Page 25 (1/2)

“I’ve heard this before,” randmother , seeing as how she had been lying to us for well over a decade

“Fine, are we going to fake the family records to show they were never married before—”

“No need I never got the chance to filefor the file on ally, eren’t ever married In fact, publicly, ere neverwere family If we say it never existed…it never existed Besides, legality is all that matters Should anyone need any further explanation, the story shall be this, Calliope and I got together ere young, too young, we nant, and our family kept it a secret She and I separated but never divorced, hence ether”

All of the the docu the fla for the second time as a Callahan burned her The life of Ivy O'Davoren was tragic It was not fair, but that is how the world worked The strong survived, the weak died

And she eak

I would not apologize for that

I would not apologize for anything Everything I had done, everything I would do, I did it to survive, whether people understood it or not

“So…I guess we get to host another house party to welcorandh it sounded more like a question

“No,” I said even though it e’d norrapher”

“A photographer?” Uncle Neal asked

Watching the paper burning on my desk, I nodded “Yes, the family portraits need to be updated,” I stated coldly

“Couldn’t a photographer do so at a house party?” My grandmother pressed her lips into a firm line of disapproval She wasn’t a stickler for tradition, but she still respected the way things were always done

“All of you do not seeers “There will be no party because she does not need to be introduced Calliope and her fao”

“What does that mean?” Uncle Declan paused; they all did

“I’ve never heard of her or her weird looking grandfather, either,” Wyatt said “Only that Nana hates his guts”