I Changed My Name and My Fate Chapter 04

I Changed My Name and My Fate Chapter 04

Chloe’s mom was already right in my face. “Big talk on the phone, and then you follow us straight to the airport.”

“What — you heard Chloe was here to meet her fiancé and you just couldn’t stand it? Couldn’t stand that she’s doing better than you?”

Chloe’s dad looked at me like I was something stuck to his shoe. “Have some self-respect. You’re making a scene and dragging the Thorne name through the mud.”

I glanced at the VIP arrivals sign overhead. “I’m here to pick someone up.”

Chloe peeked out from behind her mom. “Eleanor, stop lying.”

“This is the VIP terminal. Since when does a flower-shop girl get access to this place?”

Then she pressed a hand to her mouth, eyes going wide. “Oh… did someone bring you here?”

Chloe’s mom jumped right in. “I knew it.”

“Couldn’t make it on your own after we cut you off, so you sold yourself to the highest bidder? Which rich old man is keeping you?”

I almost admired the consistency. All this time, and they hadn’t even bothered to come up with new insults.

Julian stepped forward, jaw tight. “Mom, don’t talk about her like that.”

Chloe’s mom whipped around. “You’re still defending her?”

Julian turned to me. “Eleanor, just — stop. Please.”

“If you just apologize to Chloe, I’ll talk Mom and Dad into letting you come home.”

I stared at him.

“Last night you showed up at my shop with a pot of dead flowers. Today you’re asking me to apologize?”

“That’s impressive, Julian. You almost made it a full day with a straight face.”

A few people near us had stopped walking. We had an audience.

Chloe’s eyes filled right on cue. “Eleanor, I know you hate me.”

“But this is my engagement. Why do you have to ruin everything?”

That was all Chloe’s mom needed. Her hand flew toward my face.

“Since whatever man’s keeping you clearly didn’t teach you respect, I’ll slap some sense into you myself!”

I caught her wrist.

She froze. I shoved her arm away.

Chloe’s mom staggered back into her husband. “You’re out of line!”

Chloe’s dad stabbed a finger toward me. “Eleanor Thorne, did you just put your hands on your mother?”

“She’s not my mother.” I brushed off my hands.

“Touch me again, and I’ll have airport security make this the most interesting day of your lives.”

Chloe bit her lip, then pitched her voice loud enough for the crowd.

“Eleanor, you’ve changed so much. It’s honestly frightening.”

“We just want to help. If it’s money you need, I can help with that.”

She pulled a card from her purse like she was tossing change at someone on the street. “There’s six figures on this.”

“Take it, and leave the Thornes alone.”

Whispers rippled through the crowd. “Isn’t that Chloe?” “The Thorne girl? The one getting engaged?”

“Who’s the other one? The real daughter?”

The whispers only made Chloe cry harder. She pressed the card into my hands.

I didn’t close my fingers around it. The card hit the floor.

She gasped. “If you don’t want it, fine — but you didn’t have to slap it out of my hands!”

The routine was so familiar it made me sick. She’d never bothered to come up with new material.

Hot soup on her own hands, then tears — Eleanor burned me. A necklace under my pillow, then the accusation — Eleanor’s a thief.

A fall she threw herself into, then the scream — My baby!

I stepped toward her.

Chloe flung herself backward into her mom’s arms. “Don’t touch me!”

Two words, and every pair of eyes around us turned on me.

Chloe’s mom pounced on the moment.

“Look at her! This is my biological daughter — the one who made Chloe lose her baby!” “And now she’s here at the airport harassing us!”

I watched her mouth moving, and the air around me tightened.

For one horrible second, I was back there. I was slumped on that freezing floor again. Everyone was calling me a monster.

Not a single person had listened to a word I said.

Chloe’s mom lunged forward again, and a voice cut through the noise behind me. Low. Ice-cold.

“Who wants to teach my wife some manners?”