My own father smashed a brick into my face because my fiancé refused to leave me for my younger sister

The sentence silenced the entire room.

Wyatt’s hand tightened around mine.

I stepped out from behind the cabinet.

“Why?”

Mother aimed the gun at me.

“Because you were always worth more alive than the rest of us—and more dangerous once you learned why.”

Detective Beckett moved carefully along the wall.

Mother noticed.

“Stop, Detective.”

She pressed the barrel against Melanie’s neck.

“Or she dies first.”

Melanie closed her eyes.

For the first time in my life, she looked younger than me.

Not glamorous.

Not cruel.

Just frightened.

Mother continued.

“Your grandfather believed he was saving children. But the company funding his research wanted patents, military contracts, billions.”

“What company?” I asked.

“Virex Medical.”

The name was familiar. Virex manufactured surgical devices and neurological drugs around the world.

Walter struggled to sit up.

“They buried the trial data,” he gasped. “The treatment healed nerve damage, but it also exposed dangerous defects in Virex’s bestselling medication.”