Page 97 of Stolen Voices

“Why?” Anger boils my blood, and I steel myself. Something in my gut tells me I’m not going to like what I have to hear next.

Callie shrugs. “I think to make me look less like her. I don’t know. I stopped questioning it a long time ago. It’s easier to just go along with what she wants.”

“What does Silla want?”

“Money.”

“I’m so confused right now. Please help me understand.”

Callie sighs. “I don’t understand everything myself. Silla is cryptic, but now and then, I catch onto something. You know my dad was very well off. Well, he had trust funds set up for both me and Silla, with enough money to help us live comfortably. But Silla has expensive tastes. Designer clothes and shoes, penthouse apartments, trips to Europe… My guess is she blew through her money.”

“How much money?”

“I don’t know. Millions.” Callie shrugs like it’s no big deal.

“Millions of dollars?” I ask, flabbergasted. That’s an insane amount of money.

“Yes. That’s not important. Focus, Eli. The only reason Silla came to take care of me is because, as my guardian, she received a significant monthly childcare stipend. That money would have gone to my mother, but with her in the hospital, Silla received it instead. She thought taking me in would be an easy payout.”

There is a slew of curse words I’d rather use to describe Silla. I settle for simple ones instead because this moment isn’t about her; it’s about Callie. “Greedy bitch.”

“That’s Silla. She wants money. That’s it. I’m pretty sure she sold my childhood home in Malibu too. Silla even went to court and filed a conservatorship for Mom, so that she can control the bank accounts.”

“Did it work?”

“Yes and no. Yes, because with the help of the court, Silla is in charge of my mom’s healthcare and treatment. No, because my dad’s will and policies are strict, but I don’t know much about them, just that they have stipulations in place preventing anyone from getting my money directly.”

“Okay, so why is she still around? Why is she your manager?”

“Don’t you know how conservatorships work? Remember that famous pop star who was trapped in hers for years and years?”

“Everyone knows about that.”

“Well, I’m her. Only Silla keeps me trapped by dangling my mom over my head, and I will do anything to protect my mom, Eli. Even be this.”

“Be what, exactly?”

“Her singing puppet. She’s the reason I’m a performer. She heard me sing to my mom one day, and the next I was auditioning for singing competitions. Winning cash prizes for her to spend. Those checks weren’t big enough, so she started taking me to audition for movie roles. That’s when I landed the role as Cindy onElla inHigh School.”

“Don’t you have an acting trust account?”

“Yes. It was required by the movie studio I worked with. It went untouched until I was eighteen, then I let Silla have access to it, along with her managerial fee.”

“How much is that?”

“All of it. Aside from the twenty-five percent I pay out to Blaze.”

I want to jump out of the bed and fucking scream. How could Callie let this happen to her? It takes everything in me to hold it together. “Why the fuck would you do that, Callie?”

I’m so fucking angry. I could kill Silla for the way she treats her sister. Silla is supposed to protect Callie, not use her and rob her blind.

“Because it’s the only way I can keep myself and my mom from getting hurt. I’d give Silla everything to keep my mom safe. I will not let her ship my mom off to a hospital where I can’t visit her at or that overmedicates her instead of helping her.”

“But Silla has hurt you, hasn’t she?” I roll my thumb over the now gone scratch on her cheek. “This was her, wasn’t it?”

She looks away in shame. “Yes.”

“Why did she hit you?”