Amelia let out a long breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"I-I thought it was you."
Her hand pressed against her chest as relief washed over her face.
"Thank goodness it wasn't." She scooted closer to Lara and lowered her voice. "I would've been heartbroken if the girl in the story was really you. How could someone suffer that much? And how could a father be so cruel to his own daughter?"
Lara's lips curved into a faint, unreadable smile.
Of course.
The realization no longer hurt as much as it once had.
Because I was never his daughter to begin with. She thought bitterly.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The favoritism. The indifference. The countless times he had chosen her siblings over her without hesitation.
She had spent years wondering what she had done wrong. Wondering why she was never enough. Wondering why she could never earn the affection that seemed to come so naturally to the other two.
Now she finally understood.
They were his children.
