"You know who I am now?" Calliope looked at Ulysses, a sudden thought crossing her mind.


    If he knew she was that screenwriter, then maybe it all made sense. She knew he''d always been interested in those scripts. If he was just sucking up to her for the sake of getting his hands on them, well, that wouldn''t be all that surprising.


    "What?" Ulysses blinked, caught off guard. "Callie, I know I haven''t always treated you right. I probably haven''t acted much like a real brother, but I get it now. In this world, you''re the only real sister I have."


    "I regret the way I treated you before. I''m sorry. I don''t expect you to forgive me. I just hope you''ll still think of me as your brother. Callie..."


    He looked at her, his eyes full of sincerity, like he truly meant it.


    Oddly enough, that just made Calliope even more surprised.


    She stared back at him, her expression cold. "You''re not my brother."


    Her voice was ice.


    They didn''t share a drop of blood, and she had nothing to do with Ulysses. He wasn''t her brother, that was simply the truth.


    "If I don''t like something, there''s no need to pretend otherwise. You''ve gone all out for thepany, haven''t you? You really are an actor, Ulysses. I''ll give you that, your performance is top-notch."


    Ulysses'' face fell, his expression twisting ufortably.


    She was basically calling him a liar, saying he was just putting on a show. She''d decided he wasn''t sincere, that his apology didn''t mean a thing.


    The words stung, and a knot twisted in his stomach.


    He could see it now, Calliope really didn''t see any of them as her brothers anymore. She used to follow them around, always so eager to help, always so sweet.


    But now, she didn''t even want to call them her brothers. It was clear: she''d changed. She wanted nothing to do with them anymore.


    There was a time when he wouldn''t have believed it. He''d have thought Calliope was just ying hard to get, pulling some clever trick to get their attention.


    But now, he was sure she meant it.


    The way she looked at them, there was nothing even close to affection in her eyes. It was like they were strangers, people she''d already cut loose from her heart.


    Ulysses felt a deep ache in his chest. He nced around at the others standing with him.


    They didn''t seem to notice.


    Was he the only one who saw it?


    Was he the only one who realized they were about to lose Calliope for good?


    He''d always found her annoying before. So why did it hurt so much now? Why did


    it feel like something irreceable was slipping away for good?


    He couldn''t shake the feeling that


    once she left, she''d nevere back. And even if they tried to


    things right, it''d never work, make


    They''d lost her for good.


    That thought made his face go pale. He couldn''t help but nce at Lisette.


    Lately, he''d been growing to dislike her more and more, especially since he''d caught her sneaking into Valerian''s room at night.


    She always used to im she was head over heels for him, but now she was fooling around with Valerian.


    No one else seemed to know. Only he did. What he hated most was that if she wanted to be with Valerian, she should at least be honest about it. But she still whispered those flirty little things to him. Sometimes even to Horatio. It all felt so calcted.


    And then there was what Callie said about Lisette secretly sending money to her family. Horatio and the others hadn''t noticed, but he had, so he''d started having it looked into.


    Was she really funneling money to her family? What was her real situation back


    home, anyway?