Memories Drifted Like Paper Boats by Zyra Cole 1

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“Hey. Edwina” Abby Lennox said, that fake–sweet tone curling at the edges. “I heard your real parents are farmers. Like, actual dirt–under–the–nails farmers. 

“And you’ve got what, five uncles who can’t even land a wife? Grown men scraping by, living off whatever the land gives. 

them 

You really think they found you because they missed you? Pleast. They probably want to marry you off for cash so the uncles can finally put rings on somebody’s finger.” 

You’re nineteen. Best case, you end up with some widower who runs a slaughterhouse. Worst case, some guy twice your age. 

Vikes” 

Abby covered her mouth and giggled, delighted with herself. 

Edwina Lennox kept folding. The words brushed past like cold a Her fingers stilled for a beat, then moved again. 

She had always known she wasn’t a Lennox by blood. 

Since three years old, memories clean and sharp, she remembered the orphanage, the day she was brought here. That part. of her life had never been blurry. 

“Such a shame,” Abby went on, savoring every syllable. “Desmont’s coming tomorrow to make it official, talk engagement. with my parents. You won’t even be here to see the party. Guess that’s how life works.” 

She flashed a gleaming, triumphant smile. I’m marrying into real money. And you? You’re headed back to nowhere.” 

Edwina let out a quier breath that almost sounded like a laugh “ute,” she said lightly. “Didn’t know hand–me–downs could make you this happy.” 

Abby’s smile snapped off 

Everyone knew the Cole–Lennox engagement had been an opel secret. When Desmond first visited, he’d looked at Edwina, not Abby. 

But once Edwina’s background landed in the open, that future slid neatly into Abby’s lap. 

Edwina zipped the suitcase and stepped into the hall. Beatrice Lennox was waiting, blocking the way with a practiced, sympathetic smile. 

Beatrice looped an arm through hers, voice warn and trembly. Edwina, even though you’re not my biological daughter. we’ve been a family for so many years. 

Thinking about you going off to a hard life really breaks my heart 

She dabbed at the corner of her eye, tears right on cur. “Once you’re with them, try to get along. They are your real parents, 

Edwina looked at her fare calm, eyes cool. If I hadn’t heard you last night. I might have bought it 

By accident, she’d heard Beatrice whispering with Ally in the sly 

Abby 

After Abby was born, Beatrice had gone to a psychic. The wong told her Abby’s cha acas a nevs, toouble waiting at every turn unless another girl took the hut. Someone born on July seth. A lightning rod 

If that girl absorbed the bad luck, Aliby would soar after twenty. 

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12:24 Thu, Jan 1 AGU. 

Chapter 1 

That was why Edwina was adopted. 

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The truth had hit like a punch to the sternum. With it, the last thread tying her to this house snapped cleanly. 

The doorbell rang. The housekeeper hurried in, uneasy. “Mrs. Linox, the car for Miss Edwina Lennox is here.” 

Abby snorted. “Mom, you don’t think it’s some rusty farm truck, lo you? Like the kind that hauls fertilizer?” 

Laughing, she hooked Beatrice’s arm and hurried outside, eager to watch the embarrassment. 

And they froze on the front steps. 

Six Rolls–Royce Phantoms were lined up along the drive, sleek and silent. A row of men in black stood beside them, posture rigid, faces unreadable. 

A refined middle–aged man stepped forward. His gaze passed right over Abby and Beatrice and landed on Edwina. 

His eyes reddened instantly. Too similar. Almost painfully so, he thought, heart racing. 

Aside from the cool distance in her expression, she looked exactly like the little girl he remembered. 

“Miss,” he said, voice unsteady. 

The bodyguards echoed him in unison. The sound alone nearly sent Abby and Beatrice’s knees buckling. 

Edwina frowned, caught off guard. She had never looked into her biological family. 

All she knew came from the Lennox family, who said her hometown was a forgotten backwater and her parents were poor farmers, barely scraping by. But what stood in front of her told a completely different story. 

“Miss,” the man said again, bowing deeply. “I’m Ivan Mayers, your mother’s estate manager.” 

He clapped his hands once. Trunks opened. Box after box of luxury goods was carried out with quiet precision 

“Fifty commercial properties. Ten residential estates. Fine jewelry and additional assets,” Ivan announced clearly, 

“Mr. Gibson instructed us to thank the Lennox family for raising you. These are tokens of appreciation.” 

Only then did Beatrice and Abby understand the gifts were meant for them. Shock melted into greed. They lunged. 

Edwina stepped between them and the boxes, voice even. “Mr. Mayers, the head of the Lennox family already made it clear. From today on, there’s nothing between us. He told me not to look back. Keep it clean. So the gifts aren’t necessary.” 

