MR. and Mrs. Grimes were nestled comfortably in their plush, Italian-leather settees, the air in the living room tinged with the sharp scent of lavender-scented disinfectant. A large flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall before them, displaying a dramatic soap opera neither of them was truly watching. Their focus, as always, was divided, between their own selfish ambitions and the comfortable life they had built off the back of a girl who wasn’t even truly theirs.

Then the door creaked open, and they sharply turned in unison. It was Kate.

She stepped into the house, a small box clutched tightly in her arms. Her expression was unreadable, neither joyous...