The Bond Between Us (Anastasia and Herman)

Sean went quiet again, but Sandy had already figured it out. She collapsed back onto the couch, her whole body drained, staring blankly ahead.

A few seconds ticked by before she looked up. The act was over-no more pretending to be soft or helpless. Her eyes were sharp now, almost dangerous.

"Sean, what gives you the right?" she snapped. "Do you have any idea what you've just ruined? Everything I planned is wrecked, just because you drank that tea. It's all blown now." Her voice rose, barely holding it together. "Herman knows about Anastasia. I had to come clean. Now I can't control him, and do you even realize what that means for us?"

All the warmth and gratitude from before evaporated, replaced by pure anger.

Sean stared at her, barely recognizing the sister he thought he knew. "Sandy, I'll protect you," he said quietly.

She shot him a look full of scorn. "With what?" she snapped. "That sickly body of yours? Or your not-so-bright brain?"noveldrama

That hit him hard. Sean's face fell. "Sis, I...”

Was this really how she saw him?

"It's over now. Just... over." Sandy's words were raw with frustration. "Why can't you ever think before you act? How'd you even figure out it was me who put the cyanide in Dad's meds, huh?"

She'd thought her plan was flawless, even Ashley Stanton hadn't caught on.

Sean said, "I saw you. After Dad started getting sick, I remembered you adding something to his tea. Later, when I was in the basement storeroom at the Floradale villa, I found the empty pill bottle. That's when it all clicked-you were behind his stroke."

He could still picture that bottle. It had bothered him for days before the truth finally came together.

Sandy pressed, "Then why didn't you turn me in? Why not tell Dad?"

"Dad always played favorites. If nothing happened to him, the Morton Group would go to Anastasia, and he was already threatening to leave Mom. I just... I didn't want the family to fall apart." Sean looked at her, eyes pleading. "You didn't want that either, right? That's why you did it?"

If she'd done it for the family, he could almost forgive her.

But Sandy shook her head, her expression ice-cold. "No. I did it because I hate him. He's been cruel to us, cold to Mom. If he weren't our father, I wouldn't have stopped at just a stroke."

She had her sights set on the Morton Group too, but she kept that part to herself. Sean was left speechless, unable to process his sister's coldness.

Sandy stood up. "You rest here. I'm going back to the hotel. It's too late to fix anything now..."

"Just blame it all on me," Sean said, almost desperate. "Say it was my idea, that you tried to save Herman He still doesn't remember who!

Salstrom family, maybe he won't do

is-if he ends up back with,me

anything drastic."

Sandy had already planned to put the blame on Sean. She shrugged. "I've already explained everything. haven't broken any laws. If Herman hates me, fine. At worst, I've just made another enemy-he can't do anything worse to me."

Sean nodded. "We did save him, after all. We fed him, took care of him. If he can't remember Anastasia or who he is, that's not on us."

Still, they'd definitely made an enemy out of Herman. No way around that now. Sandy was almost relieved Sean had drunk the tea and kept it quiet.

"You stay here. I'm leaving." With that, she grabbed her purse and headed out. Outside, she stood by the curb to hail a cab-and only then noticed the missing person flyers plastered all over the bus stop.

She looked up. Posters about Anastasia's search were everywhere.

On the huge digital screen over the city square, a live video showed the swelling crowd. Sandy stared, stunned. Anastasia was right there, in the center of it all, waiting for Herman to find her.

A cab pulled up. The driver leaned out the window. "Hey, looking for a ride?"

Sandy slid into the backseat. "Take me to the city square by the old Macy's."

He grinned in the rearview mirror. "Let me guess, going to see the tech heiress looking for her husband? It's all anyone's talking about. There's even a pool going-bets on whether Herman shows up today. Want in?"