chapter962

Leila was completely floored by what Aiden had just told her. She stared at him, desperate for any sign that he might be joking. "You're messing with me, right?"

Aiden just watched her, his lips curling into a cold smile. "Why would we bother lying to you?"

All the color drained from Leila's face. Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, shaking as she tried to process it. "Lucinda isn't the Norwood family's real daughter? She... she's been lying to us all along?"

And Lydia... Lydia was the real heiress.

It was over. Everything was over.

Meanwhile, Lucinda was in the music room, trying to practice the piano. Her fingers kept slipping. She couldn't focus at all. Her mind kept drifting back to what happened yesterday at Capital College. Leila had gotten slapped by Lydia. Knowing Leila, there was no way she'd ever let that go.

And Lucinda had been stirring things up lately, always adding fuel to the fire whenever she saw Leila. She was pretty sure Leila had finally snapped and done something to Lydia.

She wondered if the people Leila found could actually handle Lydia. If they pulled it off, then Lucinda's worries would be over. If not... she'd have to figure out a way to keep herself out of trouble.

After going over it in her head, Lucinda turned off airplane mode on her phone. She'd put it on earlier, just in case Leila tried to reach her. That way, if anything happened to Lydia, she could prove she hadn't been in contact with Leila at all.

As soon as her phone reconnected, a message from Paige popped up.

[Lucinda, Leila's lost it. She's actually planning to kidnap Lydia. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't listen. I can't do anything.]

Lucinda's heart dropped. She jumped up from the piano bench and ran straight out of the music room, panic all over her face.

Downstairs, Mr. Norwood, Cameron, and Kylie were sitting together in the living room watching TV, when Lucinda came racing down the stairs, looking like she'd seen a ghost.

Kylie shot up. "Lucinda, what happened?"

Lucinda could barely get the words out. "Dad, Mom, something's wrong!"

Cameron's face tightened with worry. "Lucinda, slow down. Tell us what's going on."

Lucinda handed her phone to them, her hands shaking. "Read this."

Cameron took the phone and just stared at the screen. His eyes went wide. He shot up from the sofa. "Lydia's in trouble!"

Kylie's voice trembled. "What happened to Lydia?"

Lucinda struggled to keep her voice

steady. "Yesterday at Capital College, Leila wanted to challenge Lydia to a violin competition. Lydia dn't want to so they argued and Lydia ended up slapping Leila. Leila got furious and now she's found people to kidnap her. Dae, Mom, you have to call Lydia right now. See where she is!"

Kylie's face turned bright red with anger. "Leila? How could she do this?"

"I don't know, Mom. Please, just call my sister and make sure she's okay. I'm so scared something's happened. I was practicing piano all morning, my phone died, and I didn't notice. I just turned it back on and

saw Paige's message. This is all my fault. If only I'd seen it earlier..."

Lucinda looked like she was about to cry, guilt and worry written all over her face.

Mr. Norwood urged them, "Don't just stand there, call Lydia!"

Cameron pulled out his phone and dialed Lydia's number right away, putting it on speaker so everyone could hear.

The line started to ring.

For a second, Cameron and Kylie both looked relieved. It's ringing!"

But Lydia didn't pick up.

Their anxiety grew. Lydia, please answer. Please be okay."

Lucinda stood there, hands clenched tight, face pale with worry. Deep down though, she was hoping Lydia

in

was already in Leila's hands getting wasalready.in

what she deserved.

Just as Cameron and Kylie were about to hang up and call the police, the call finally connected on the fifth ring.

"Dad."

Hearing Lydia's calm, steady voice, Cameron didn't waste a second. Lydia, where are you? Are you alright?"