Chapter 36 *
Scarlett's POV
The ballroom was completely silent. Not a single person moved. Even the servers had stopped what they were doing.
I watched the Romano family. Watched their faces go through shock, confusion, disbelief.
I felt nothing but cold detachment spreading through my chest.
The warmth I'd once felt for this family? Gone. Completely gone.
Viviana moved. She stormed up onto the stage. She grabbed my wrist hard.
"Scarlett, that's enough," she hissed. Her voice was low. Furious. "Get off this stage right now. You're making a scene."
I didn't move. Just looked at her hand gripping my wrist.
"You knew perfectly well you got a perfect score," Viviana continued. Her face was twisted with anger. "But you insisted on making that ridiculous bet anyway. You had to show off. You had to steal Zelda's moment. Do you have any shame at all?"
Her perfectly maintained face couldn't hide the disgust in her expression. She looked at me like I was garbage she'd found on the street.
"Did you even look at the text messages I showed everyone?" I asked. My voice was calm. Too calm.
Viviana's grip tightened. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Madison used my foster mother's cross necklace to blackmail me into coming here. She literally threatened to destroy it if I didn't show up. You saw the messages. Everyone saw them."
"That's not the point," Viviana snapped.
"Then what is the point? Why can't you just admit the truth?"
Viviana's face flushed red. She started pulling me toward the edge of the stage. "Why do you have to embarrass this family in public? Why can't you just be grateful for what we've given you?"
Something inside me broke. I started laughing. Soft at first. Then louder.
Viviana stopped pulling. Stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
"So even with a perfect SAT score, I'm still an embarrassment to you."
It wasn't a question. It was a realization. A sudden, crystal-clear understanding of exactly what I meant to this family.
Nothing. I meant nothing.
The guests in the ballroom were watching us now. Their expressions turning amused. Rich family drama was always prime gossip material.
Viviana's face went dark with anger. "Don't you dare disrespect your mother like this. Not in front of everyone. Do you understand what you're doing? These people will talk. They'll spread this all over New York."
She gestured at the crowd. At the phones recording everything.
"Zelda would never do something like this. She has class. She has respect for family. Why can't you be more like her?"
Always Zelda.
Fine.
I pulled my wrist free from Viviana's grip. Stepped back.
"You want me to be more like Zelda? Okay. I'll give you the perfect mother-daughter relationship you want. Just without me in the family."
Viviana's eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?"
I turned away from her. Faced the crowd. The Five Families watching. The phones recording.
"Since we're all here, since the Five Families are watching, let me be very clear about something."
I let the silence build. Let the tension stretch.
"The Romano family found me after nineteen years. Brought me back from Montana. And I was grateful."
My voice was steady. Clear. Carrying to every corner of the ballroom.
"I thought I'd finally found my family. My blood."
I paused. Let my voice get colder.
"But you never treated me like blood, did you?"
I looked at Sal. At Viviana. At Nico and Lorenzo.
"You put me in the servant's quarters. No heat in winter. No AC in summer. While Zelda, the adopted daughter, lived on an entire floor to herself with every luxury imaginable."
Murmurs started spreading through the crowd.
"I ate leftovers in the kitchen after everyone else finished. I scrubbed toilets. I washed dishes. I cleaned floors on my hands and knees."
I turned to look at the Santoros. The Morettis. The Russos.
"Is that how you treat blood? Is that the Romano family honor?"
More murmurs. Louder now. People exchanging glances.
"Then there's the Santoro marriage arrangement. Made for the eldest Romano daughter."
I looked directly at the Santoro family table. Mrs. Santoro was sitting there. Her face was blank.
"When Adrian Santoro was healthy, that arrangement was for Zelda. Everyone knew it. But when he ended up paralyzed after that assassination attempt?"
My voice rose slightly.
"Suddenly it's my duty. Suddenly blood matters. Suddenly I'm the eldest daughter who needs to fulfill family obligations."
"You all know what happened. They tried to force me to marry a man in a wheelchair. Not out of love. Not out of duty. But to protect their precious adopted daughter from having to sacrifice her future."
"And tonight. This party."
I held up the crystal trophy Dr. Westbrook had given me.
"I score a perfect 1600. Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Caltech. All recruiting me personally. All reaching out before my scores were even officially released."
I laughed. The sound was cold.
"But did anyone in the Romano family know? Did anyone care?"
I looked at Viviana. At Sal.
"No. Because you were too busy celebrating Zelda's 1410. You threw a party at The Plaza Hotel. Live band. Catering. Hundreds of guests. For an adopted daughter who scored in the ninety-third percentile."
I set the trophy down carefully on the stage.
"But your own blood? The daughter who achieved something only five hundred eighty-three students nationwide accomplish each year? Nothing. Not even a phone call."
"In the old tradition, family protects family. Blood protects blood. That's the foundation everything is built on."
I paused.
"But the Romano family broke that covenant first."
My voice was firm. "You treated me like hired help. Like a stranger. Like something disposable. You dishonored the blood bond before I ever did."
"So I ask you all to witness: they dishonored the blood bond first. Not me."
Sal stepped forward. His face was dark red. Veins bulging at his temples.
"Scarlett, this is not the time or place—"
"This is exactly the time and place," I cut him off. "You wanted to do this at Zelda's party? Fine. Let's do it at Zelda's party."
I reached into my purse. Pulled out my checkbook.
"But I'm not like you. I don't leave debts unpaid."
I wrote quickly. Tore out the check. Held it up so everyone could see.
"Even if you treated me like garbage, even if you never treated me like family, I won't owe you anything."
I walked to the edge of the stage. Looked at Sal.
"Three years as a child in your house before I was kidnapped. Six months recently after you brought me back. Room, food, clothing."
I kept writing. "Standard cost for a child in a wealthy household in New York? Roughly four hundred thousand dollars total."
I tore out the check. Held it up so everyone could see the amount clearly.
Four hundred thousand dollars. Written out in full.
"Consider this payment in full. With interest. We're settled."