mood swings. So that explains that.”

She held up another finger. “Secondly, this news thing… did it ever occur to you that maybe she reacted poorly to hearing the news of a little girl’s death because she herself was taken by kidnappers at a similar age? Just because she isn’t dead doesn’t mean she wasn’t traumatized by what was done to her. Hearing sad news like that probably brings back all sorts of terrible memories for her.”

I looked at my feet again. “Maybe,” I mumbled.

“And lastly….” Mom shook her head, her voice trailing off. Then she finally went on. “I was worried this would happen. I hoped it wouldn’t, but I think a very small part of me knew it would.”

“What?”

“She vanished so long ago, and after that, you were an only child. You grew accustomed to getting all the attention. You knew that you, and only you, would inherit the hotel one day, along with all our money. You were spoiled. But now Allegra is back. Suddenly the attention isn’t all on you. The money and the hotel is no longer all for you. You stand to lose quite a lot, all because she’s back. So you’re lashing out at her.”

I narrowed my eyes. “No! It’s not about that!”

Her eyes narrowed. “I beg to differ. I’ve been so proud of the things you’ve managed to accomplish in recent years, Peyton. I’ve told you that. I was proud of who you’d become, and I didn’t want to believe that you could react like this to your own flesh and blood. But like I said… part of me feared it, as soon as Allegra came back. And now it seems that fear has come to life.”

“It hasn’t,” I insisted. “It’s got nothing to do with—”

My sentence was cut short by a sudden sniffing sound, and Mom and I both whirled round to see DeeDee standing by the arched entrance. Shit.

“I’m sorry,” she said, not meeting our eyes as she rubbed her nose. “I… I came to see if you needed help in here.”

Mom rushed to her. “Allegra, honey… there’s no need to be sorry. I’m sorry. How much did you hear?”

DeeDee sniffed, still refusing to look up. “Almost all of it. I was standing here for a couple of minutes. I didn’t want to interrupt, and I… I guess I wanted to hear what you thought of me when I wasn’t around.”

Mom glared at me. “Look what you’ve done, Peyton. You and your selfishness!” she hissed.

DeeDee finally looked up, staring right into my eyes. “Can you at least give me a chance to explain?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“Explain what?” I asked.

A fat tear rolled down her left cheek, and she wiped it away with one hand. “I’m sorry about what I said to you in the lobby the other week. I know I kind of snapped a bit. But this is all so hard on me. It makes me feel crazy,” she began. “And it’s not just that. I knew about you and what you’re like, and I wanted you to like me, because we’re sisters. But I’ve been gone for so long. I’m not like you. You’re so confident and assertive. And so self-assured. So I thought… I thought maybe if I talked like you and acted like you, you’d bond with me more easily and respect me, and you’d really start to see me as your sister again. I was only trying to.…”

Her voice trailed off, and she was silent for a few seconds before continuing. “I shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I just wanted you to think I was like you, and I really overdid it,” she said. “It’s the same with the things I said I remembered when they weren’t even true. I just wanted to agree with you about stuff. Share things from the past, even though I still barely remember a thing. So I pretended I remembered that toy. But… I messed up. So I’ll go with you and get more DNA tests. I’ll prove who I am over and over, if that’s what it takes.”

The tears were slipping down her cheeks in earnest now, and my stomach churned as I looked down at the floor again.

Was that really how I came across to people? Everyone knew calling a young woman ‘very assertive and self-assured’ was basically code for ‘she’s a bitch’.

And she was right, now that I really thought about it. I was being a massive bitch.

Perhaps Mom was right, too. Deep in my subconscious, I might be worried about losing the life that I’d grown so accustomed to, and so I’d searched for every reason possible to convince myself that DeeDee wasn’t really my long-lost sister.

All the so-called ‘evidence’ I’d conjured up… it wasn’t evidence at all. It could be explained away easily with the things Mom and DeeDee just said.

There was zero objective proof that she wasn’t my sister. I was just acting like a spoiled little brat, and I’d done a shit-ton of damage to my relationship with my family as a result.

I needed to do some serious work on myself. More to the point, I needed to apologize.

