Chapter 10: The Billionaire's Biggest Betrayal
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I stared at the photograph in Rebecca Shaw's hand.
My father's handwriting.
Victor Romano's signature.
And a sentence that suggested everything I knew about my family was a lie.
I turned toward Victor.
“Tell me that's fake.””
Victor didn't answer.
“Victor!””
He looked at me, his face exhausted.
“Lena, there's something you need to understand.””
I stepped away from him.
“No. You need to understand something. I have spent five years grieving my father.
I watched my mother disappear. I was nearly killed tonight. And now you're telling me that the two people I trusted most have been hiding who I really am?””
Victor lowered his eyes.
Rebecca motioned toward her agents.
“Everyone needs to come with me. We'll sort this out at the federal building.””
My father suddenly stepped forward.
“No. She doesn't leave with you.””
Rebecca raised an eyebrow.
“Mr. Hart, you don't get to decide that.””
“I'm her father.””
“Then perhaps you should start acting like one and tell her the truth.””
My mother began crying.
Victor looked at Rebecca.
“You don't understand what happened five years ago.””
“Then explain it.””
Victor took a long breath.
“Daniel and I made an agreement. If anything happened to him, I would protect Lena. No matter what.””
My father laughed bitterly.
“You protected her by hiding her identity?””
Victor's jaw tightened.
“I protected her by keeping her away from the people who wanted her dead.””
I looked between them.
“What identity?””
Neither answered.
Rebecca placed the photograph on the table.
“Lena, the truth is that your birth records were altered when you were six months old.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
She opened her folder and removed another document.
“This is a copy of your original birth certificate.””
I stared at it.
The father's name wasn't Daniel Hart.
It was Victor Romano.
The room seemed to tilt.
I shook my head.
“No.””
My mother covered her face.
“No, this can't be real.””
I turned toward her.
“Mom?””
Margaret couldn't meet my eyes.
“Lena, I wanted to tell you.””
“Tell me what?””
She began sobbing.
“Victor is your biological father.””
Silence.
Victor closed his eyes.
I looked at the man who had spent the entire evening protecting me.
The man whose face I had punched.
The man whose life I had saved.
My biological father.
“Why?”” I whispered.
Margaret took a shaky breath.
“Before you were born, Victor and I were in love.””
Victor looked at her.
“Margaret, please.””
“No. She deserves the truth.””
She continued.
“Victor was engaged to another woman at the time. His family had arranged the marriage. When I discovered I was pregnant, I knew his father would never allow him to raise a child outside that arrangement.””
Victor stepped closer.
“I wanted to marry your mother.””
“Then why didn't you?””
“My father threatened to disown me and destroy everyone connected to her.””
Margaret wiped her cheeks.
“Daniel knew everything. He loved me, and he agreed to raise you as his own.””
I stared at her.
“So Dad knew I wasn't his biological daughter?””
“Yes.””
“Did he love me anyway?””
My mother grabbed my hand.
“More than anything in the world.””
I looked toward Daniel.
He was standing near the window, his eyes filled with tears.
“Daddy?””
He turned.
“You are my daughter, Lena. Blood never changed that.””
I wanted to believe him.
But another question was already tearing through my mind.
“Why does the note say Victor wanted me dead?””
Victor looked horrified.
“I never ordered that.””
Rebecca interrupted.
“The signature is authentic. But the document may have been altered.””
She placed two pages beside each other.
“One is a genuine letter from Victor. The other is the document found in Leon's files.””
I examined them.
The handwriting looked identical.
But the dates were different.
Victor pointed at the second page.
“I wrote that letter twenty-five years ago. It was about removing a business partner who was threatening Margaret. Someone copied my signature and changed the wording.””
Rebecca nodded.
“That's what we're trying to establish.””
My father suddenly approached the table.
“There's more.””
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small photograph.
It showed Victor holding a newborn baby.
On the back was a date.
My birthday.
And underneath it, my father's handwriting:
The daughter he never knew he had.
I looked at Victor.
“Did you know?””
He shook his head.
“Not until five years ago.””
“What happened five years ago?””
Daniel answered.
“I found out that Leon had discovered the truth. He planned to use your identity to blackmail Victor and take control of Romano Holdings.””
Rebecca closed her folder.
“There's another complication.””
She looked at Victor.
“Leon has already filed an emergency petition to transfer controlling shares of the company.””
Victor frowned.
“He can't do that.””
“He can if you're declared legally incapacitated or deceased.””
I remembered the photograph of the body in the townhouse.
The fake death announcement.
“They think you're dead,” I whispered.
Victor nodded.
“And Leon is about to take everything.””
Rebecca checked her watch.
“We have approximately two hours before the shareholders' emergency meeting.””
Victor straightened.
“Then let's go.””
My mother caught his arm.
“Victor, you're walking into another trap.””
He looked at me.
“Perhaps. But this time, I'm not leaving my daughter behind.””
I didn't know whether to call him my father.
I didn't know whether I could ever forgive him.
But I knew one thing.
Leon Mercer had destroyed enough lives.
And I wanted him to pay.
Then Rebecca's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed immediately.
“What do you mean he's escaped?””
She listened for several seconds.
Then she slowly lowered the phone.
“Clara is gone.””
And the last message she had left was addressed to me.
Ask your mother who really killed Daniel Hart's first wife.
May you like
My father went completely pale.
Because Daniel Hart had never told me he had been married before.
