Chapter 8: The Bloodline Secret
Nobody spoke after the message appeared.
The words stayed on my screen.
*Ask Evelyn who your real father was.*
I looked at my mother.
She looked like someone who had been waiting twenty-five years for this moment.
Not because she wanted it.
Because she knew it would come.
"Mom.""
She closed her eyes.
"Nathaniel...""
"Tell me.""
Her lips trembled.
"I don't know how.""
"Try.""
The room felt smaller.
The walls felt closer.
Every person I loved had a secret.
Every memory I trusted suddenly had cracks.
My mother sat down.
"Your father was Richard Carter.""
I nodded.
"I know.""
"No.""
She looked at me.
"You know the man who raised you.""
The words hit harder than I expected.
"What does that mean?""
She looked at Daniel.
Then Isabella.
Then me.
"Richard loved you more than anything.""
She reached for my hand.
"But he wasn't your biological father.""
I felt nothing.
Then everything.
The world became a distant sound.
"No.""
It was the only word I could say.
My mother cried.
"I'm sorry.""
"Who was?""
Nobody answered.
And that silence told me everything.
I looked at Daniel.
His face had changed.
Not shock.
Recognition.
"No.""
He whispered.
My eyes moved toward him.
"What?""
Daniel looked at Isabella.
Then at my mother.
"Don't tell me.""
My mother nodded.
Daniel stepped backward.
"That means...""
He couldn't finish.
I turned toward Isabella.
She looked just as confused as I was.
"My father?""
My mother whispered the name.
"Thomas Reeves.""
The room went completely still.
Isabella covered her mouth.
Daniel sat down.
Because the truth had broken him too.
Thomas Reeves.
The man I thought was Isabella's grandfather's employee.
The man accused of stealing.
The man who was supposedly destroyed by my family.
Was my biological father.
I couldn't breathe.
"Why?""
I looked at my mother.
"Why did you hide this from me?""
She cried.
"Because Richard was the only father you knew.""
"That doesn't answer my question.""
She looked down.
"Thomas died before you were born.""
I froze.
"What?""
"He was killed in a car accident.""
Daniel shook his head.
"No.""
Everyone looked at him.
He stood slowly.
"Thomas didn't die in an accident.""
My mother looked terrified.
"What do you mean?""
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"Because my father investigated that accident.""
The room went cold.
"What did he find?""
Daniel looked at Isabella.
Then me.
"He found evidence it wasn't an accident.""
I felt sick.
My entire life was built around a story that wasn't true.
My father wasn't my father.
My enemy's family was my blood.
And the person who had tried to destroy my mother was connected to me.
Isabella stepped toward me.
"Nathaniel...""
I moved away.
Not because I hated her.
Because I didn't know who I was anymore.
"Did you know?""
She shook her head immediately.
"No.""
"Did your mother?""
"No.""
For the first time, I believed her.
Because her face showed the same horror I felt.
Then the apartment television turned on.
Nobody touched the remote.
A video began playing.
Victoria.
She was sitting somewhere dark.
Smiling.
"I knew eventually you would discover the truth.""
My blood ran cold.
On the screen, Victoria looked directly into the camera.
"Nathaniel, if you're watching this, congratulations.""
She smiled.
"You finally learned who you really are.""
My mother stood.
"Turn it off.""
But nobody moved.
Victoria continued.
"Your mother will tell you she protected you.""
A pause.
"She didn't.""
My mother shook her head.
"Don't listen.""
Victoria smiled.
"Because the truth is...""
The video glitched.
Then her final words came through.
"Your mother didn't steal your father from Isabella's family.""
The screen went black.
A final message appeared.
*She stole him from me.*
May you like
And beneath it was one last line.
*Ask Evelyn why Thomas Reeves chose her instead of me.*
