A Five-Year Deception, A Lifetime of Payback

as Ivan took a step closer, the administrative manager

temp. She has a terrible flu, d

d by annoyance. He waved a dismis

my friend; she was a shark of a lawyer, the sharpest mind I knew. We me

ar lie. I slid the flash drive across the table. Her face, us

as she gripped her coffee cup. "All of them. Your p

i," I said quietly. "I just want t

ded slowly. "Okay. If that's w

's assets, not to mention a massive settlement

ke ash. "Their money is what they used to buy my silence

reak. We can do that. We'll prepare the divorce papers, cite infidelity. And a docu

n grim. "Aliana, look at this. Ivan's been making regular purcha

ours straight, only to wake up and find Ivan and my parents gone, supposedly on an "urgent family mat

n on your birthday, aren't they? Drug you so you sleep thro

there was some twisted, misguided love behind the

that had nothing to do with humor. "Of course,"

abbed my hand. Her grip was firm, gr

going to let them think their plan is workin

tion. The legal renunciation of the Donovan name and fortune. With each

e I was a child in the system, before they found me. A name that was truly mine. Hope Andersen. The flight was for Satur

is computer. He quickly minimized the screen when I walked in, but I caught a gli

light up on the desk behind me. A message from my mother:

getting my birthday to cele

ient package," he said

some rest," I sa

smissive peck on the chee

lied, the words

loneliness didn't hurt. It felt like freedom. I was no longer Aliana Donovan, the long-lost daughter,