Chapter 10 - THE DAUGHTER WHO STOLE HER OWN IDENTITY'
The room went silent after Daniel said her name.
Beatrice Vale.
The woman who had cut my hair.
The woman who had tried to erase my pregnancy.
The woman who had spent weeks making me feel worthless.
She was the child everyone had been trying to find.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Even Beatrice herself looked like she had forgotten how to breathe.
“That’s impossible,” she whispered.
Daniel slowly shook his head.
“No. It’s not.”
He placed the documents on the table.
“Your original birth records were sealed. Richard Vale arranged for them to be changed.”
Adrian stared at his mother.
“My father knew?”
Beatrice looked away.
That was the answer.
Adrian’s face changed.
Not anger.
Not shock.
Betrayal.
“You knew all this time.”
Beatrice sat down.
For the first time in my life, I saw her look small.
“I didn’t know everything.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe that?”
She looked at him.
“I was a child.”
The room became quiet.
And suddenly, the woman everyone feared looked different.
Not innocent.
Not forgiven.
But damaged.
A person who had spent her whole life protecting a lie that was never hers.
“I grew up believing I was a Vale,” Beatrice said.
Her voice trembled.
“Richard gave me everything. A name. Money. Power.”
She looked at Adrian.
“But he never loved me.”
Nobody spoke.
“Then I discovered the truth.”
Daniel asked:
“When?”
Beatrice looked down.
“After Sarah died.”
My heart tightened.
“She found out before she died,” Beatrice continued.
“She discovered Richard had hidden my identity.”
Adrian frowned.
“Why?”
Beatrice’s eyes filled with anger.
“Because I was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Richard destroyed lives to protect his empire.”
The room became colder.
I looked at her.
“You knew my mother was innocent.”
Beatrice didn’t answer.
That silence hurt more than anything.
“You knew.”
Her eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew she was telling the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let everyone believe she was the problem?”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“I was afraid.”
I almost couldn’t believe it.
The woman who had humiliated me.
The woman who had controlled everyone around her.
Was afraid.
“Afraid of who?”
Beatrice looked toward the window.
Then whispered:
“Your brother.”
My heart stopped.
“My brother?”
Adrian immediately turned.
“What brother?”
Beatrice looked at me.
“The child Sarah was protecting.”
I felt dizzy.
“There was another child?”
Beatrice nodded.
“Richard had another secret.”
Daniel opened another file.
“We found references to a second child.”
My hands started shaking.
“My mother never had another child.”
Beatrice looked at me.
“She did.”
“No.”
“She gave him away to protect him.”
I stared at her.
A thousand questions filled my mind.
Why?
Who was he?
Where was he?
Then Beatrice said the one thing that changed everything.
“He has been inside the Vale family this entire time.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Who?”
Beatrice looked directly at him.
And whispered:
“Your closest friend.”
The room froze.
Because there was only one person Adrian trusted more than anyone.
The man who had been beside him for years.
The man who knew every secret.
The man who had access to everything.
Daniel slowly stepped backward.
“Wait…”
Everyone looked at him.
Beatrice’s face went pale.
“It’s not Daniel.”
A second later, every phone in the room received a message.
One sentence.
You finally figured it out.
Attached was a photo.
A photo of a man standing outside the estate.
A man Adrian knew very well.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“No…”
I looked at him.
“Who is it?”
His voice was barely a whisper.
May you like
“Ethan.”
The man who had been his best friend for fifteen years.
