Little White Lies

Chapter 23

Candice's eyes widened at Meredith's grand entrance and the truth bomb she dropped. She was the real White daughter? What?

Suddenly, a lot of the pieces fitted together. Meredith told her that she was raised by her grandparents in Mexico, who owned a lot of businesses. Her face had always felt familiar, too, that's because she looked like Richard. And she'd bet money on it that the two of them running into each other at Gracia's last year was no coincident. She approached her on purpose.

She had wanted a big exposition tonight but this was more than what she had bargained for.

"That's impossible!" Eva screamed, making Candice wince. She felt a pang of sympathy for Eva. Candice had always felt that something wasn't right about Vivienne and Howard not reuniting with Eva, though she thought it was just for legal and money reasons. And the way Richard and Lynette had talked bad about them on the letter indicated that there was no love lost between the two.

Meanwhile, Eva had clearly gone insane. Her head whipped back and forth as she stared at Meredith to the White grandparents in turns. "I'm Eva White! The DNA test—"

"The sample that was sent isn't yours," David interrupted. He smiled ruefully as his eyes met Eric's but his posture remained unchanged. This was a man who did what he had to and didn't regret it. "I swapped out the sample and Meredith met the lawyers in the front after Candice left and you were still in the house. She was in LA last week and finalized all the legal procedures."Wow. This had gone above and behind what Candice had hoped to discovered. Seriously, she couldn't make half of these up even if she tried. Eva made a move for David but Eric caught her quickly. That didn't stop her from glaring and thrashing around.

"This is impossible," she insisted. "Mom and Dad left me a letter! They handed me to the Goodmans!"

Very true, Candice agreed, looking towards the Whites waiting for their response. Viviene raised her hands towards Meredith, who walked to stand at her other side.

"It's true. Meredith was with the Goodmans for a few days before we swapped her out," Viviene said, patting Meredith's hand warmly. "But most children looked the same. The Goodmans had to hire a nanny to take care of you and little Eric so we sent in one of ours to swap her out. We can't stand to see our only granddaughter raised by strangers."

Eva's entire body was shaking and Candice felt a pang of sympathy. Even if it only lasted a few seconds, considering that Eva had never given a thought to Candice's feelings. But she was probably the only one in the room who knew how Eva felt. This brought back memories of that day and she blinked away her tears. It might be mean to think this, but she actually didn't get the worst deal in this strange, three-way daughter swap.

Meredith suddenly turned to face her and a wave of sadness hit Candice. The one friend that she thought she had made turned out to be the biggest reason why her life was a lie.

"Grandma and grandpa were going to tell you everything tonight," she said, looking sad and chagrined. "We were going to be sisters."

Howard nodded in agreement and looked at Candice in disappointment. "Wasn't this the life that you wanted? You'll get your family back, your lifestyle, and a new sister. The only thing you've accomplished from your little outburst is this display of madness and now you get nothing."