CHAPTER 6: THE SECRET MY MOTHER STOLE
CHAPTER 6: THE SECRET MY MOTHER STOLE
I couldn't breathe.
My briefcase slipped from my hand.
"Mom?"
The word felt strange.
Unfamiliar.
Like speaking a forgotten language.
The woman looked up slowly.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Emma."
Twenty years.
Twenty years since she abandoned me.
Twenty years without a phone call.
Without a birthday card.
Without anything.
And now she was sitting in my office beside Ryan Kane.
I turned toward him.
"What is this?"
Ryan smiled.
"Surprise."
I wanted to punch him.
Instead I looked at my mother.
"Why are you here?"
She stood.
Her hands trembled.
"Because I've been trying to find you."
I laughed bitterly.
"For twenty years?"
The guilt on her face was obvious.
Good.
She deserved it.
Then she said something that changed everything.
"Your grandfather didn't leave you everything."
I froze.
"What?"
Ryan's smile widened.
My mother pulled a folder from her purse.
"There was another inheritance."
The room became silent.
She slowly opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Old photographs.
One showed my grandfather standing beside a young woman.
Another showed a baby.
Another showed legal documents.
Then I saw the name.
My name.
And another name beside it.
A twin sister.
I stared at the paper.
Unable to process what I was reading.
"No."
My mother nodded through tears.
"Yes."
I felt the room spinning.
"I had a sister?"
"You still do."
My world stopped.
Still do.
Alive.
Somewhere.
My mother continued.
"Your grandfather separated you after a family dispute."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
A twin.
A sister.
Alive.
Ryan stood.
"This changes everything."
I turned toward him.
"How?"
His smile became cruel.
"Because your sister owns the other half of the inheritance."
Silence.
Pure silence.
Then he delivered the final blow.
"And she's engaged to me."
The room exploded.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The attacks.
The articles.
The threats.
Ryan didn't want revenge.
He wanted control.
Control of the inheritance.
Control of the company.
Control of everything.
But he had no idea what was coming next.
Because somewhere out there was a sister I'd never met.
And unlike Ryan...
She had no idea he was using her.
The moment she learned the truth...
His entire plan would collapse.
May you like
And I intended to make sure she learned it.
Soon.
