Chapter Nine

I didn't sleep at all that night.Instead, I lay in the unfamiliar bed of the guest house, staring up at the ceiling while the silence around me grew heavier with every passing hour.

The room itself was perfectly comfortable, and honestly, that was the worst part of it,Nathaniel hadn't thrown me into some miserable corner or treated me like a prisoner.

He had given me a beautiful space, soft sheets, and every luxury money could buy.

Somehow, that luxury only made it hurt more,It proved he knew exactly how to be considerate…he simply never chose to be that way with me.

My eyes drifted toward the window as the first pale light of morning slipped through the curtains.

For years, I had convinced myself that Nathaniel's distance was just an innate part of his character…that he was a man who struggled to express himself, a man who needed time, or just loved differently but last night, when he opened that door and cold-bloodedly told me to leave, I finally understood the brutal reality.

There is a profound difference between someone who doesn't know how to love you and someone who simply doesn't choose you.

My phone buzzed loudly on the bedside table,I reached for it automatically, still foolishly expecting a message from Nathaniel, and I hated myself for that lingering hope.

Instead, it was a text from Esther…Come see me,we need to talk.

There was no explanation and no further details, just those six stark words,I stared at the screen for several seconds before sitting up, a sudden tightness gripping my chest.

Esther had always been the only person in my life who looked at me like I was more than an inconvenient obligation, so if she said we needed to talk, I knew it truly mattered,I dressed quickly and slipped out before anyone in the main house could spot me.

I couldn't handle any questions right now…not from Nathaniel, not from Elora, not from anyone,the drive to Esther's apartment took less than thirty minutes, but during every mile, my mind endlessly replayed everything that had shattered since yesterday.

Marcus in the hospital, Nathaniel's bitter accusations, the impending divorce, and even the robe hanging in my closet,by the time I pulled up, I felt completely exhausted from fighting invisible battles no one else even seemed to care existed.

Esther opened the door before I could even knock. One look at my face, and her expression softened.

“Oh, Elena.”

Those two simple words nearly broke me, not because they were dramatic or filled with pity, but because they sounded like someone actually saw me,I stepped inside quickly, forcing myself to swallow the tears.

“I don't want you to feel sorry for me,” I muttered as she closed the door behind me.

“Good,” she replied.

I looked at her, frowning. “Good?”

She nodded firmly. “Because I don't feel sorry for you,I feel angry for you.”

The raw honesty caught me completely off guard.

Esther walked toward the kitchen and poured two cups of tea as if this were just an ordinary morning, and not the day after my entire life had fallen apart.

“Sit down,” she said gently, and I obeyed.

For a moment, neither of us spoke,then she placed a thick folder on the table,my eyes dropped to it immediately.

“What is that?”

“Something I should have shown you years ago.”

My fingers tightened around my warm cup.

“Grandma... what are you talking about?”

Instead of answering right away, she looked away, and that sudden avoidance scared me more than anything because Esther was never someone who hid her eyes from me.

“Your parents were not always as generous as they wanted everyone to believe,” she began.

A bitter smile crossed my lips. “I know that.”

“No, Elena,” her voice dropped to a gentle, warning register. “You really don't.”

The room suddenly felt much colder.

“What does that mean?”

Esther opened the folder slowly, revealing a stack of old, yellowed legal papers,my name was clearly written across the top of the first page,I stared down at it. “What is this?”

“A record of something Clara and Richard tried to do years ago.”

My heartbeat quickened. “Something they tried to do?”

She nodded grimly. “They tried to remove you.”

I froze. “Remove me from what?”

Her expression changed, shifting into something closer to deep regret. “Your inheritance.”

The words flatly didn't make sense, and I laughed quietly…not because it was funny, but because my mind simply refused to process them. “My inheritance?”

“Yes.”

I stared blankly at her. “What inheritance?”

Esther reached across the table and covered my trembling hand with hers. “Before you married Nathaniel, before you ever became part of the family, there was a secret your parents went to great lengths to hide from you.”

My throat tightened painfully. “Esther, please stop speaking in riddles.”

She sighed heavily. “You deserve the truth,Clara and Richard spent years making sure you believed you had nothing.”

My heart sank. “Why would they do that?”

“Because someone who knows their own worth is much harder to control.”

The words hit deeper than I ever expected. Suddenly, I thought about every single birthday where I watched Elora receive everything she wanted, every time I was told to be grateful, and every moment I was made to feel like I was just lucky to belong.

My fingers curled tightly around the edge of the table. “What exactly did they take from me?”

Esther didn't answer immediately. Instead, she turned another document over, then another, before finally pushing a single sheet toward me.

At the top was a name I didn't recognize at all, a name that meant absolutely nothing to me, but underneath it was a single typed word that made my entire body go completely still…Beneficiary.

I looked up at Esther. “Who is this?”

She hesitated, and for the first time since I had known her, she actually looked afraid. “Someone closely connected to your past.”

I shook my head in denial. “No,my past is Clara and Richard.”

Esther's eyes softened with pity. "That is simply what they wanted you to believe.”

A deep chill moved through me. “What aren't you telling me?”

She reached for my hand once more, her gaze steadying as she delivered the final blow.

“Elena... there’s more you don’t know about where you came from.”