The Princess Stopped Begging for Love, But They Became Desperate to Give Her Everything Chapter 02

The Princess Stopped Begging for Love, But They Became Desperate to Give Her Everything Chapter 02

Early the next morning, I came downstairs to the sound of laughter filling the living room.

Isabella sat on the couch with her arm linked through Mom’s, her head on Mom’s shoulder while they looked over the guest list in Dad’s hand.

“Invite our close friends in New York, and the important business partners too. I want a big birthday party this year.”

She had that easy, spoiled sweetness everyone else seemed to find adorable.

“All right, all right. Whatever you want.”

Mom’s voice was warm with indulgence.

“Isabella’s graduated, and she’ll be joining Caruso Holdings officially. A bigger party makes sense, especially with the right people there.”

They looked like a perfect family portrait.

I was the extra person who had somehow wandered into the frame.

Without making a sound, I walked past them toward the kitchen to get some water.

“Elena, you’re up?”

Mom noticed me.

The warmth in her smile faded almost at once, leaving something polite and distant behind.

“Isabella’s birthday is at the beginning of next month. We’re having a party here. You’ll come too, right?”

The beginning of next month.

Exactly when I planned to leave the house and head to Montana early for Canyon Ridge University’s summer field program.

In my previous life, I’d given up an important summer placement to attend that party, my first major social event as a Caruso daughter.

I had been so excited.

I had thought it would finally be my chance to belong.

Instead, I’d spent a month cramming the rules of their world and still gotten every important thing wrong.

At Isabella’s birthday party, her friends openly laughed at me.

I became the evening’s entertainment.

I’d disappeared as a child because a rival’s attempt to retaliate against the Carusos had gone wrong.

Those missing fifteen years had left a gulf between me and this polished world that no etiquette lesson could close.

“No,” I said calmly. “I already signed up for the Earth Sciences Department’s summer field program. I leave at the beginning of next month.”

The living room went quiet for a moment.

Isabella recovered first.

Relief flickered through Isabella’s eyes before concern smoothed over her face.

“A field program? Isn’t that exhausting? And dangerous? Wouldn’t it be better to stay home?”

Dad frowned again, this time with unmistakable irritation.

“What program is so important that you have to go? Cancel it. You’re seriously going to miss Isabella’s birthday party?”

Of course it was mine that had to give.

It always came down to the same thing.

My plans were the disposable ones.

My commitments were the ones everyone else felt free to rearrange.

I tightened my grip around the glass until my fingertips turned white, but my voice remained steady.

“Everything has already been confirmed. I can’t cancel.”

“You…”

Dad looked ready to explode.

Mom quickly stepped in.

“All right, that’s enough. If she can’t go, then she can’t go. Elena has her own plans. Just be careful while you’re out there.”

I murmured something noncommittal, filled my glass, and went back upstairs.

Behind me, I heard Isabella’s gentle voice.

“Don’t be upset. Elena probably still isn’t comfortable around us yet. It’ll take time…”

She was always so understanding in front of them.

And I was always the ungrateful one who refused to get close.

I stopped listening.

Back in my room, I began organizing my things.

There wasn’t much.

Very little in this house actually belonged to me.

Most of my clothes and toiletries had been bought after I arrived, ordered in one sweep by the household manager at Mom’s request.

They were expensive.

They were also completely impersonal.

The only things that felt like mine fit into one small suitcase.

A few old clothes.

And a photo album.

Inside was the only picture I had of the three of us together.

My adoptive parents stood on either side of the skinny little girl I had been, their arms wrapped around me.

Their smiles deepened every wrinkle on their faces.

Their eyes were full of love.

That was what warmth looked like.