“M-Madeline,” S stammered, backing away slightly, his eyes widening even further.

It was she who stood before him now. The troublemaker of the family, who slept around and got involved with drugs at an early age. The one who had been sent to a boarding school, one reputed to be very strict and straight-laced. The one who had been kicked out of the school, after being found with three boys and a bottle of vodka. The one who had been in and out of various rehabilitation programs since the age of eighteen. Yet, here she stood before him, as though her appearance were nothing out of the ordinary, as though she regularly stopped by for a visit, even though he had not seen her since she had left for boarding school all those years ago.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Madeline replied. “Can I come in?”

“What are you doing here?” S asked.


Madeline stepped through the doorway, as though she had not heard the question. “Nice place you’ve got,” she remarked, looking around. She smiled and nodded at the small group of people, who were staring in confusion at her.

“Hey,” she greeted them. To Charise, she added, “Nice to finally meet you. I’m sure you’ve heard all about me. I’m Madeline, the black sheep of the Verona family. So, you and Cassandra were sisters; you had the same mom. That’s got to make things kind of weird between you and S… I mean, Cassie was our adopted sister, and it turns out she’s your sister…”

“What are you doing here?” S asked, more loudly.

“I’ll get to it when I’m good and ready,” Madeline replied, not looking at her brother. Her eyes still fixed on Charise, she added, “So, I guess you’re my sister-in-law, and what with you being Cass’s sister and all, that makes you and me family.” Then, she shifted her gaze over to Valo, and her eyes narrowed.


“As for you…” Madeline said, addressing Valo.

“I’m listening,” Valo replied.

Just then, Sean walked into the kitchen. “Who’s that?” he asked, looking from Valo to Madeline.

“Oh, how adorable!” Madeline squealed, kneeling and pinching Sean’s cheeks. “He looks just like you, S. You and Charise had such an adorable kid.”

“He’s not their kid; he’s--” Valo spoke up.

“Yours?” Madeline gasped incredulously. She peered at Sean’s face. “Well, he does look like a Verona, and you did marry into the family. So, my big brother had a kid with you.”

“He’s my nephew,” Valo corrected, easing Sean away from Madeline and shooing him into the nearby living room. “His parents, my brother and his wife, died in an accident some time ago, and I’ve been looking out for him.”

“Hm. Well, I guess Grant didn’t give you any kids after all.”

“No, we were childfree by choice.”


Madeline frowned at Valo. “You know, I’ve seen you before. At that rally thing not too long ago. Your people really did a number on Julia.”

“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t there to see it, and I didn’t tell them to start rioting,” Valo replied, her voice calm but icy.

“Still, it was a pretty nasty thing to do.”

“Look, why are you here?” S asked.

“Well, as you know, I am a Verona, even if Pops did disinherit me. A few months ago, Julianna Delorice died, after a long battle with a terrible illness, God rest her soul. Well, not long after, I was informed that the Verona family would receive part of the inheritance. I was… er…indisposed at the time I learned this, and it’s only been within the past few weeks that I’ve been able to do anything about my knowledge.”

“Cut to the chase,” S interrupted. “What do you want?”

“The money that’s rightly mine,” Madeline replied. Then, pointing at Valo, she added, “And not rightly hers.”