Chapter 53
Emily’s POV
I stood there, trembling, my mind spinning with the weight of Frank’s confession. My heart raced in fear as the horrible possibility sank in: had I unknowingly committed incest with my own brother? I couldn’t breathe, the terror tightening around my chest like a vise.
Frank must have sensed my panic because he raised his hands in a gesture of reassurance. “Emily, no,” he said, his voice steady but cold. “We’re not related by blood. I was adopted by Vera and Tom.”
Relief surged through me for a brief moment, but it didn’t last. Keith, who had been standing nearby, looked like he was barely holding onto his composure. His fists clenched, his eyes burning with fury.
“That doesn’t change anything!” Keith spat, his voice sharp and angry. “You still slept with her, you manipulated her-”
I cut him off, my voice trembling but firm. “Keith, this is none of your business.” I didn’t have the energy for his righteous anger, not now. Too much was happening, too much was unraveling. And I needed answers, not his judgment.
Before Keith could respond, Vincent, who had been silently watching from the side, finally stepped forward. His expression was serious, hist eyes dark with suspicion. “Wait a minute,” he said, addressing Frank
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directly. “You said Vera’s child was dead. How could it be Emily?”
Frank’s face hardened as he met Vincent’s gaze. “That’s what Vera believed. It was her truth, and it destroyed her. The loss of her child sent. her into a deep depression, one she never truly recovered from. But the truth… the truth was far more complicated.”
“Complicated?” I echoed, my voice barely above a whisper. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
Frank nodded slowly, his tone matter–of–fact, like he was discussing business. “Tom and his parents loved Vera. They stood by her through everything, and eventually, when she couldn’t get pregnant again, they adopted me to fill the void. They gave me everything. They loved me like. their own. But after Tom’s parents died in that plane crash, I discovered something… unsettling.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my throat dry as I hung on his every word.
“I found out that they had been searching for their granddaughter for years,” Frank continued. “Tom’s parents suspected that Vera’s parents had faked the child’s death. They believed Vera’s child–you, Emily–was alive somewhere. That she had been hidden, adopted by another family.”
My knees buckled slightly, and I had to grab onto a nearby chair for support. “No…” I whispered, my heart breaking. “That can’t be true.”
Frank’s voice softened, but there was no kindness in it. “It’s true, Emily. My adoptive grandparents left everything in their will to their.
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granddaughter, the real heir to the company–you. I couldn’t allow that to happen. That’s when I started searching for you.”
I shook my head, the room spinning with the weight of everything Frank had just revealed. “So, you… found me. You got close to me… just to destroy me?” My voice cracked, and I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. The betrayal was too much to bear, and yet I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to understand.
“Yes,” Frank admitted, his expression devoid of remorse. “When I first approached you, it was all part of the plan. You were approachable. Easy to manipulate. I saw your vulnerabilities, and I exploited them. But…….” He hesitated, glancing away briefly before continuing. “I didn’t expect to actually care about you. You were not even aware about your own wealth.”
His words cut deeper than any wound. “Care about me?” I repeated, my voice barely a whisper as disbelief mixed with pain. “You destroyed my life… and now you say you care?”
Frank’s eyes flickered with something–maybe regret, maybe something darker–but there was no real emotion in his voice. “I did what I had to do, Emily. This was always about survival. You were in the way of what I deserved.”
Tyler, who had been standing in silent shock, suddenly burst with rage. “You bastard!” he yelled, his face twisted in anger as he lunged at Frank. “You ruined her life!”
But Frank dodged Tyler’s attack easily, his movements calm and
calculated. “Don’t be foolish, Tyler,” Frank said coldly, his tone almost mocking. “This was always about survival. You think I wanted to play the villain? No. I just couldn’t let you or Emily take what was mine.”
Tyler was seething, fists clenched, but Frank’s cold demeanor didn’t falter. His voice remained steady as he added, “I never wanted to hurt Emily. The first attack wasn’t even meant for her. But once it happened, I saw an opportunity. I found her easy to manipulate, and I took it.”
My heart ached as Frank continued, his voice lower now. “I even erased all the evidence about Zane,” he admitted, his words sharp and cutting. “After you were gone, I made sure Zane couldn’t inherit the estate. It would have gone to me. It was never just about you, Emily. It was about controlling everything.”
Zane. The mention of my son brought an overwhelming sense of protectiveness surging through me. Frank had planned it all–even the future for my child. He wasn’t just trying to destroy me. He had mapped out a life where Zane would be left with nothing.
Tyler’s anger boiled over again, and he moved toward Frank with a fury that was hard to contain. “You sick son of a-”
Frank sidestepped him easily, his gaze never leaving mine. “Your adoptive parents knew,” he said quietly, his voice cold but steady. “They knew everything. They knew who you really were, but they never said anything. They chose to keep it all hidden, to live their lives as if none of it ever mattered.”
My heart sank at his words, and I felt the weight of betrayal from every
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angle. My adoptive parents, the people who had put me through so much misery–had they known the truth this whole time?
Tyler, still shaking with rage, looked at me, his face crumpled with disbelief. “That’s not true. It can’t be.”
Frank didn’t waver. “It is. They knew, and they kept it from her.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened as Frank’s words sunk deeper, like a poison slowly spreading through my veins. “You… used me,” I whispered, the realization hitting me harder than anything before. “Everything… was a lie.”
Frank’s expression remained cold. “Yes. But I tried to give you an out. I tried to stop the killer after I realized things had gone too far.”
A flicker of doubt washed over me. Was it possible? Could Frank have tried to stop the attacks? But then I remembered everything–the manipulation, the lies.
I couldn’t trust him, not after all he had done. Yet, despite everything, there was a part of me that wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe that I wasn’t just a pawn in his twisted game.
Tyler lunged again, but Frank was too quick, dodging effortlessly. “Don’t make this worse, Tyler,” Frank said, his voice cold and final. “It’s already done.”
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I couldn’t take it anymore. The room spun again, and the tears I had been holding back finally broke free. My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
My mind was a storm of emotions–betrayal, heartbreak, confusion. I had been used, manipulated, lied to by everyone I had ever trusted.
Keith was beside me in an instant, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into his chest. His hold was strong, protective, but I was too broken to respond. I cried into his shoulder, my body trembling with each sob..
“It’s okay, Emily,” Keith whispered softly into my car. “I’ve got you.
But it wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay. Everything I thought I knew had been a lie. The people I loved, the life I had built, it had all been ripped away from me in an instant.
