Fled Believing She Was Scorned, Crowned as Everyone’s Only Love Chapter 06

I cried all night.

When I woke up at noon the next day, my eyes were so sore I could barely open them.

I dragged myself out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash my face.

In the mirror, my eyes were swollen into two slits, my nose was red, and my hair was a mess.

Romy, you look terrible.

I splashed cold water on my face and finally felt a little more awake.

Then I walked back to my bedroom and pulled my suitcase out from the very back of my closet.

I’d thought it through all night.

There was no reason to stay at the Hartwell family and be a nuisance.

The Hartwell family had found their real daughter. Declan wouldn’t have to look at the sister who disgusted

him anymore.

I didn’t take much. Just put my everyday clothes into the suitcase.

I didn’t take the expensive gifts Mom and Dad had given me.

Finally, I picked up the photo from my desk.

In the photo, Mom stood on the left, Dad on the right, Milo crouched in front making a face, Julian stood at the very edge with his arms crossed and a faint, barely-there smile.

I had my arms around Declan’s neck, practically hanging off him, grinning at the camera like an idiot.

I turned the photo over. There was a line written on the back.

It was Mom’s handwriting: [Romy, sixteen years old, our whole family.]

I traced the words with my fingers, then placed the photo in the deepest layer of my backpack.

I opened my phone and booked a plane ticket.

Before leaving, I set a scheduled message for Julian.

[Declan is in the basement of the Bedford house.]

[The villa key is in the second drawer of my desk.]

After typing those words, I dragged my suitcase out the front door.

The rain outside had stopped.

Water droplets still clung to the lawn, glistening in the sunlight.

I stood on the front steps and looked back at the house one last time.

The roses in the garden were blooming, rich and fragrant.

When I was little, I used to play hide-and-seek with Milo behind those flowers.

The first time Declan taught me to ride a bike, it was on the driveway out front.

Twenty-one years of my life were here.

But none of it belonged to me.

Just like Declan and the rest of the family.

None of it belonged to me.

That evening, Sloane’s welcome party officially began.

The Hartwell estate was lit up. Guests arrived from New York and Connecticut, champagne and flowers

covering the entire first floor.

Mom stood at the door greeting guests, glancing at her phone from time to time. “Why isn’t Romy out yet?”

Sloane came down the spiral staircase.

She wore a blue mermaid dress and had a pink gown draped over her arm, looking excited.

“This pink one is so princessy. It’s perfect for Romy. It matches mine too. We’ll look like a set!”

“Where’s Romy?”

Dad said, “Did she go to school again?”

Julian frowned. “She’s not at school. Her classmates haven’t seen her either. She didn’t show up for her

afternoon class.”

Milo shook his head too. “I called her and it went straight to voicemail. I knocked on her door and no one

answered.”

Ding.

Julian’s phone lit up.

The moment he read the message, his expression changed drastically.