"And remember to take care of yourself, okay? You promised Hudson, and I''ll be keeping an eye on you for him!"


    Lance grinned, nodding. "Alright, alright, I got it. I''ll look after myself."


    After breakfast, Lance insisted Calliope go get on with her day. He''d handle the clean-up. Seeing he wouldn''t budge, Calliope just shrugged, grabbed her keys, and headed to the Jewell Group offices.


    Word had already spread at thepany. Now that everyone knew she wasn''t really a Jewell by blood, people were losing their minds.


    Lisette and her crew wouldn''t leave her alone, blowing up her phone, and dragging her through the mud both at work and all over the inte.


    They used her of pretending to be the Jewell family''s daughter, conning them out of a fortune, and making up stories about being mistreated.


    Zelda, ever the drama queen, even went so far as to gather a bunch of reporters and put on a show-crying in front of the cameras about how her real daughter was missing, and how the girl she''d thought was her child turned out to be a fraud.


    "No wonder," Zelda sobbed, "No wonder Calliope always seemed so distant. I always sensed something was off. Turns out, she was never really my daughter at all! She''s just an imposter. I guess that''s why I never warmed up to her."


    The reporters ate it up, shocked by the scandal.


    Zelda spun her story, ming everything on Calliope. She imed the Jewell family hadn''t been cruel. They just sensed she wasn''t really one of them, so they kept their distance.


    Then, as if that wasn''t enough, Zelda and Lisette cooked up another whopper: they used Calliope of stealing hundreds of millions from the Jewell family, saying she''d only posed as Calliope to get the money.


    The story exploded online. People who didn''t know the truth were outraged.


    "That Jewell heiress is something else!"


    "Wait, so she''s not even their real daughter? She totally stole someone else''s life!”


    "Where''s the real Jewell daughter, then?"


    "God, what if something awful happened to her? Is there a crime here?"


    "This is seriously creepy, you guys!"


    "I never would''ve guessed, always thought Calliope was the victim, but maybe not!"


    "She''s unbelievable!"<fn9cd9> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on FindN()vel</fn9cd9>


    "If she wasn''t even a Jewell, they were generous to raise her at all. What right does she have toin?"


    ...


    Calliope saw all the trending hate online, but just smiled to herself.


    When she walked into the Jewell Group lobby, the receptionist looked up, determination in her eyes. "Miss Caffie I believe in you! Don''t worry m on your side."  s


    She''d seen enough of both the Jewell family and Calliope to know the truth. Honestly, Calliope seemed nothing like therm. She was too capable, too kind. The Jewells... well, their reputation spoke for itself.  s


    Calliope stepped into the elevator, where a few other employees were


    already inside They stiffen Weret


    unsure, then one of them spoke up.  s


    "We''re with you, Miss Callie."


    "Yeah, we support you!"


    "Please stay at thepany. We''d really miss you if you left."


    "Seriously, if you go, we''re all screwed," another sighed.


    Calliope just smiled, greeting each of them in turn, her sincerity shining through, just like always.