"I'm guilty. I'm awful. I should've died the day I was born."
And then she broke into helpless sobs.
Some women could cry as naturally as breathing, and every tear seemed designed to make people rush to their defense.
Sienna's tears hadn't even finished falling before Mrs. Lowell was already unraveling.
She hurried to soothe her precious girl. "Sienna, don't cry. If anyone is selfish, it's me and your father."
"We knew you weren't our biological daughter, and we still kept you. How do you just cut off twenty years of love?"
She stroked Sienna's hair. "Don't listen to outsiders gossiping. You'll always be our most beloved child. My love for you won't change."
Then she swung her anger toward Maeve.
"Even if you are Naomi's friend, you don't have the right to point fingers at our family!"
"You young people love judging everything in black and white, but real life is more complicated than that."
She hugged Sienna tighter. "I raised her from infancy. Do you really think twenty years of love means nothing just because we don't share blood?"
"Yes, Naomi is my flesh and blood. But she wasn't by my side growing up."
"She may be my biological daughter, but we never built a life together."
"Before Naomi came back, our family was peaceful. After she returned, there was conflict every single day."
Mrs. Lowell's words weren't just for Maeve—they were for the crowd. She wasn't about to let her "daughter" be publicly judged for her origins.
And it worked.

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