Chapter 8

Rihanna POV

I stared at the message until the screen went dark. My reflection appeared on the phone, but I barely recognized myself. Two years ago, I trusted Alistair because he was the only person who seemed willing to save me. He gave me a new name, a new life, and enough power to stand again. Now one photograph had made me question everything. Maybe I was being played. Maybe someone wanted me to turn against my own family.

“Rihanna,” Sylas said quietly. “We should leave.” I slipped the phone into my pocket. “Not yet.” He looked toward the hallway. “The person who brought you here is gone.” “I know.” I picked up the photograph. “But he left something behind.” Sylas studied my face. “What?” I held up the picture. “A question.” He waited. “Why would Alistair be meeting Arthur two years ago?” Sylas didn't answer.

We returned to my penthouse shortly after midnight. I couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw that photograph again. Arthur beside the hospital. Taylor security nearby. Sarah standing in the background. Nothing about it made sense. I opened my laptop and searched the hospital records available through Taylor Global. The security footage from that night had supposedly been destroyed. Supposedly. That word suddenly bothered me.

I called Sarah again.

Still nothing.

I opened her employee file and checked her emergency contacts. Everything looked normal. Her employment history was clean. Her references were impressive. She had even worked for another Taylor subsidiary before meeting me. I stared at that line for several seconds. “Another Taylor subsidiary?” I whispered. Why had Sarah never mentioned that? Maybe it meant nothing. Or maybe I had been too busy planning revenge to notice the obvious.

At six the next morning, I finally called Alistair. He answered on the second ring. “Victoria.” His voice sounded calm. “Grandfather.” There was a pause. “You sound troubled.” “I have a question.” “Ask.” “Where were you two years ago?” Silence filled the call. I leaned back in my chair. “Grandfather?” “I travel often.”

“That's not an answer.” He chuckled softly. “You always were impatient.” I didn't smile.“I found a photograph.”

His voice changed.

“What photograph?” Now I knew. He knew exactly what I meant. “A photograph from the hospital.”

Another silence hung in the air then he sighed.

“Where did you get it?” “Someone left it for me.” “Who?” “I asked you first.” He didn't answer. I felt anger building inside me. “You told me everything about my family.” “No.” “You told me enough.” “I told you what you needed to know.” My fingers tightened around the phone. “That sounds convenient.”

“Rihanna.”

My heart stopped.

He had used my real name, not Victoria but sweetheart. Rihanna. I stood slowly. “Why did you call me that?” He remained silent. I laughed bitterly. “So you knew.” “Of course I knew.” You knew from the beginning? “Yes.” My chest tightened.

“Then why did you let me believe I was hiding?” “Because hiding kept you alive.” I stared at the city through my window. “From who?” He didn't answer.

“Grandfather, who was trying to kill me?” He paused again then he said something that made my blood run cold.

“Your father.” I couldn't speak. My father had died when I was young. At least, that was what I had always been told. “What did you just say?”

“Your father wasn't the man you believed him to be.” I gripped the edge of the desk. “Stop talking in riddles.” “You aren't ready.”

“I have spent two years preparing for everything.”

“You prepared for the Sterlings.” His voice hardened. “You didn't prepare for your own family.”

The call ended. I stared at the phone. Then I threw it onto the sofa. “Unbelievable.” Sylas walked into the room. “You heard everything?” He nodded. I looked at him. “Did you know? He hesitated. That hesitation answered me. I walked toward him.

“What aren't you telling me?”

“Your grandfather gave me instructions.”

“About what?”

“Your safety.” “That isn't what I asked.” Sylas looked away. “About your father.” I went completely still. “You knew about him?” “Only what I was told.” “What were you told?” He took a breath. “That your father wasn't dead.” My mouth opened slightly. For years, I had accepted his death.

I had never questioned it. My mother had cried. The family had held a funeral.

Everyone had told me the same story.

My father died in an accident.

Yet now two men were telling me something different. I sat down slowly. “Where is he?” “I don't know.” “Does Alistair?” “I believe he does.” I stared at the floor. This was becoming ridiculous. First, Sarah disappeared. Then someone exposed my secret.

Now my grandfather claimed my father was alive.

What kind of family did I belong to? I picked up my phone and called Alistair again.

He didn't answer.

I called twice more, then he finally sent me a photograph

I opened it. photograph appeared. My father stood beside a younger Alistair.

They were outside a building I had never seen before. Behind them stood another man. Arthur Sterling. My breathing slowed down.

This wasn't random.The Sterlings had known my family long before I married Edrian. I zoomed in on the image. A date appeared beneath the photograph. October 14, 2003. I stared at it. That was the year I was four. I zoomed in again. There was writing on the back of the photograph. Three words. The deal began. My stomach turned. “What deal?” I whispered.

Sylas stepped closer. Then my phone rang, Unknown number calling.

I answered. Nobody spoke. “Who is this?” A man's voice finally came through. “You want answers?” Yes. “Then stop attacking the Sterlings.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Who are you?” “Someone who knows what they did.”

“What did they do?” He laughed softly.

“You still think Edrian betrayed you for Valerie.”

My expression changed. “What are you talking about?” “Valerie wasn't the beginning.” I stood. “Then what was?” The caller paused. “Your marriage.”

I froze. “What about it?” “You were never supposed to marry Edrian.” My pulse quickened. “Why?” “Because your marriage was arranged.”

I stared at the wall. “No.”

“It was.” “Who arranged it?” The caller's voice became quieter. “Your grandfather.” The call ended and stood completely still.

For two years, I had believed my marriage destroyed my life.

I believed Edrian chose Valerie and Arthur hated me.

I believed Alistair saved me because he loved me. But what if my marriage had never been an accident? What if I had been placed inside the Sterling family for a reason?

My laptop suddenly chimed. Another file had arrived. I opened it. My eyes widened. It was my original marriage contract. Not the one Arthur had shown me.

A second contract, One I had never seen. At the bottom were two signatures which belong to Alistair Taylor and Arthur Sterling.

And beneath them was a handwritten sentence that made my hands go cold.

Rihanna Taylor will become the key to both families.

I stared at the words.

Then another line appeared beneath the document. Ask yourself why they needed you married to Edrian. Why had my family wanted me inside the Sterling family in the first place?