Chapter 6 – Proof of Blood

“Then show me.”

Liana’s whisper barely filled the vast office, but it struck like a gavel, final and unshakable.

Three pairs of eyes—piercing, steady, unyielding—locked on her. Leo’s fingers tightened into a steeple, Cassian adjusted his glasses with deliberate calm, and Dante’s lips curved into the softest, most heartbreaking smile she had ever seen.

Leo rose first. His imposing figure loomed over the mahogany desk as he pressed a button on the side. A quiet click sounded, and a hidden drawer slid open. He retrieved a sleek black folder embossed with the Carver family crest—two lions standing on either side of a golden crown.

He laid the folder before her. “Your proof.”

Her hands trembled as she reached for it. Inside were documents—birth records, court papers, news clippings. Her eyes snagged on a faded photograph: a baby with dark curls wrapped in a pink blanket. Someone had scrawled a date at the corner—her birthdate.

Her stomach knotted.

“This doesn’t prove anything,” she said hoarsely, though her voice lacked conviction.

Cassian stepped closer, his sharp gaze cutting through her resistance like a scalpel. He placed a sealed envelope on the desk. “This will. DNA results. Our blood against yours.”

She stared at the envelope as if it might burn her. Her mind screamed at her to walk away, but her feet wouldn’t move. Slowly, she tore it open.

Her eyes caught the words instantly.

Probability of Relation: 99.99%.

The room spun. She clutched the desk to steady herself.

Dante stepped forward then, almost too gently. “Still not convinced?” He slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and drew out something small, wrapped in tissue. He unfolded it carefully, like it was the most precious thing in the world.

A tiny bracelet. Worn, faded, but unmistakably delicate. The name Liana engraved in careful cursive across the surface.

Her breath hitched. “Where did you—”

“It was yours,” Dante said softly. His voice carried that lyrical cadence that had sold out stadiums, yet now it was threaded with raw vulnerability. “You wore it the day you disappeared. I was barely a child, but I never forgot. I’ve kept it with me ever since, waiting for the day I could return it.”

He took her trembling wrist and slipped the bracelet over her hand. It was loose now, almost comically small against her grown-up skin, but her chest tightened painfully.

Tears threatened, but she blinked them back. She wouldn’t fall apart—not here, not in front of them.

Leo’s voice rumbled like thunder. “Do you believe us now?”

She swallowed hard, her throat raw. “…I don’t know what to believe.”

Cassian exchanged a look with his brothers, then turned back to her, his tone gentler. “Come with us, Liana. See the truth for yourself. Step into the world that should have always been yours.”

Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

The Carver world. Could she really?

She thought of Victor sneering at her across his desk, of Miranda parading through the house as if she were the true wife. She thought of years of being treated like nothing. And then she looked at these three men—men the world feared, adored, respected—and saw something else in their eyes.

Not pity. Not disdain.

Family.

Her voice shook as she whispered, “Show me.”

********

The black Rolls-Royce glided through iron gates taller than any she had ever seen. Beyond stretched a driveway so long she couldn’t see its end, lined with cherry blossom trees in bloom. Their petals fluttered across the windshield like pink snow.

Liana pressed a hand to her chest, struggling to breathe. She had seen mansions in glossy magazines, but nothing compared to this. At the driveway’s end rose a sprawling estate of glass and stone, its towering windows reflecting the setting sun in dazzling brilliance. It wasn’t a house—it was a kingdom.

“This is…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Home,” Dante supplied gently.

Leo’s sharp gaze flicked toward her. “Your home.”

Her heart stuttered.

As the car stopped before the marble steps, a line of uniformed staff emerged—maids, butlers, guards—all bowing in perfect unison. “Welcome home, Miss Carver.”

The words slammed into her chest. She stumbled out of the car, her heels clicking against the pristine stone. Her whole life she’d been invisible, overlooked, dismissed. Now an entire estate greeted her as if she were royalty.

Her eyes burned again, but she forced herself to stay composed.

Inside, the mansion was even more overwhelming. Chandeliers glittered overhead, casting golden light over sweeping staircases and priceless art. Every surface gleamed, every corner whispered wealth and power.

“This is insane,” she murmured. “I don’t belong here.”

Cassian’s voice was calm but firm. “You do. This is where you were meant to be all along.”

Leo’s hand landed briefly on her shoulder, heavy and grounding. “Get used to it.”

But it was Dante who noticed her trembling hands. He stepped closer, lowering his voice so only she could hear. “It’s a lot, I know. But you’re not alone anymore. We’ll help you through this.”

Her throat tightened. She wanted to believe him.

>>>>>

Elsewhere in the city, in a penthouse reeking of expensive cologne and desperation, Victor Hale slammed his whiskey glass against the table.

“She filed for divorce. Just like that. Walked away as if I meant nothing!”

Miranda Monroe, draped across the leather sofa in silk, arched a brow. “Maybe because you treated her like nothing.”

Victor’s jaw clenched. “She was supposed to stay. She had nowhere else to go.”

Miranda’s smile was cruel. “Until now.” She tossed a newspaper onto the table. The headline screamed:

MISSING CARVER HEIRESS FOUND? Rumors Swirl Around Superstar Dante’s ‘Lost Sister’

Victor’s blood ran cold.

“No…” He snatched the paper, scanning the photos—grainy shots of Liana leaving the Carver tower with her so-called brothers.

Miranda’s voice dripped with venom. “Your wife isn’t just anyone. She’s a Carver. And you…” She laughed lowly. “You’ve just made the dumbest mistake of your life.”

Victor’s grip crushed the paper in his fist. “If she thinks she can destroy me with their name, she’s wrong. I’ll ruin her first.”

His eyes glowed with vicious determination.

>>>>>>

Back in the Carver estate, Liana stood at the balcony of her new bedroom, staring out over the endless gardens. Her bracelet glimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Everything had changed in a single day. She had lost a husband, lost the only life she had ever known… and gained brothers who claimed she was theirs.

Was it real? Could she trust them? Could she trust herself to step into this new identity?

Behind her, the door creaked. Dante leaned against the frame, his usual stage-charisma softened into something tender.

“You don’t have to be strong all the time, you know,” he said gently.

She turned sharply, blinking back the tears threatening to spill. “I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You never were.” He crossed the room in two strides, brushing a petal from her hair. “You’re our little sister, Liana. Nothing will ever change that.”

Her chest tightened painfully. For the first time in years, someone’s words didn’t sound like empty promises.

But in the shadows of the night, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the war with Victor and Miranda had only just begun.