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."

Candice shook her head at them. They didn't get it at all and it was precisely why she did it. "You keep saying family first," she started, taking the time to lock eyes with each of the Whites. "But this isn't what family should be. The secrets, the lies, and the trials. You wouldn't even have taken me in if I hadn't impressed you. Your love for me is conditional; you expect me to jump through hoops to win your approval. If this is what it takes to be a part of your family, then I don't want any part in it. Arabesque."

As soon as she said the code word, a group of men rushed through the open doorways, armed with rifles and decked in black body armor and bulletproof vests. From various corners of the room, suited men ran out but they were a few seconds too late. Also, the other side had bigger guns.

"Viviene White, Howard White, you are under arrest for fraud, money laundering, kidnapping, and being accessories to murder," one of the men that rushed in shouted. Candice took a few quick steps backed behind behind the nearest one and did a celebration dance in her mind at everyone's shocked. "We need to bring the rest of you in for questioning. Any resistance will be treated as an obstruction to justice."

"Are you okay?" one of the body-armored men came towards her and she recognized Detective Wallace's voice. She nodded, feeling relieved now that the months of secrecy is over. She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up, which is why she jumped at the chance tonight to tie up all the loose ends.

"Candice! What did you do?" Meredith asked, her eyes flaming as several officers came forward to put handcuffs on Viviene and Howard. Candice didn't think they were actually going to do that but it was strangely satisfying to watch.

Detective Wallace shielded her with his body, which was sweet and Candice was touched by the gesture. It reminded her that the world wasn't filled with terrible people; there were those who cared. She took a deep breath and drew strength from it. She needed to finish this, put a full stop to the sentence as one of her literature professors would say.

"It wasn't what I did, it's about what they've done," Candice replied as she remembered what Detective Wallace told her five months ago.

——— Five Months ago ———

It was her first time in Mexico City and Candice was in love with the colorful neighborhood of Roma. She even got a few photos against cool street arts by asking strangers with her improving Spanish. Out of habit, Candice raised her phone to take a few more photos before she leaves."Hi miss, can you take a photo of me?" a man in baseball cap and sunglasses dressed in a muscle tee and jeans asked, tapping her gently on the shoulder.

"Sure," Candice answered, frowning as she tried to place his voice. He sounded a bit familiar. As he handed her his camera, one of those pocket point and shoot, he quickly lowered his sunglasses and Candice did a double-take. It was Detective Wallace.

"Don't say my name and keep your voice down. Pretend like you don't know me," he whispered quickly before Candice had a chance to react. Then more loudly, he added, "I think this is the zoom, can you get one close up as well?"

"Sure..." Candice answered, doing her best to act normal and actually snapped a few shots of Detective Wallace with the sea turtle street art behind them. "Have a look and let me know if you want more," she said awkwardly.

"Meet me at Helado Obscuro ice cream shop and I'll explain everything," he whispered. Then, in a normal volume, he added, "these are great, thanks so much!"

Confused and intrigued by why Detective Wallace was here and the sneaking around, Candice took a few more photos before googling the ice cream shop, which turned out to be just around the corner.

Detective Wallace had already disappeared, so Candice made her way there as casually as possible. He wasn't there when she arrived at the ice cream shop so she went to browse at the selection. Alcoholic Mango? Sold!

Candice sat down at an empty barstool and was so excited to dig in that she almost fell off her chair in surprise when the stranger next to her turned out to be Detective Wallace. He had changed into a burgundy shirt and black cargo shorts, with a new pair of sunglasses perched on his head.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" he apologized and handed her a tissue. She accidentally got a noseful of ice cream when righting herself. Candice quickly cleaned up. That was embarrassing."Yup, sorry. You just surprised me," she answered and dabbed the tissue on her face again to make sure there wasn't any leftover ice cream. "What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"We'll get to that later. Are you okay?" he asked. Candice gave him a strange look which earned her a sheepish smile and a slight blush. "I just mean... after what happened to you..." he stuttered.

Candice laughed and bumped Detective Wallace on the shoulder. "I'm fine. Did you come all this way to Mexico just to secretly check on me? How did you even find me?"

Detective Wallace almost choked on his ice cream and started coughing. Candice took a bite of her own cone and almost rolled her eyes in foodgasm. Why didn't this flavor came into her life sooner?

"No. Actually, I'm here on behalf of the FIB," he started. Candice snorted and narrowly avoided choking herself by coughing.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say FBI?" she asked, giving herself a pat on the chest. "Didn't you finish with investigating my parent's death?"

The thoughts of Richard and Lynette brought Viviene and Howard to Candice's mind. Would the FBI be here for them? Candice's extensive major change didn't make it to pre-law but even she knew that faking your own death is a felony.

"The FBI has recently discovered that Howard and Viviene White are alive and linked to known gang members who are wanted for fraud, money laundering, and more," Detective Wallace's voice dropped to barely a whisper and Candice could only just about hear him. "They have been looking for a way in and we want to enlist your help. And yes, we know you are in contact with them so don't deny it."

Detective Wallace slid several photos and documents towards her. Candice leaned forward to look at the photos closer. She recognized Carlos, who were shot handing a manila envelope to two other men with a giant snake tattoo. Another one was of her with Viviene and Howard on the beach of Cancun. That was last weekend. There were a couple more featuring Carlos and Viviene and Howard at various places doing things that could be shady.

She moved on to the documents. One of them was a witness statement. From the gala where Richard and Lynette were killed. The tattoo of a giant snake was described. Candice quickly grabbed another one and it was a long list of numbers. She didn't fully understand them but the bank was in the Cayman Islands.

"What is this?" she asked, pushing the papers and photos back to Detective Wallace. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach. The implication was clear and it was too horrific to consider. "Are you seriously trying to tell me that Viviene and Howard hired someone to have their son and daughter-in-law murdered?"

"That's what we are trying to find out. We need internal access to their server or any kind of paper documents that could tie them to this case," Detective Wallace said. "That's why we need you."

Candice snorted. Were they asking her to be a spy? Her first instinct was to say no, forget that this ever happened, and continued her life. It might not be in LA but she had most of her life back. Yet, in the back of her mind, she knew that a lot of things didn't add up. She knew that there was no love lost between the two generations of the Whites, and both of them had treated her as some sort of prawn. Not to mention the fact that Carlos himself seemed to be running a cartel, the very thing that Vivienne and Howard said was responsible for Richard and Lynette's downfall.

"That sounds like something that should be left for the professional. I'm not the girl you are looking for," Candice said, self-preservation kicking in. But there was another nagging thought on her mind.

"Aren't you afraid that I would run and tell them?" Candice asked, curious. She didn't know much about FBI but telling her everything before asking her to be a spy didn't seem right.Detective Wallace smiled at her. "I trust that you're a good person," he said.

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What do we think of that?