Ivan hesitated for a heartbeat. His eyes moved from Edwina’s plan clothes to Beatrice and Abby’s eager hands. He understood 

Edwina had not been treated well here. 

“Yes, Miss Ivan replied. His hand flicked. The bodyguards beg leading everything back into the cars. 

Beatrice’s face flushed with fury as she watched the gifts slip righ through her fingers 

She broke first. “I raised you for over a decade,” she shocked, all polish gone. “And this is how you repay me? You ungrateful 

little wretch” 

Abby lunged toward a jewelry case, the earlier sparkle still burned into her mund 

Before she could get anywhere near it, a bodyguard intercepted her effortlessly, shutting her down. 

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12:24 Thu, Jan 1 AQU 

Chapter 1 

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Edwina didn’t even look at Abby. She turned to Beatrice, a cool cule touching her hips. I was your lightning rod all the years,” she said softly. Funny how your memory skips that part, Beatrice.” 

Then she turned away, stepped into the car, and closed the door without a trace of hesitation. 

The six luxury sedans pulled away in formation, engines roaring as they tore down the road. Exhaust fumes and clust billowed up, blasting straight into Beatrice and Abby’s faces. 

Abby stood there, stomping her heel into the pavement, jealous spiking hot. 

Mom. I had no clue Edwina’s real parents were that loaded.” she said. “A whole fleet of Rolls–Royces just to pick her up. And those jewels, I’ve seen them in magazines. They’ve got to be won several millions. 

Beatrice’s eyes went cold and calculating. “Relax. I’ll have your father look into it. If her birth parents really have that kind of money and think they can just waltz in and take her back for nothing, not happening” 

Inside one of the cars, Ivan still looked wired. He kept checking wina in the mirror, his respect for her climbing with every glance. 

Tell the other cars to head back, Edheina said to Ivan. “You’re coming with me to Eden Hospital. I want to see a patient. 

“Yes, Ivan replied said right away. 

Edwina turned to the window, her face unreadable. She had beer two when the Lennox family took her in. What she got barely qualified as food. Cold leftovers. Stale crusts, Clothes so then they might as well have been paper. 

If it had not been for Abby’s grandfather’s quiet kindness, she doubted she would have made it out of childhood. 

Leaving meant she needed to say goodbye. · 

extensive. 

Anton Lennox’s prognosis was grim. The brain damage was exte sive. She had done everything she knew, every careful needle, every bit of treatment she could access, just to keep his lody from failing. 

Whether he ever woke up was no longer in her hands. 

After sitting with Anton, she stepped into the hallway. 

It was already locked down. Black suited bodyguards had cleared the corridor end to end. 

A team of doctors rushed past with a gurney, wheeling a patient wand the emergency room at full speed. 

As they passed, Edwina glanced down. 

An elderly woman lay on the bed, skin ashy, lips drained of colo breathy faint and uneven. 

Edwina’s brow pinched. She does not have much time, she thought. 

A cluster of specialists jogged up moments later, breathless 

“She collapsed out of nowhere and started seizing one doctor ted. “We gave three doses of nitro under the tongue” 

Allow, straty voice cut through the unise, calm way 

Edwina turned. 

me people move Laster. 

A tall man stood with his back foder. His black sou he like it for the waist. Lang legs in tailored slacks. 

en bank on him. Broad shoulders, Aclea taper drough 

He looked almost unreal, like someone had drawn him and the decided to make him real. 

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12:25 Thu, Jan1 Atl 

Chapter 1 

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66 vouchers 

“Mr. Gibson,” a physician said carefully. “Mrs. Gibson has already had two major cardiac surgeries. A third could be too much. 

“Dr. West,” Kelvin Gibson said, voice cool and flat, “save my granother and everything is on the table. If anything goes wrong, every dollar I have in this hospital is gone today.” 

The air got tight. His eyes were unblinking, anger and fear both kept on a short leash. 

He had not expected his grandmother to take his decision to call off the engagement this hard. 

Joseph West wiped his forehead and looked to the specialists. 

He then turned to Jacelyn Diaz. “Dr. Diaz, you led the last two operations. We need a plan.” 

Jacelyn tore her gaze off Kelvin and straightened. “I recommend conservative management. Stabilize her with a strong cardiac stimulant first, then…. 

A cool voice interrupted, quiet but cutting. That will kill her.” 

Heads turned. Edwina stood there, calm, steady, certain. 

Kelvin’s attention sharpened. He knew her face. 

A month ago, at a wreck on the interstate, she had dragged a man back from the edge after an ER doc had already called time of death. 

“You sure about that?” Kelvin asked, studying her. “You got a better plan?” 

AD