Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
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Kyle had seen Sabrina right off the bat. Usually she’d be all over him, but today? She didn’t even look his way.
“Well, look who grew a backbone now,” Kyle sneered.
Still salty about her calling him a loser and kicking him yesterday, his mood went south fast.
“Yo Kyle, what’s up with your little shadow? Not playing puppy dog today?” Nathan Aniston smirked in Sabrina’s direction.
Leonard Acosta gave Sabrina a quick once–over before going back to heaping food onto Brianna’s plate, all doting.
These two were Kyle’s tight buddies, and they worshipped the ground Brianna walked on.
All worked up about yesterday’s run–in, Kyle got off on his buddies trashing Sabrina.
Maybe it’s time this little brat learned her place.
He grunted. “She needs to get knocked down a peg. Maybe that’ll fix her attitude.”
Brianna caught Kyle’s pissy mood and smiled to herself.
“Kyle, I think Sabrina’s mad at me. Maybe I should go
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Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
apologize,” Brianna played innocent.
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Leonard ruffled her hair, cooing, “You didn’t do a thing wrong.
That’s all on her. You’re just too nice.”
Nathan jumped in. “You bet! Why should the actual heiress apologize to that nobody?”
Kyle beamed at his sister’s sweet act. His love for Brianna shot
up while his hate for Sabrina went nuclear.
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“What you gotta apologize for? She’s the one acting up. She should be apologizing to you.”
After a beat, he added, “Don’t sweat it. Give her a few days to get her head straight. Then I’ll make her crawl back and apologize.”
“That’s fine, I just want Sabrina home! We’re family, like always!” Brianna’s voice dripped sugar.
Kyle melted even more at his sister’s “maturity,” convinced Sabrina was being a total bitch.
Nathan’s face lit up with something nasty.
He strutted over to Sabrina, getting in her face. “Hey, Sabrina, Brianna’s thirsty. Go get her a milkshake?”
“Don’t take it too far!” Jane sprang up, her face frosty with annoyance. She’d always hated how these rich pricks treated Sabrina like their personal maid.
Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
“Shut your mouth, nobody!” Nathan jabbed a finger at Jane’s forehead.
Something snapped in Sabrina. She dropped her fork and cracked Nathan across the face, lightning fast.
“Run your mouth all you want. But keep your hands tó yourself,” she said, ice cold, stepping in front of Jane.
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Nathan stood there, stunned, holding his face. “You crazy bitch! How dare you hit me?”
Everyone froze at Sabrina’s outburst.
This wasn’t the doormat Sabrina they knew.
The girl they used to walk all over had finally grown claws.
“What’s wrong with hitting you?” Sabrina shot back, rolling her eyes at the group.
She looked their crew up and down with a sneer. “What’s the matter? All of you got broken hands or something? Just go get her damn milkshake yourself.”
“And you, Nathan. You’re just Kyle’s little lapdog. Who are you to act tough now?” Sabrina smirked, knowing exactly where to twist the knife.
Nathan hated being called Kyle’s lapdog the most.
His eyes burned with fury as he glared at her.
Chapter 4 Adopted Kid.
“Watch it, Sabrina,” he snarled.
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Then he gave Kyle a sly nudge. “If you won’t listen to me, you should at least listen to your brother.”
Still seething over what had happened yesterday, Kyle snapped, “Get going right now and buy it. Or you’ll regret this.‘
He was trying to act hard, but just came off like some wannabe thug.
Sabrina just wanted to puke. She couldn’t believe she’d once been desperate for even a crumb of attention from this loser.
“Really? Bossing me around? What, just because you’re the adopted kid in the Sterling family means you’re some bigshot?
Save it.”
With a savage grin, she grabbed Jane’s arm and bounced, leaving them standing there with their jaws on the floor.
At 18, Kyle was all ego. Having his adopted status blasted like that made him go tomato red.
Some nosy onlookers piped up, “Kyle, for real? You’re adopted?”
Kyle went white as a sheet, looking ready to kill.
Seeing this, Nathan gave that guy a solid kick. “You dumb idiot!
Get lost!”
Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
Brianna frowned a bit, annoyed by Kyle’s meltdown.
What a useless dumbhead. Can’t even withstand this.
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But on the surface, she played her concerned sister part well. She grabbed Kyle’s hand, comforting, “Kyle, you’ll always be my brother, no matter what.”
Nathan and Leonard exchanged a knowing glance and chimed in, “Yeah, you’re our boy, Kyle.”
Their backup calmed him down some.
Without these irritating morons bugging her, the rest of Sabrina’s day was chill.
When she got back to the Fridman villa, Theodore was nowhere to be seen. Not that Sabrina minded–having the place to herself was actually pretty sweet.
Bored out of her mind, she did something she’d never tried in her past life–posted her first novel, “Innocence” online.
Now that she had a second shot at life, she wanted to shake things up.
After that, she spent some more time glued to her computer.
And this became her routine for the next few weeks.
Around eight at night, Sabrina’s stomach started doing the hunger dance. Quiet as a mouse, she tiptoed downstairs.
Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
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After some kitchen recon, she scored some bread and yogurt. Just as she was about to head back, the lights in the living room flicked on.
Those staff should’ve been off work by now.
Is it Theodore?
She shoved her things in her pocket, creeping out like a cat burglar.
Her heart did a backflip when she met those laser–beam eyes.
“Whoa, what’re you doing back?” she asked, trying to play it cool, even though some indescribable guilt laced her voice.
“Hey, this is my house, remember?”
Theodore’s eyes zeroed in on her stuffed pockets. “Hungry, are you?”
“Uh, yeah,” Sabrina muttered, caught red–handed. She rubbed her nose sheepishly.
Theodore finally took a good look at his so–called daughter.
She was like a walking skeleton.
Her skin was flawless, though. Probably due to being under the weather, her face was deathly pale, with an air of cold elegance, like she’d stepped right out of a fairytale.
Chapter 4 Adopted Kid
Even this young, one could tell Sabrina was gonna be a straight–up knockout someday.
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Seeing how much they looked alike, Theodore couldn’t shake off the disturbing stuff Julian had found.
The girl had it rough with the Sterlings. She was shipped off overseas when she was barely eleven.
And this reminded him of his own life. As the big dog at Fridman Group, he’d fought tooth and nail for that top spot.
Being a Fridman kid meant no normal childhood bullshit. Just power moves and status games.
He and his brother went through hell–the strictest training and sky–high expectations. Mess up, and they’d get a good thrashing. They went full Hunger Games fighting for that heir spot.
“Let’s grab a bite out,” Theodore said. Looking at her ghost–white face had him feeling some type of way.
Sabrina hemmed and hawed but didn’t say no in the end.
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