"Okay," Ann nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Grandma has abandoned me, my mother is gone... Thank goodness I still have you, Tammie. Otherwise, I don't know what I would do."

She knew exactly how to play him. Tammie was a self-important fool, and a few well-placed words were all it took to make him feel like her savior. She was homeless now, her only savings from a sold necklace. She had to cling to Tammie; he was her only ticket to maintaining the lifestyle she was accustomed to.

As expected, her words hit their mark. "Don't ever say that again, Ann," he said,

his voice softening. "We're family. We've both been cast aside, so we have to stick together."

She looked up at him, her eyes shining with gratitude. "You're so good to me, Tammie." She then added, a thoughtful look on her face, "Do you think Miss Palmer really doesn't like you anymore? I remember she used to be so different." Celia used to be utterly obsessed with him, willing to do anything to win his affection.

Tammie's eyes narrowed. "Celia has always been fickle and strange. A woman like that could never be devoted to just one person." He cursed himself for ever believing her affection was genuine. To her, he was just a toy to be discarded when she grew bored. Her feelings were worthless.

"Actually, I don't think this is Miss Palmer's fault," Ann said, glancing toward the manor. "Before she met Freya Iran into her once, and she was so kind to me, she was thrilled to learn I was your family. But after she and Freya became friends... Miss Palmer changed completely."

She didn't have to say anything more. The implication was clear: Caitlin must

have said something to Celia to poison her against them.

Tammie immediately seized on the idea.

"Freya! Of course! She must have been spreading lies about us. There's no other explanation for why Celia would suddenly act like this," It was just the sort of backstabbing, classless move he'd expect from someone with Caitlin's upbringing What was gella, a Valerium noble, even doing associating with a country bumpkin like that? It was pathetic.

Ann feigned innocence, her eyes wide. "Tammie, don't say that. Freya wouldn't be

the type to gossip behind people's backs."

"If not her, then who?" he shot back,

his anger rising. "Who else would do something so shameless?" Mar his wards, Caitlin would be the rain of the Gonzales family name