BELLA'S POV

“What do you mean by — so?” I asked sharply, sitting up straight on the edge of the couch. My body stiffened as I stared at her. “I just told you that, and you’re acting like it’s not shocking at all?”

Mom barely reacted. She adjusted her robe, sat on the chair opposite me, then leaned back, her expression calm—almost annoyingly so.

“Because I’m not surprised,” she said. “Years ago, when she found out I wasn’t her real mother, she came here with a woman who claimed to be her biological mother. From the way that woman carried herself, from her clothes to the car she stepped out...