Chapter 5

How was I supposed to explain something I had never done?

I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the people I had called my family for eighteen years, hoping that someone would look at me and see the truth in my eyes. My hands were shaking as I looked from the tablet in Grandpa’s hand to the disgusted expressions on my parents’ faces, but no matter how desperately I searched for even a little doubt in their eyes, all I found was accusation.

“That isn't me,” I said again, my voice trembling. “I swear I didn't do any of those things. I have been in my room since yesterday, and Leander can confirm that. He was the one who brought me upstairs. How could I have entered Dad's study when I never even left my bedroom?”

Mom stared at me as if I had just told her the most ridiculous lie she had ever heard.

“Stop lying!” she shouted, and I flinched at the suddenness of her voice. “We have the footage right in front of us, Seren. We saw you walk into your father's study, open his safe, and take pictures of confidential documents. We heard what you said about destroying this family because you weren't our biological daughter. What more do you want us to see before you admit what you have done?”

“But I didn't do it!” I cried, taking a step toward her. “Mom, please, you have to believe me. I know what the video shows, but I wasn't the person in it. Someone is trying to frame me!”

“Frame you?” Uncle Julius repeated with a bitter laugh. “Who would go through all this trouble to frame a girl who has just discovered she isn't biologically related to the family she has been living with? Don't you think the timing is a little too convenient?”

I turned toward him, unable to believe what I was hearing.

“You think I planned this?” I asked. “You think I woke up yesterday and decided to steal from the family that raised me? I have lived here for eighteen years! I grew up with these people. I celebrated every birthday in this house, ate at the same table, and called them my parents. Now you're telling me that because a test says I'm not their biological daughter, I suddenly want to destroy everything they own?”

Nobody answered me.

Grandpa lowered the tablet and looked at me with the kind of cold expression I had never seen directed at me before. “You have always been too comfortable in this house, Seren. Perhaps we made the mistake of giving you more than you deserved.”

His words struck me harder than Mom's slap had.

I stared at him, remembering all the times he had patted my head, called me his little princess, and told me that one day I would make the Whitmore name even greater. I had believed every word because I had never imagined that the man who had watched me grow up could look at me now and speak as if I were a stranger who had stolen her way into his home.

“Grandpa, please,” I whispered. “You know me. You know I would never do something like this.”

“I thought I knew you,” he replied. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

Something inside me began to break.

They continued throwing accusations at me, one after another, barely giving me enough time to answer before someone else called me a liar, a thief, or an ungrateful girl who had finally shown her true colors. Dad remained silent for most of it, but the disappointment on his face was almost unbearable. I kept looking at him, waiting for him to say something in my defense, even if it was only to ask them to let me explain.

He didn't.

“Why won't anyone listen to me?” I finally screamed, my voice echoing through the living room. Tears streamed down my face as I looked at each of them, no longer caring how I sounded. “I DIDN'T DO IT! Why would I steal from the family I've known for eighteen years? Why would I destroy the only home I've ever had? Can't any of you stop for one second and think? Someone might be pulling the strings from behind all this! Someone might be trying to make you hate me, and you're all so busy accusing me that you can't even see it!”

“Enough!” Grandpa barked.

“No!” I screamed back, surprising even myself. “I'm tired of begging you to believe me! Yesterday, you told me I wasn't your daughter, and before I could even understand what that meant, you all started treating me like I was some stranger who had been living off your kindness. Now you're accusing me of stealing your secrets, and none of you even want to hear my side of the story!”

Mom's face twisted with anger. “How dare you raise your voice at us after what you have done?”

“What have I done?” I demanded, turning toward her with tears blurring my vision. “Tell me what I have done! Give me one thing I actually did instead of showing me a video of someone who looks like me!”

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Then Dad's phone began to ring.

He glanced at the screen, and whatever he saw made him turn away from us before answering the call. I watched him closely, hoping the interruption might give someone time to calm down, but the expression on his face changed before he had even finished listening.

“What do you mean the product has already been launched?” he demanded.

My heart began to pound.

Dad paced toward the windows as the voice on the other end continued speaking. Although I couldn't hear every word, I caught the name of a company I had heard mentioned several times during family dinners.

Rose Holdings LLC.

His expression grew darker with every passing second.

“Sir, they just announced the launch,” his assistant explained through the phone. “Their new product is already receiving attention, but there's a serious problem. The concept and several of its core features look almost exactly like the development we've been working on. The board has seen the announcement, and they're furious. They're demanding answers, and we've already lost almost a hundred million dollars in market value.”

Dad stopped walking.

For several seconds, he said nothing. His grip tightened around his phone until his knuckles turned pale, and when he finally spoke, his voice was dangerously low.

“Find out how they got their hands on our work. I want to know everything.”

He ended the call and slowly turned toward me.

I knew that look.

It was no longer disappointment or confusion. It was hatred, so intense that I felt as though I were standing in front of someone who wanted nothing more than to see me suffer.

“You did this,” he said.

I shook my head immediately. “Dad, no. I didn't even know anything about the product you were developing. I've never seen those documents in my life!”

“Your father's company has just lost almost a hundred million dollars because someone stole our work,” Grandpa said, rising from his seat. “And we have security footage showing you taking pictures of the very documents that were stolen. Do you honestly expect us to believe this is a coincidence?”

“Please, Grandpa. Think about it! If I really wanted to hurt the family, why would I do something so carelessly that you could find footage of me? Why would I leave evidence everywhere?”