”I’m so sorry for not believing you, DeeDee,” I finally said, looking up at her pale face. She still looked crestfallen. “I mean, Allegra,” I added softly. I guess I had to get used to calling her by her proper name.

Her face brightened a little when I said ‘Allegra’. “You don’t need to apologize,” she said, shaking her head. ”Really, I understand. It’s partly my fault. And like I said, I’ll go get more DNA tests done, if it’ll make you feel better. We could go together.”

Mom shushed her. “Don’t be silly, Allegra. There’s no need for more tests! Peyton said she’s sorry. And you are, aren’t you?” She glared over at me, and I nodded.

“Yes. I’m really sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately,” I said, a shameful heat creeping over my cheeks. “I should probably go.”

Mom nodded. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. You need some time to cool off,” she said. Her voice was still frosty, and I could tell how terribly disappointed she was at my earlier outburst and attitude.

I stepped past them on my way out of the kitchen, and then I turned around and looked at Allegra. “I’m having lunch with my friend Serena today. Maybe… maybe you could come hang out with us?” I said. “We’re just eating at Zamia.”

Zamia was one of the Mirabella’s less-popular hotel restaurants. It was a nice place with great food; it was just smaller than the others with less seating and a smaller menu, so people usually tended to pick the bigger ones to eat at.

Allegra’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow,” she replied softly. “Thank you, Peyton. That would be so nice. But I probably shouldn’t. I’m still not used to all this attention, so I’m a bit scared of going down into the lobby. There’s so many people there, and the restaurants will all be the same. I kinda want to stay and hide upstairs for a few more days until things start to die down a bit.”

I nodded. That was fair enough. Suddenly garnering such a huge amount of attention from the world would be hard on anyone. If I hadn’t been so self-absorbed and busy with my one-woman crusade against her over the last couple of weeks, I might’ve actually noticed how difficult and terrifying Allegra was finding it all.

“You’ll have to get used to it eventually, but I get it,” I said with a rueful smile. “Maybe I could come to your room for dinner tonight instead? We could get pizza from room service and watch Clueless. It’s my favorite 90’s movie. I think you’d love it.”

She beamed. “I’ve seen it. It’s my favorite movie too. And yes, I’d love that.”

“Cool. I’ll come by at seven?”

“Sure. I can’t wait.”

Mom looked pleased that we were finally beginning to bond and make plans together, and she returned to the stove to wipe up some spilled pancake mix.

I finally left, my shoulders feeling a little lighter now that I wasn’t being weighed down by my mission to get rid of my long-lost sister by ‘proving’ she wasn’t really a Cadwell. I’d been so stupid and cruel, and I was deeply ashamed of myself.

I just hoped I hadn’t lost everyone’s trust for good, and that we could eventually move on from this and be a real family again.

I did a few hours of work in my suite, and when the clock hit one, I headed down into the lobby to meet Serena. People from the media were still clamoring outside the big glass doors of the entrance, and when we walked through the hotel and arrived at Zamia, we were shocked to see that some of them were standing outside there too, hoping to catch a glimpse of either me or one of my family members from a distance.

When they saw us take a seat at a little corner table, several of them waved like mad at the window, hoping we would look directly at them.

We didn’t.

After ordering our lunches, Serena raised her eyebrows at me. “I can’t believe how busy it is outside with all the journalists and paparazzi,” she said, cocking her head toward the window. “This is the most I’ve ever seen, honestly. They’re multiplying like rabbits.”

“Or spreading like Ebola.”

She snickered, then leaned forward with a devious expression flashing in her eyes. “Maybe I should sensually touch your arm. That’ll start a few juicy rumors.”

I groaned. “God, can you imagine? As if they aren’t harassing us enough already over Allegra.”

She tilted her head to the side. “How’s that going, anyway? I still haven’t met her.”

I sighed and looked down. “I’ve been a real bitch to her,” I admitted. “I didn’t realize just how bad I was being till today. I’m just hoping I can make it up to her.”

Serena’s perfectly-threaded brows drew together in concern. “Oh, Pey. Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s been really hard for you and your family. I mean, you all thought she was dead, and then she suddenly came back out of the blue. It’s weird as hell, and it must be really confusing for all of you. You’ve gotta cut yourself some slack.”

