Billionaire's Veins of Deception

ng through the chimney like a wounded thing. By morning, Black

he barely slept every time she closed her eyes; the letter replayed

the letter was proof that s

nting off silver and crystal. Damian sat at the head of the long table, reading a file as though the world out

er voice smooth as glass. I tr

osure. Though it took some time to fall asl

smiling faintly. It listens to eve

s papers. You should eat

e silence was brittle. Only the sound of

u work with such precision. Tell me, has res

Paintings lie just like people.

reach her eyes. Wise.

anged a small tour after breakfast, he said. There's a laboratory on the estate.

la

e genetics email, Dr. Lang's warning, an

arefully. I'

ealed corridors that smelled of dust and disuse. Dami

s of labeled vials, and computers that blinked with faint life desp

ile light. He believed blood wasn't just legacy, it was design. Every Devereux

thology than scienc

verifiable. Every legitimat

ed. Why are you

on sponsors genetic preservation programs. Yo

. You think I'm involv

begin restoring our portrait, a genetic anomaly appears in our archives, one l

ou ran a test, she sa

oward a screen. Our system flag

ed faintly: E. Cruz – 94.6% m

e sterile hum around her vanished

kind of joke?

e lowered. I

shaking her head.

t her voice cracked.

is expression unreadable. Then help me

ared at

ing I've believed about my family is a lie. And

e was no arrogance in them, no control

ard. Fine. I'll

, pulling out a sterile kit. Swab you

k, his fingers brushed hers. A spark shot through her a jol

it into a small analyzer. The machine hummed to l

ms folded. You said you recognized th

otect her mother's memory, but if this man alr

. María Cruz. She was a nurse and a

ía Cruz, he repeated, voice barely abov

er

er yellowed at the edges. This was among my father's private notes, he said, placing it on th

nts, research notes, and a faded photograph: her

e, the familiarity of her face beside a man of wea

nished for months the year before my sister's supposed death. His voice

whispered. Or that'

at her. Wh

care. There were n

firms what I suspect, then those gaps we

ned. Why would

use if you're who I think you are, you we

. Damian retreated into thought, pacing the lab whil

amian moved first, retrieving the pri

he paper. Her hands

ect Sibling Relation (D

fell utte

ing rush of disbelief and nausea. No, she wh

enched. The sys

I'm your. She

e breaking for the first

ntly. The warmth of his hand against her arm made everything worse

the name itself were fadin

hing hard. You knew something.

admitted. But

? Her voice rose. Expose me? Bury me

e was answ

ght I was chasing my mother's ghost. Turns out, I was

ened with pain. You

used

ct you from my mother, from the board, from

u tested my DNA without consent

ftened. I still don't know who's pulling the strings, Elena. Someone sent th

mbling. Then maybe tha

aría's been dead

ut she left me a letter.

darkened. That

this is impo

ice shattered

like a blade wrapped in silk. The past

she'd been listening all along. Her gaze swept from Damian to

d to Damian, her voice trembling with restrained

ep forward. You

hat my husband did. And I knew wha

rasi

old. You were an infant caught in a scandal that

an you

the shareholders, the press would have spared a child

broke. You cal

er's eyes, she said softly. Every day, I tried t

hem. Enough. We need the

ed for a heartbeat. Y

ake me

id finally, her voice a whisper of surrender. Mee

out, leaving the air

hand through his hair. S

d, her voice raw. B

something tangled, forbidden, and dangerous. For a second, their eye

, he said quietly. E

ed. It a

er the cliffs, shaking the

lt still glowed on the screen, proof that bl

of generations seemed to watch in silence as i

was the Devere