“Because you thought we would continue protecting you!” he snapped. “You believed that after eighteen years of pretending to be one of us, you could betray us and still expect us to stand beside you.”

I looked at Dad one last time.

“Please,” I whispered. “You know I would never hurt you.”

He looked away.

That small movement destroyed the last piece of hope I had been holding on to.

Grandpa turned toward the security guards standing near the entrance. “Take her upstairs and pack her belongings. She is no longer welcome in this house.”

My head snapped toward him. “What?”

“You heard me. Get her out of my estate.”

“Grandpa, you can't do this!” I cried, stepping backward as the guards approached. “Where am I supposed to go? This is my home!”

“Not anymore,” he replied without a trace of sympathy. “You have stolen from this family and brought shame upon our name. You should consider yourself fortunate that I am allowing you to leave without involving the police.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“You're throwing me out?”

“You have five minutes to collect what belongs to you. If you are still here when those five minutes are over, the guards will escort you out with nothing.”

I looked at Mom, but she turned her face away. Dad didn't even look at me again, and Uncle Julius stood beside Grandpa with his arms crossed, as though he were watching a troublesome visitor being removed from the property.

Nobody stopped them when the guards took me upstairs.

Nobody apologized when they pushed my suitcase into my hands.

And nobody said a word when I was escorted through the front door of the mansion where I had spent almost my entire life.

The gates closed behind me with a heavy metallic sound.

I stood there, clutching my suitcase, unable to understand how everything could have changed so quickly. Only yesterday, I had been their daughter. I had woken up in my bedroom believing that even if the news about my birth turned out to be true, my family would still love me.

Now I had nowhere to go.

My knees finally gave way, and I sank onto the ground outside the gates, crying so hard that my chest hurt. I called Mom's name, hoping she might come outside and tell the guards to let me back in, but the house remained silent. I tried calling Dad, only to remember that my phone was upstairs, along with almost everything else I owned.

I had no money in my pocket, no phone, and no idea how I was supposed to survive.

The weather began to change as the afternoon wore on. The clouds that had gathered over the estate grew darker, and the wind swept across the driveway, carrying the smell of rain. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and looked at the closed gates one last time.

They weren't going to let me back in.

No matter how much I cried, nobody was coming to save me.

I forced myself to stand, pulled my suitcase behind me, and started walking toward the only place I could think of.

The Knox estate.

Leander had always been my safe place. Even when the rest of the world felt too difficult to understand, I had believed I could turn to him. He had known me since childhood, and he had promised more than once that he would never leave me alone.

He had to believe me.

By the time I reached the Knox estate, my feet were aching, and the first drops of rain had begun to fall. I dragged my suitcase up the front steps and knocked on the door, my fingers trembling from the cold and exhaustion.

The butler opened it after a short wait.

“Miss Seren?” he asked, looking surprised to see me standing there with a suitcase.

“Is Leander home?” I managed to ask.

“Yes, miss. Please, come inside.”

He stepped aside, allowing me to enter the familiar house. I had visited the Knox estate countless times, and the sight of the polished floors and tall windows should have comforted me, but something about the quietness of the house made me uneasy.

The butler took one look at my wet clothes and pale face before offering to have someone bring me a towel. I thanked him quietly, but my eyes were already searching the hallway for Leander.

I found him in his study.

He was sitting behind his desk with his laptop open, his attention fixed on whatever was displayed on the screen. When I stepped inside, he lifted his head, and his expression changed slightly at the sight of me standing in the doorway with my suitcase.

“Seren?” He closed his laptop halfway. “What happened? Why are you here with your luggage?”

The moment I heard his voice, the tears I had been struggling to hold back threatened to fall again.

“They threw me out,” I whispered.

He stared at me for a few seconds before standing up. “Who did?”

“My family.” I swallowed painfully. “Grandpa said I was no longer welcome in the estate. They think I stole confidential documents and gave them to Rose Holdings, but I didn't do it, Leander. I swear I didn't. Someone is trying to frame me, and nobody will listen.”

He walked around his desk, his eyes moving over my face as if he were trying to understand everything I had said.

“Have you eaten anything?”

I shook my head.

“Sit down,” he said, pointing toward the sofa. “I'll get you some water.”

I sank onto the sofa, setting my suitcase beside me. My entire body felt heavy, and I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open. I watched him walk to the small cabinet near the corner of the study, take out a glass, and fill it with water.

When he returned, he held the glass out to me.

“Drink this first. You look terrible.”

I accepted it with both hands. “Thank you, Leander.”

He sat across from me, watching as I raised the glass to my lips. The water was cool, and I swallowed several mouthfuls before setting the glass down.

 I felt as though I could finally breathe.

I was with Leander now.

He would listen to me. He would help me figure out who had framed me, and he wouldn't let the people who destroyed my life get away with it.

A strange heaviness began spreading through my body.

I blinked and tried to focus on Leander, but the edges of the room had started to blur. I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was simply exhausted, yet the darkness creeping into my vision only grew thicker.

“Leander,” I murmured. “I don't feel very well.”

He didn't answer immediately.

I tried to sit up, but my arms felt strangely weak, and my head began spinning. Panic rose inside me as I reached for the edge of the sofa, struggling to keep myself upright.

Something was wrong.

I had barely taken a few sips of water, yet I could no longer control my own body.

My gaze dropped to the glass on the table.

Then I looked at Leander.

He was watching me.

The last thing I remembered was trying to call his name as the room tilted violently around me, followed by the terrifying realization that the water I had just drunk must have been drugged.

And then everything went black.