Valerian was fuming. "Calliope is out of her mind, I swear."


    "What''s she even trying to do?" Ulysses asked, anxious. "Isn''t she running the


    Lisette nced around at everyone, hesitating. "Honestly, I get the feeling... she''s


    kind of an impostor."


    "Impostor?" The three brothers turned to her in unison.


    "Yeah, like... pretending to be the real Callie," Lisette said. "Haven''t you noticed?


    She doesn''t look a thing like Mom and Dad, or any of our brothers."


    "All the brothers have at least a bit of Mom or Dad in them, but Callie? She''s


    "I mean, sure, gics are weird, but you can''t get that different, can you?"


    "What if she''s not the real Callie?"


    "Then it would make sense why she doesn''t care about the Jewell family, or any


    of us, wouldn''t it?"


    Lisette peeked up at her rtives, gauging their reactions.


    "No way," Horatio frowned, arms crossed. "She grew up with Grandpa. We picked


    her up from his ce ourselves. Grandpa wouldn''t just swap in a fake, would he?"


    "She can''t be a fake! And if she is... where''s the real one?" Monty added, clearly


    skeptical.


    "But Lisette has a point," Valerian admitted. "She''s so harsh sometimes, and


    honestly, she never really fit in, not in looks, not in personality. She''s always been


    different."


    "Grandpa raised her from day one," Ulysses shook his head. "No way he would''ve


    switched her out, not after all these years."


    "It''s just a theory," Lisette muttered, seeing how unconvinced everyone was. But


    she was determined, she''d find proof one way or another.


    "Regardless, what she''s doing now-


    is just crossing the line," Valerian


    said, pinching the bridge of his nose.


    "ReaDor not, she''s about to make us


    lose everything we''ve worked for."


    "She probably thinks we''ve never treated her right," Ulysses said quietly, eyes


    downcast.


    "And honestly, looking at where she is now, she doesn''t need us. She''s got the


    power. She has no reason to help."


    "She''s got every right to walk away," he added, voice small. "Guess her heart''s


    just... frozen over."


    He used to resent Calliope more


    than anyone. But now that she was


    slipping away for real, he couldn''t


    help but rethink everything. The


    more he thought about it, the more


    he realized how wrong they''d been.


    He regretted every moment he''d treated her badly. Now, Calliope felt like


    someone they could never reach again.


    What if she never came back to them? What if she was gone for good?


    He hated that he was only realizing all this now, when it might already be toote.


    "We haven''t been that bad to her


    recently," Valerian protested, his


    brow furrowed. "She''s always


    picking on Lisette! That''s why we


    can''t stand her. If she''d just make


    peace with Lisette, maybe we could


    all get along."


    "We even invited her for Christmas dinner, but she chose to spend it with the other


    brothers. What could we do?"


    "She thinks she''s so great now," Zelda scoffed. "I told you, nothing good ever


    happens when she''s around. We should''ve never begged for her help in the first


    ce."


    "But she did fix Horatio''s leg," Ulysses said quietly, ncing over at Horatio. "No


    matter what else, she kept her word on that."


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!