This was the first time Sebastian had ever seen Reese this furious. The woman in front of him had eyes rimmed red with anger. She''s nothing like the quiet, gentle person he remembered. In a strange way, it was almost intriguing.


    Reese pulled her hand out of his grasp and stopped paying him any attention. She bent over and kept digging through the wooden box.


    Sebastian pressed his tongue to his sore cheek, frowning. "If you keep making a scene, it''s going to get ugly for everyone. Tell me what you''re looking for-I''ll have someone get it for you."


    "I don''t need your fake sympathy."


    Her voice was rough, almost broken. "Ever since you teamed up with my uncle and sold this ce to Sofia, every word out of your mouth has been nothing but lies to me."


    Sebastian''s eyebrows drew together, like her words bothered him, but his tone stayed cool. "I just promised Dylon I''d help him with the Eastside project. How he convinced you or what he did-I didn''t ask and I don''t care."


    "Of course you don''t." Reese let out a sharp, bitterugh that sounded like shattered ss. "In your eyes, I''m probably not even worth as much as some stray dog on the street."


    Sebastian didn''t respond, just watched her with that nk look, like she was a little kid throwing a fit.


    "Mom, whose photo is this?" Sofia''s voice floated down from the attic. "Mom, look! Who is this? She''s so pretty!"


    Reese froze. She looked up, suddenly remembering her mother''s portrait was up there in the attic.


    She scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the living room. She couldn''t let Sofia and Grace touch her mother''s photo.


    But Sebastian grabbed her wrist. His voice was as cold as ever. "Stop it. Let me take you home."


    "Let go!"


    Reese tried to pull away, but his grip was like steel. No matter how she twisted or struggled, he wouldn''t let go. All she could do was stand there, tense and helpless, listening to the noisesing from upstairs.


    Then came Grace''s voice, dripping with disgust. "What''s so great about that? Just throw it away! Keeping pictures of dead people around is just bad luck."


    "Okay," Sofia replied, her voice sweet and fake, cutting right through Reese.


    A secondter-a loud crash.


    The sharp sound of ss breaking exploded in the courtyard.


    Reese watched in horror as the familiar picture frame tumbled from upstairs, her mother''s gentle smile falling with it, smashing against the stone floor.


    The frame shattered. ss flew everywhere. On the ruined photo, Marie''s face was shed by the broken ss, her smile wiped away.


    Sebastian''s grip loosened for a split second. He stared at the wreckage on the ground, his eyes dark and unreadable.


    "Get away from me!"


    Reese shoved Sebastian aside with all her strength and dropped to her knees in front of the broken portrait. Her hands shook as she picked through the ss, carefully gathering the ruined photo and holding it tightly to her chest.


    "Sebastian, what''s going on?"


    Sofia came down from the attic, noticing the strange look Sebastian was giving Reese. It made her uneasy.


    "Reese? Why are you still here?"


    Grace''s voice rang out, and Reese looked up, her eyes wild and red, like a mother animal backed into a corner. She stared at the woman behind Sofia with raw hatred.


    "What are you looking at me like that for?" Grace scowled. "This isn''t your house anymore. Get out, or I''ll call the cops."


    "You should be the ones leaving! This is my mother''s house. I never agreed to sell


    it!"


    Reese finally snapped. She lunged at Grace. They had ruined her mother''s house; she couldn''t let them stay another second.


    "Ah! Reese, what are you doing?"


    Sofia jumped in front of Grace, trying to push Reese away.


    But Sebastian was faster. He stepped in, grabbed Reese''s wrist, and before anyone could stop him, he flung her arm aside.


    Reese was already teetering at the edge of the steps. With that sudden shove, she lost her bnce. She didn''t even have time to scream before she crashed backwards, her tailbone mming into the stone steps. The pain was so sharp, her vision went ck, cold sweat breaking out all over her back.


    She gasped, trying to sit up, but her ankle throbbed with pain. She couldn''t move couldn''t even stand. All she could do was look up at the three of them looming over her.


    "Why..."