Chapter 2 A Good Gathering, a Good Parting

Cecilia's words landed in the living room like a grenade.

Every Windsor face went slack with disbelief.

Victor recovered first, his expression darkening. "You think pulling a stunt like this will make us push Ivy out? Not a chance. If anyone should leave, it's you."

Ethan was right behind him. "We've bent over backwards for you since the day you came back — trying to make up for everything you missed growing up. Even Ivy felt guilty and went out of her way to be kind to you. And this is how you repay us?"

Cecilia looked at them like they'd both lost their minds.

"Standing up for myself — is that really such a crime to you? And Ivy being kind to me? Which version of reality are you two living in?"

"Cecilia!" Ethan snapped.

She exhaled, mildly annoyed. "I can hear you fine. Stop shouting my name like that." Her voice stayed level. "Since the day I came back, Ivy has been setting me up, playing the victim in front of all of you, and not once have any of you bothered to ask what actually happened before rushing in to blame me. Honestly? Do yourselves a favor and get your heads examined."

She meant it sincerely.

Ivy's manipulation was so transparent it was almost embarrassing — and yet every single Windsor had fallen for it. That wasn't just selective blindness. That was something clinical.

"Enough!" Ryan's voice came out sharp. "Everything you're saying right now is just another way to force us to choose between you and Ivy. Why can't you just be reasonable, like her? Why can't you act like we're a family?"

Three questions in a row. With each one, the contempt in Cecilia's eyes deepened.

In this family's eyes, everything she did was wrong. Everything she did was an offense. Even if she laid out hard evidence of what Ivy really was, they would find a way to explain it away — they always did.

Ivy chose that moment to jump back in, tears streaming freely down her face.

"Cecilia, please don't fight with your brothers because of me. Blame me — I never should have said anything about wanting to try tennis. I'll go pack my things and leave."

Cecilia leaned back, arms folded across her chest. "Sure," she said, almost lazily. "If you're walking away from this family on your own terms, I'll forget this whole conversation happened."

Ethan's jaw tightened. "So that's what this was always about. You wanted her gone. We're not letting that happen."

Cecilia turned to look at him with the kind of patience reserved for the very slow. "Unless I'm mistaken, this is the fifth time Ivy has threatened to leave. Has she walked out the door even once?" She paused. "Only someone who refuses to see what's right in front of them would keep falling for it."

"You—"

Teresa had gone past words. She sat rigid on the sofa, chest heaving, eyes burning into Cecilia.

"How did I end up with a daughter like you?"

"Because no one was there to raise me," Cecilia said, unhurried. "Because someone else was here living the life that was supposed to be mine. And because my own family stood beside the person who took it and turned on me instead." She met Teresa's eyes. "That answer your question?"

She didn't wait for a response. She turned to face the room.

"Every single one of you has treated me like a threat since the day I walked through that door. You were so afraid I'd hurt your precious Ivy that you never once stopped to consider my side of anything. I defended what was mine, and you called it an attack." Her voice stayed even, but something behind her eyes had gone very still. "I spent years desperate for this family. Now the thought of it turns my stomach."

She reached into her pocket and set her ID and documents on the side table.

"I'm not leaving to force Ivy out. If anything, I'm leaving her here — permanently — with all of you." She glanced at the staircase. "Everything you ever gave me is still up in my room. I haven't touched any of it. We go our separate ways from here. If we pass each other on the street, we're strangers."

She turned to leave.

Teresa's voice came after her, shaking with fury.

"You think this little act scares us? Walk out that door today and don't ever come back. As far as I'm concerned, I never had a daughter."

Teresa was trembling. The sheer nerve of it — her own daughter, using something like this as leverage. She was certain it was another play, another move designed to shock them into giving Cecilia what she wanted. Let her try it once and get away with it, and there would be no end to it.

She braced herself for Cecilia to stop. To turn around. To come back.

Cecilia didn't even break stride.

Ethan lunged forward and grabbed her arm. "Is this really what you want — to make us choose between you and Ivy?"

Cecilia shook him off without hesitation. "I've been clear," she said coldly. "All I'm asking for is to be done with this family. That's it."

Ethan forced his voice low. "Keep talking like this and you'll regret it. Now get back upstairs."

"On whose authority?" Cecilia's tone didn't waver. "I used to respect you. I used to think of you as my brother. That's over. Whatever you say to me now is just noise."

She swept her gaze across the room one last time, calm and cutting, a trace of dark amusement in her eyes.

"If any of you tries to stop me, I'll take this to the press. I'm sure the tabloids would love a story about what really goes on behind closed doors in a family like this."

Victor's eyes narrowed slowly, the weight of his stare deliberate. "I am deeply disappointed in you today. This isn't just selfishness — you're hurting your own family. You're an adult, Cecilia. I expect you to think before you speak. Do you have any idea what the consequences of your words could be?"

The memory surfaced before she could stop it — the last thing she had seen in her previous life, as the bullet tore through her chest and the darkness closed in: her family, arms wrapped around Ivy, shielding her completely.

That image had hurt more than the bullet ever could.

Cecilia's voice came out cold and final. "And you're already struggling with just this much? Then let me go. We part ways cleanly, and everyone moves on. I have no interest in playing whatever game this is."