Chapter 9

Vivian stared at Adrian's messages as though someone had finally come to rescue her. All the hurt she had been holding back welled up at once, and her eyes filled with tears.

She was about to type when another message arrived. Adrian had apparently decided typing was too much trouble and sent a voice recording instead.

She tapped it. His voice came through over music and a considerable amount of background noise.

“Finding your birth parents is a good thing. Don't you want to find them?”

He had a beautiful voice, rich and naturally resonant, with a slight breathiness at the ends of his phrases. His fans said he could win over anyone with a weakness for a good voice; even listening to him talk was a pleasure. Whenever Vivian saw comments like those, she wanted to tell everyone that he was her brother.

Right now, she couldn't appreciate it. Her fingers paused over the keyboard.

He didn't understand what was happening! Julian wanted to find her birth parents so he could get her out of the Whitmore family.

Viv: 😭😭😭 That's not it. Julian said that once he finds my parents, I'll have to go home with them. But they're strangers to me. Who knows if they abandoned me on purpose back then?

Viv: You're my family. I don't want to be separated from you.

On the other side of the world, Adrian leaned against the rehearsal-room mirror. A drop of sweat ran down from his brow. He had just worked through the choreography for the entire concert and was still exhausted.

His manager had only just returned his phone, which was when he had seen Vivian's messages. He was still catching his breath as he held it. Reading her reply, he slowly raised his eyebrows.

He and Julian weren't particularly close. The four brothers had been closest when they were children. After their parents died and Julian took over the company, work had taken up more and more of his time. Apart from their closeness to Vivian, each of them had his own career to pursue, and they saw one another less and less. Adrian and Julian rarely had much to say to each other now.

Still, Julian had always doted on Vivian. Would he really say something like that? If she left the Whitmores, how could she possibly keep living as comfortably as she did now?

His reply was casual, plainly disbelieving.

“He wouldn't. Julian hasn't lost his mind.”

Then he thought about it. Knowing Vivian, if he stayed out of this, she would go on crying indefinitely.

“I'll ask him. Stop crying, okay?”

Vivian read that last message for several seconds. Then she wiped away her tears, feeling steadier.

At least Adrian hadn't suddenly turned into a different person the way Julian had. Her second brother was still himself. If all three of her other brothers objected, Julian couldn't simply ignore them and throw her out, whatever had got into him.

She would wait for Adrian to come home and stand up for her.

By the time Elise reached the house, Daniel was waiting at the entrance. She saw him from a distance, and as soon as he spotted her, he hurried out with an umbrella to escort her inside.

“The clothes Mr. Whitmore ordered for you have arrived,” he said respectfully. “The stylist is upstairs waiting. Would you please come up and try them on?”

Elise looked at him in confusion. Why had Julian bought her clothes all of a sudden?

“Olivia is waiting for you upstairs,” Daniel added with a slight bow.

The Whitmores paid Olivia handsomely to be their household stylist. Daniel led Elise up to her room, where Olivia was directing several maids as they sorted clothes onto hangers.

Clothes, bags and shoes kept going into her closet. Within minutes, everything had been neatly arranged. The closet was enormous, and the few things Elise owned had barely filled a small section of it. Now the whole thing was packed.

Olivia wore an immaculate black suit, her hair pinned up elegantly and her nail polish gleaming. The moment she saw Elise, she drew her over.

“I've worked for this family for years, and this is the first time I've ever brought clothes for you.”

She was blunt, but there was no malice in it. Fashion was what she loved, and Elise gave her plenty to work with: a lovely face and a slender figure that suited almost anything. With each outfit she tried on her, Olivia grew more delighted.

Holding up a hanger, she compared a garment against Elise.

“My job is to put the outfits together for you. Then, whenever you want to wear one, you can take it straight out of the closet.”

Elise hadn't expected to come home to any of this. Before she had quite taken it in, Olivia had swept her into the dressing area. When the stylist reached to help her change, Elise spoke quickly.

“I can do it myself!”

Olivia covered her mouth and laughed. “What are you shy about? We're both women.”

For all her teasing, she went out and left Elise to change.

When Elise emerged and stood before the mirror, satisfaction flickered across Olivia's face. She promptly handed her another outfit.

Something occurred to Elise. She asked cautiously, “Are these clothes expensive?”

The things Olivia used to bring Vivian had cost thousands of dollars apiece. Elise had grown up beside her adoptive parents and knew how hard money was to earn. They could work from early morning until late at night for years to make what a single one of those outfits cost.

Olivia remembered Daniel's instructions. She was a little puzzled by them, but answered as she had been told.

“Not at all. Mr. Whitmore knows you're not used to wearing expensive labels, so all of this is discounted end-of-line stock.”

One of the maids beside them looked up, uncertainty in her eyes.

Discounted end-of-line stock? These labels were far more exclusive than the ones they used to bring Vivian. Had she been mistaken?

Elise relaxed. If they weren't expensive, and Vivian received clothes like this every month anyway, she didn't have to feel guilty about accepting them.