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her forty-fifth year, and woke again
When she woke, she was sitting on the bed in the second-floor bedroom of Ashley Manor, morning light sting
she had called "sister" for twenty-five years, and the man she had l
aw before death, she
you really think Bert
. The iron door had just screeched shut behind her. Her polished high heels clicked against the w
y eyelids. Her skeletal fingers clenched the thin, mildewed blan
blue eyes, only cold mockery. For twenty-five years, this orphan girl who lived o
andkerchief in disgust. Under the dim bulb, the brown beauty mark beneath her right eye
pupils shrank. It was the master manual of the Santos family's autonom
e..." Alexis's lips trembled violentlyiron basin beside the bed, the
e regulation formula out of you, why would a medical e
g away for twenty-five years flashed before her eyes. H
red fingernail hard into Alexis's bony
about you being assaulted at the
e drugged me
ands. He wanted to ruin your reputation so you coul
face, but her emaciated arm lost all strength m
skirt before pulling a photocopy of a birth certificate fro
raise, is my flesh and blood with Bertrand. You were just a b
split as tears mixed with blood rolled down her cheeks. She thought of the endless nights she spe
top of the stairs, his metal-rimmed glasses reflecting a cold light, the stub of
lexis raised her head to look at th
hecked his wristwatch, his tone as flat
or will be here soon to si
o Bertrand's arms,
medicine has kicked in. She
und Christy's waist, his lip
notary is coming tomorrow to co
ough up her organs. Twenty-five years of devotion, twenty-five years of self-deception, all turned in
stare, Bertrand frowned
those disgusting eyes.
ontrol, and her vision went black. Outside the basement, thund
of black blood sprayed from her lips. Before her consciousness faded into a blur of
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