Chapter 2 - The Sister Who Never DiedElena couldn't speak.
Julian couldn't either.
Only Mia remained confused.
“My... aunt?”
Julian nodded slowly.
“Your mother was my sister.”
Mia stared at him.
“But my mother died.”
“I know.”
“She died when I was six.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you say—”
Julian stopped.
Because he knew the answer.
The official story had always been simple.
Claire Blackwood had died in a boating accident twenty years earlier.
Her newborn daughter had supposedly died the same night.
The family had mourned.
The fortune had been divided.
Julian had inherited control of the company.
And the Blackwood name had continued.
But Julian had never believed Claire's death was an accident.
He had been twenty-one when it happened.
His father had told him not to ask questions.
His mother had cried for three days.
Then she had become strangely calm.
The next morning, every photograph of Claire disappeared from the mansion.
Every letter was burned.
Every trace of the baby vanished.
Julian had been told that grief made people irrational.
So he accepted the lie.
Until now.
Mia stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Julian couldn't answer.
Because he had never known.
At least, that was what he wanted to believe.
Elena suddenly spoke.
“This is ridiculous.”
Julian turned toward her.
“What?”
“You're believing this because of two old rings?”
“Those rings belonged to my family.”
“So?”
“So the girl knows the Blackwood crest.”
“She could have stolen it.”
Mia flinched.
Elena noticed.
But she continued.
“This is manipulation.”
Julian looked at her.
“Then we'll get a DNA test.”
Elena went completely still.
Mia looked frightened.
“A DNA test?”
Julian softened.
“Yes.”
“Will you send me away?”
“No.”
“Will I lose my job?”
Julian stared at her.
“You were never supposed to have a job here.”
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
She had spent two years believing she was barely worth noticing.
Now the richest man in the city was telling her she belonged in his family.
It was too much.
That night, Julian moved Mia into the guest suite.
Elena objected.
“She can't stay here.”
“She isn't leaving.”
“She is a servant.”
Julian's voice hardened.
“Not anymore.”
Mia stood silently near the doorway.
She felt as if she had stepped into someone else's life.
The next morning, a private doctor arrived.
The DNA test was conducted under strict confidentiality.
Julian waited.
Elena disappeared into her office.
For the first time, Mia was alone with Julian.
He brought her breakfast.
She looked at the plate.
“I can eat in the kitchen.”
“You don't have to.”
“I don't know how to eat at a table like this.”
Julian pulled out the chair.
“Then I'll teach you.”
Mia sat.
After several minutes, she asked the question that had haunted her since yesterday.
“Did my mother hate this family?”
Julian looked down.
“No.”
“Then why did she leave?”
Julian swallowed.
“Because someone wanted her gone.”
Mia's fork stopped.
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
That was the first lie.
Julian suspected exactly who.
His father.
And perhaps his mother.
But there was something else.
A memory had returned.
The night Claire disappeared.
His father had stood in the hallway holding a leather suitcase.
He had said only five words.
“Your sister made a mistake.”
Julian had never known what that meant.
Until now.
That afternoon, the DNA results arrived.
Julian opened the envelope.
His hands shook.
He read the first line.
Then the second.
His eyes filled with tears.
Mia stood across from him.
“What does it say?”
Julian looked at her.
“You're Claire's daughter.”
Mia's knees weakened.
Julian caught her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Mia whispered:
“So I'm really a Blackwood?”
“Yes.”
She cried.
Not because she was suddenly rich.
Not because she had discovered an inheritance.
She cried because, for the first time, she knew her mother had not lied to her.
Her mother had told her the truth.
There had been a family.
A name.
A history.
A place where she belonged.
But while Julian held Mia, Elena stood outside the half-open door.
She had heard everything.
And in her hand was a small black phone.
She typed one message.
She knows.
Then she waited.
Three seconds later, a reply appeared.
Then we have to make sure she doesn't live long enough to inherit.
May you like
Elena deleted the message.
And smiled.
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