Chapter 12 - The Bloodline Secret
Avery couldn't understand the words.
"My mother was a Sterling?"
Daniel nodded slowly.
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"No, Dad. That's impossible."
"I wish it was."
Liam looked stunned.
"How?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Your mother was Charles Sterling's older sister."
The room erupted.
Victoria stepped back.
Even she looked surprised.
Liam stared.
"My aunt?"
Daniel nodded.
Avery felt like the entire world had shifted.
Her whole life had been built on missing pieces.
Her father.
Her mother.
The Sterling family.
Everything.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Daniel looked broken.
"Because your mother wanted you away from this world."
Avery whispered.
"Why?"
"Because she knew what this family could become."
Victoria laughed.
"How convenient."
Everyone looked at her.
"You spent years hiding this, Daniel."
She pointed at him.
"And now you pretend you are protecting her?"
Daniel's expression hardened.
"I was protecting my daughter from you."
Victoria smiled.
"You were protecting yourself."
Avery looked between them.
"Stop."
Her voice was stronger.
Everyone became quiet.
"I am tired of everyone deciding what is best for me."
She looked at her father.
"You hid my identity."
Then Victoria.
"You tried to destroy me."
Then Liam.
"You doubted me."
Her voice cracked.
"And I spent years feeling like I didn't belong anywhere."
Liam stepped closer.
"Avery..."
She looked at him.
"I love you."
His eyes softened.
"But I need you to understand something."
She wiped her tears.
"I can't keep being the woman everyone protects."
She looked at the screen.
At the Sterling empire.
"I need to become the person who protects herself."
Nobody spoke.
Then the lights flickered.
Again.
Everyone froze.
Marcus immediately looked at the security system.
"No."
Liam turned.
"What?"
Marcus looked terrified.
"Someone else accessed the system."
Ethan frowned.
"I didn't do that."
Everyone looked at him.
For the first time...
Ethan looked afraid.
A voice came from the speakers.
A woman's voice.
Cold.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Congratulations, Avery."
She froze.
Because she knew that voice.
Everyone did.
Victoria slowly turned toward the sound.
And her face lost all color.
The voice continued:
"You finally found the truth."
Avery whispered:
"Who are you?"
The answer came immediately.
"I am the woman who started this war."
The ballroom doors opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Holding a file.
Holding proof.
And wearing a Sterling family ring.
Liam stared.
"No..."
May you like
Because the woman standing there...
Was someone they all believed had been dead for twenty years.
