Lizetta frowned slightly. "After everything she''s been through her life turned upside down, locked away and tormented for years—it''s only natural her personality would change."


    Remington had thought the same at first. When Ste was finally found and brought home, the only thing familiar about her was her face; everything else felt utterly foreign.


    He could no longer see a trace of the ymate from his childhood, or the older sister he remembered.


    He believed that, with time and distance from all that suffering, Ste would eventually recover-her old self would return.


    But as the months passed, it became clear that Ste had be someone he simply didn''t recognize.


    "Didn''t Ste have amnesia when she first came back?" Lizetta asked softly. "Didn''t you ever doubt whether she was really Ste?"


    Lizetta pressed her lips together, a troubling possibility flickering through her mind.


    If Ste had actually undergone stic surgery-and if it hadn''t even happened after returning to Zion City-then the truth behind all this would be terrifying.


    Remington could see exactly what she was thinking.


    His brow furrowed. "She did lose her memory, but in those early days, walking through familiar ces would sometimes trigger memories. I even helped her try to piece things together. She remembered things only the two of us could have known."


    That was why he had never questioned Ste''s identity.


    Besides, before bringing Ste home, they''d run a DNA test between her and Martin, just to be certain. Only after everything checked out did they bring her back.


    Hearing Remington exin it like this, Lizetta felt she''d probably let her imagination run wild.


    It was just that Mia girl who''d tossed out some careless remark about Ste having had stic surgery, and suddenly Lizetta was seeing ghosts around every corner.


    Maybe Mia had just been talking nonsense.


    "Maybe I''m overthinking it," Lizetta admitted.


    Remington, however, looked thoughtful." person''s nature is almost impossible to change. Ste''s been home for year how, but he personality is nothing like it was when she was a kid. It''s odd, no matter how you look at it.


    And the way the West family is handling things-Martin isn''t grooming Ste as his sessor,


    and he keeps her far away from


    anything to do with the family


    business. It doesn''t add up."


    Lizetta turned to stare at Remington.


    "Maybe after all those years apart, the father-daughter bond just faded. Or maybe


    Ste herself doesn''t want to work for the West family.


    Plus, wasn''t Mrs. West''s death ruled


    a suicide because of Ste? I thought Martin and his wife didn''t have rauch of a marriage anyway, Maybe Martin still mes Ste for what happened."


    Maybe that was why he treated Ste the way he did.


    It wasn''t impossible.


    Remington nodded slightly—he''d never cared about the ins and outs of Mr. and Mrs. West''s marriage.


    He was about to say more when his phone suddenly rang.


    He nced at the screen; it was the housekeeper he''d nted in the West family,


    calling him now. He handed the phone to Lizetta.


    "You answer it—it''s probably about Ron."


    Remington had already said: if anything happened to Ron, the housekeeper was to call immediately.


    Lizetta''s mind had been on the boy all evening. She snatched up Remington''s phone and answered without hesitation.


    The moment the call connected, a frantic voice burst through the line.


    "Mr. Dashiell, something''s wrong! Mr. Ron-he''s suddenly started vomiting and


    convulsing, I don''t know what''s happening!"


    Lizetta''s heart nearly stopped; she clenched the phone in her hand.


    "Where are you right now? We''re on our way!"