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“But they’re already starting fights,” my mother says “It’s only been one day”

I close , but it’s hard

“They’re just trying to find out the pecking order”

“What?” My asps, and so do I “Honestly, you can’t be serious”

“It’s natural And it’s good for thehen them up”

“They’re girls!” My mom is visibly upset, and I hate that

“And the heirs to our coo and ot”

I frown and sigh away the hurt in irls

“This isat that school so they can le with the De Voses and prepare for the future”

Prepare for the future?

What does he mean?

“But shouldn’t ait to decide which one of our girls marries that boy? I mean, they’re not exactly—”

I can’t hear what she says anye?

Marry that boy?

Who?

I want to shriek, but I plant a hand against

My father stops pacing “Hey, did you hear so?”

My eyes widen

Without thinking, I rush away in the opposite direction, taking the long route to reachseen And I sla a ainst the wood

I’ve known it for so long, but I kept denying it, hoping it would go away if I didn’t think about it

But it hasn’t

Ever since ere little kids, the tone was set

My father decides e marry

All this tiht the De Voses were merely his associates … but what if one of us is supposed to marry one of theirs?

A shiver runs up and down my spine

I always thought I wanted this That I wanted to belong to this fa married off to anyone makes the bile rise in my throat