“I guess,” I muttered. I still felt terrible. The guilt over my recent behavior was tearing up my insides, and I could barely touch my lunch when it arrived.

Serena began to regale me with a funny tale of something that recently happened on the set of her show, and I felt myself slowly cheering up as she spoke. Her eyes were so animated and alive, and her smile was infectious.

Just as she finished a second story, a knock on the restaurant window startled us, and we looked over at it. Two of the paparazzi guys outside had managed to get onto the small garden terrace outside the restaurant, so they were now close enough to actually touch the glass.

“Peyton!” one of them shouted, his camera poised. His voice was faint, but we could still make it out. “Why haven’t you been going out lately?”

Serena rolled her eyes. “Oh, I wonder why….” she muttered. “God, they’re being such dicks today!”

“Yeah, it sucks.”

We tried to ignore them, but several others soon followed them onto the terrace, crowding around outside the window. When I gave them a brief glance. I could see them straining to listen to our conversation, even though there was no way they’d be able to hear a single word unless we yelled.

“What do you think they think we’re talking about while we sit here?” Serena asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Ritual human sacrifice?”

She snorted with laughter. “You’re so sick sometimes.”

I smiled and stuck my tongue out, then rolled my eyes as someone banged on the window again. “Honestly, if they don’t stop, I might actually sacrifice one of them,” I grumbled.

Serena laughed again. Then her forehead puckered in a frown as she looked over my shoulder. “Hey, um… why the hell is Kaden Pierce here dressed as a bellboy?” she asked.

I turned, following her gaze. “Who?” I asked, looking back at her a few seconds later.

All I’d seen was Cade and Andreas picking up a large room service order from the restaurant’s main counter, and a portly middle-aged man who seemed to be ordering a drink.

She pointed toward Cade. “Him.”

“That guy is a bellboy.”

Serena shook her head. “No way. I swear to god he looks exactly like Kaden, and he’s definitely not a bellboy.”

“Well, his name is Cade. There’s no N in it. Just C-A-D-E. And his last name is Miller, not Pierce.”

Serena furrowed her eyebrows, looking puzzled. “Hm. He looks so much like the guy I know,” she said. Then she shrugged. “But his first name is spelled differently anyway. With a K. Weird coincidence, I guess.”

She turned her attention back to her crab and avocado salad, but only a few seconds later, I noticed her staring at Cade again. “It’s seriously uncanny,” she murmured.

I frowned. It was kinda weird that she claimed to know a guy with such a similar first name to Cade, who also apparently happened to look identical to him. “Where do you know this other guy from?” I asked.

“I thought you’d know him too, or at least know of him. He’s the son of—”

She was cut off by the sudden approach of an adorable little girl with chestnut brown ringlets. She couldn’t have been more than eleven. “I’m sorry to bother you,” she said shyly. “Are you Serena Perry and Peyton Cadwell?”

Serena and I both smiled, our previous conversation topic quickly forgotten. “We sure are,” Serena replied with a bright white smile. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Emily. My mom watches your show, Serena. And my older sister always tries to copy your outfits, Peyton.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” I said. “I’m sure she’s already got great style, though.”

Emily nodded, then shuffled her feet nervously. “Could I have a photo with you two? My grandparents are just over there,” she said, pointing to an elderly couple at a nearby table. “They could take it for us. I know I’m disturbing you, but my mom and sister would be so jealous if they knew I met you!”

I grinned. “Of course. And you’re not bothering us at all.”

Serena nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “I can even sign something for you, if you’d like?” she suggested.

The little girl clapped her hands together. “Yes! Thank you!”

We busied ourselves with the little girl’s request, and as I smiled at the camera a moment later, I saw Cade and Andreas in the distance, stepping out of the restaurant. Cade turned for a second and saw me, and he gave me a cheeky wink before heading off.

I smiled as something occurred to me. Before all the craziness with Allegra erupted in my life, I’d made him a promise—I told him I’d get him back for his stupid prank.

Maybe it was time to finally make good on that promise. After all, I already had a plan.

I didn’t know exactly when I’d be able to get away with carrying it out, because my ability to do so would depend on a few factors.

But I did know one thing.

Cade had no idea what was coming…