“No, I mean...” Amelia looked around. “Will you have to tell them about me? Like about who I really am?”

Whitney’s gaze flickered to Lauren. “I don’t think it’s necessary. Millie made the choice to give you to me. Like an adoption.”

It was all lies.

A few nights before her mom went to the hospital, she tucked Lauren in. Rubbing her big, pregnant belly, she told Lauren that she and her sister were the only things she cared about in this world. Then she promised that she’d always protect them.

Those were not the words of a woman who would give up her child.

As Lauren and Amelia walked away from Whitney, Lauren smiled at her sister, already imagining the two of them on the beach, toes buried deep in the sand. Whitney might believe that they’d be coming back, but Lauren had no intention of ever returning. This trip was more than a sisters’ getaway. It was clear that Amelia was already seeing cracks in Whitney’s story. It wasn’t going to take much before Lauren could open her eyes to the truth.

But even if her attempt to get Amelia on her side failed, she would still take Whitney down. She’d get that DNA test. Gather all the necessary evidence. In her bag, she had a tiny tape recorder. As much as she intended to have a good time and get to know her sister, she wouldn’t squander their time. If Amelia said something helpful to her case, she’d capture it. Use it when she went to the police, which she fully intended to do once she had all the proof she needed. No matter what it took, she would make Whitney pay for what she’d done. She had to for her mom’s sake. To avenge her death. Clear up all the misconceptions.

One thing she knew for sure, her mom would never have willingly left Lauren. Not even for Bethany. Another thing that only she knew: her mom had a plan. A way out. Information on Mitch that she planned to use, so they could be free. She didn’t feel trapped anymore.

Death wasn’t her mom’s only way out, and there was no way she would’ve told Whitney that.

“Time to go, Lauren.” Her dad nudged her in the arm.

She scooted forward on the hospital bed, closer to her mom.

But her mom nodded, smiled. “Go. Your sister and I will be home tomorrow.”

“You promise?” Lauren raised her chin, stared into her mother’s eyes.

“I promise.”

At ten, Amelia was invited to her first sleepover. Excitement had pulsed through her like the steady drumbeat of a pop song. She’d barely gotten in her mom’s car after school, before tearing the invitation out of her backpack and flashing it in the air.