Burn Those Who Burned Me novel Chapter 248

apter 248

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“Jamie’s right. We won’t go easy on her just because she’s our biological sister. Ness is the only sister we acknowledge….that girl will have to earn her right to be a Taylor.”

Vanessa smiled smugly within; she pulled her family’s strings as if they were puppets and she was their puppetmaster.

63

Once Josie moved in, Vanessa seethed. She was beautiful, an exact replica of her mother. She had an innocence to her that Vanessa realized was natural unlike her fakeness. To top it off the little runt was a genius. There was no way she could compete with this; she had to think of a way to make sure they all hated her.

So that’s how it began, the years of Vanessa setting Josie up. Doing sneaky things like making herself fall or causing a scene that painted Josie as the bully so that others would hate her. The plan worked beautifully. By the time the girls were seventeen, the Taylors hated Josie; especially Jamie and Laura. She couldn’t understand how a daughter of hers could be so cruel. The family kept Josie at a distance which thrilled Vanessa.

‘See that Josie…it doesn’t matter that you share blood…I am their ONLY heiress!‘

Everything was going according to her plan, until she overheard Harold and Laura one day.

“I just received word Josie got into Rotham University.”

Laura’s eyes widen with shock. RMU was the number one University in Bridgeton with Vancore being number two.

“H–How did she even qualify to get into that school?”

Josie and Vanessa didn’t go to the same high school. Laura was concerned it would be too much for Vanessa if she felt she had to compete with her own sister. So the Taylors were unaware of Josie’s academic achievements including earing the valedictorian spot. Josie’s first two years with the Taylors, whenever she would have an award ceremony that she would invite them too, Vanessa would somehow always end up either sick or injured causing the entire family to cater to her. Then, she would miraculously become better once the ceremony was over. After two years of constantly being disappointed, Josie stopped asking. Her nana and cousin was there so that was all that mattered.

“Well…I did a little digging…turns out she scored perfectly on her SATS and she’s graduating number one in her class.”

Laura couldn’t believe it! How had this been going on without her knowledge.

“I don’t….this doesn’t make any sense Harold! How could we not know about her academic achievements? Caster Prep would have….”

In that moment…Laura realized that not only did Josie not attend Caster; she didn’t know WHAT school Josie went too. Sensing her shift, Harold answered.

“Dunlap….she goes to Dunlap Prep.”

Dunlap prep was one of the top private schools in the country and one of the few schools that required you to EARN your spot versus being a legacy student. It was a school of engineering and science. Some of the world’s top engineers including architectural designers came out of this school.

Laura was stunned; she had no idea Josie was that accomplished. Suddenly, a wave of guilt crept into her heart as she began to realize in the five years Josie had been there, she didn’t know much about her. Had she been neglecting her? Harold must’ve felt that same guilt, sitting beside Laura, he began to speak.

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15:02 Thu, Oct 9

Chapter 248

V = 63

“I think maybe we haven’t been paying much attention to her. Perhaps we should change that Laura. She’s our daughter after all. There should be enough room for her and Ness. Look at all she’s accomplished.”

Harold handed Laura a folder, inside were photos of Josie at school. The awards she’d won, the speeches she gave. Pages filled academic achievements that NONE of their children ever had.

“We missed all of this?”

Laura’s voice almost broke as she read over the documents. Had she been neglectful as a mother to Josie? Not wanting to accept that, Laura’s guilt quickly turned to annoyance. Throwing the folder onto the desk, she scoffed.

“You know…this is really all of Josie’s fault! She’s always bullying our Nessie! Besides…all she had to do was tell us about this! How were we supposed to know!”

Harold stared at his wife for a brief moment before deciding to agree. They would rather throw the blame onto Josie than admit their inadequacies and neglect due to favoritism.

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