"What do you mean you let her take the journal?"

Mei’s voice—Evelyn’s stepmother—echoed sharply inside the family study, making Evelyn’s father lower his head in silence. His face looked worn, like a man who had exhausted every last ounce of resistance.

"Maria wrote it for Evelyn," he said quietly. "It doesn’t belong to us."

Mei slammed her hand on the desk. "You just stood there while your daughter trampled my dignity? Threatened to drag me into legal matters in front of the entire family?"

"She’s just looking for the truth, Mei."

"Truth?" Mei laughed bitterly, her eyes narrowing. "You’re calling the ramblings of a dying woman ‘truth’? Have you forgotten...