Chapter 6 - My Mother Was Alive, and She Had Been Watching Me Grow Up From Across the StreetIsabella Monroe lived in a quiet Boston neighborhood.
She opened the door.
The moment she saw me, she cried.
“Lena.”
I knew.
It was her.
My mother.
Alive.
Older.
But still her.
I couldn't move.
Then she opened her arms.
I ran to her.
For twenty years, I had imagined what it would feel like to see her again.
Nothing had prepared me.
She held me tightly.
“I am sorry.”
“You're alive.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep you alive.”
I cried.
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“Letters.”
“I never got them.”
“Your father intercepted them.”
I stared.
“Who is Isabella Monroe?”
“Your mother's identity.”
I laughed through tears.
“You were so close.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you let me think you were dead?”
“Because your father was searching.”
“And Adrien's family?”
“They protected me.”
“His father?”
“Yes.”
“You loved him.”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“What happened?”
“He was killed.”
“By my father.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
My mother looked at Adrien.
“You look like him.”
He swallowed.
“My father loved you.”
“He loved you too.”
Adrien froze.
Me.
I had been six.
I didn't understand.
“He loved me?”
“He protected you.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew your father would use you.”
She touched my face.
“You were the child he swore to protect.”
I looked at Adrien.
He seemed stunned.
My mother continued.
“The trust was created by your grandmother.”
“For victims.”
“For families.”
“For children.”
My father wanted it.
But couldn't access it without me.
The trust required a living descendant who had no criminal convictions.
Me.
“That is why he hunted you.”
“Why did Marcus date me?”
“To locate the trust.”
“And Chloe?”
“To control Adrien.”
“How?”
“She was supposed to marry him.”
“Why?”
“The families planned to merge.”
“Then me?”
“You were supposed to disappear.”
I looked at Adrien.
He nodded.
“My father believed you were dangerous.”
“Because of the trust.”
“Yes.”
My mother handed me a folder.
The final trust.
It named me.
But there was another clause.
The beneficiary may choose to dissolve the trust and transfer the assets to the victims.
I looked at my mother.
“What do you want me to do?”
She smiled.
“What you think is right.”
That was the first time an adult had ever told me I could decide.
I looked at Adrien.
He said nothing.
I signed.
The trust was dissolved.
The money would go where my mother intended.
But my father would fight.
And he did.
He arrived that night.
He brought armed men.
He wanted me alive.
Adrien stood between us.
“Stop.”
My father laughed.
“You think love will save her?”
Adrien raised his gun.
“No.”
“Choice will.”
My father shot.
Adrien fell.
I screamed.
My mother pushed me down.
Security returned fire.
My father escaped.
Adrien was injured.
Not fatally.
But badly.
I stayed beside him.
He woke the next morning.
“Did we lose?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I signed.”
“The trust?”
“It's gone.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
“You aren't angry?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother was right.”
“About what?”
“You were never meant to inherit an empire.”
“You were meant to decide what happened to it.”
I smiled.
He reached for my hand.
I gave it.
May you like
That was when I knew.
I loved him.
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