Chapter 157
The luxurious dining room of the Vexley mansion’s smaller wing gleamed under the soft glow of a crystal chandelier, its facets creating fractured rainbows across the shiny mahogany table. Yet, the room was thick with tension, a storm brewing amid the clink of silverware and the distant hum of servants bustling in the halls. Mirabel Vexley sat at the head, her elegant fingers drumming impatiently on the arm of her chair, her immaculately styled hair framing a face etched with uncharacteristic desperation. For weeks now, she had been a woman possessed, her days consumed by phone calls to private investigators, her nights haunted by maps and reports strewn across her private study. The family dinner, once a ritual of superficial harmony, had devolved into a battlefield.
“Mom, honestly, this is getting ridiculous,” Celina whined from across the table, her manicured nails tapping against her wine glass. At eighteen, she was the epitome of spoiled glamour—blonde highlights falling over her shoulders, a designer dress hugging her lithe frame, her lips pursed in that perpetual pout that screamed entitlement. “You’ve been obsessing over that… that ridiculous caregiver-slash-bedwarmer Rafael kept around. Eliana is nothing, mom. Just some charity case he dragged out of nowhere, playing damsel in distress. Meanwhile, we’re supposed to be planning my debutante ball, not wasting time digging into some forgotten nobody’s past. Honestly, it’s pathetic p>
Mirabel’s eyes, sharp as daggers, flicked toward her daughter. Her smooth brown skin flushed with barely contained irritation, the pearls at her neck seeming to tighten like a noose. “Celina, darling, you wouldn’t understand. Eliana is… family. My family. And I need to find her. Now, pass the salad and spare me the theatrics p>
Caleb, lounging lazily in his chair beside Celina, chuckled dryly, his twenty-year-old frame slouched in a casual button-down that screamed ’tech bro’—funded, of course, by their father’s deep pockets. His dark hair was tousled just so, his smirk laced with passive-aggression. “Family? Oh, come on, Mom. Don’t start with that. You never even mentioned her until she suddenly popped out of nowhere and started that whole drama with Celina. And let’s not forget—you hated her. You actually slapped her across the face, remember? Celina told me everything. And now you’re blowing through our resources like it’s pocket change? My startup could use that kind of cash flow. What’s the big deal? Did she win the lottery or something p>
Mirabel’s fork clattered against her plate, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the tense room. She leaned forward, her voice a low, venomous hiss. “The big deal, Caleb, is that she’s my daughter. From before… all this.” Her hand swept through the lavish dining room—the glittering chandelier, the gold-edged china, the life she’d built on reinvention. For a brief, unguarded moment, the polished mask of privilege slipped, revealing the woman she used to be—young, desperate, clawing her way out of poverty. “She’s your sister. Both she and Clara are my children. I left them—and their fathers—years ago, chasing a better life… a future for us. But now, everything’s different. I have to find her before… before someone else does p>
Celina froze mid-bite, her fork suspended like she’d been turned to stone. “Your daughter?” she repeated, disbelief twisting her tone. “Mom, are you serious right now? Please don’t tell me you’re falling for that garbage Rafael’s been feeding you. He’s lying—he always lies. Eliana and Clara? As our half-sisters? Ew, Mom, no. That’s disgusting.” She set her fork down with a sharp clink, eyes narrowing. “Why didn’t you tell us any of this before? And why now? You’re acting like the world’s about to implode if you don’t find Eliana this instant p>
“Because it might,” Mirabel snapped, her composure fraying. She rose from her seat, heels clicking sharply on the marble floor as she paced toward the window, gazing out at the manicured gardens bathed in twilight. Her mind spun, a whirlwind of secrets she’d uncovered in recent weeks—dark, dangerous truths she could never say aloud. Eliana was carrying Rafael’s child. If that got out, if Rafael reached her first, the entire Vexley empire could crumble out of her reach for good. The mere thought sent a chill through her. No one could ever know what she’d discovered, or why she was so desperate to find the girl. This wasn’t just about redemption or family—it was about control, survival, and the quiet, ruthless war she was determined to win before anyone else even realized it had begun. “You two wouldn’t get it. You’ve grown up with everything handed to you. I had to fight, claw my way out of nothing. Eliana… she’s a loose end I need to tie up. For all our sakes p>
The door to the dining room swung open with a creak, and Mr. Charles Vexley strode in, his silver hair impeccably groomed, his sharp features twisted in a scowl. In his late fifties, he still carried the aura of a business mogul, his suit tailored to perfection, but his eyes held a storm of betrayal. He had overheard the tail end of the conversation, and it ignited the fuse of their ongoing war. “A loose end? Is that what you call your own flesh and blood, Mirabel? How quaint. And here I thought you were just a gold-digging liar with a penchant for secrets p>
Mirabel whirled around, her face paling beneath her flawless makeup. “Charles, not now. The children p>
“Oh, the children?” Charles barked a bitter laugh, slamming his briefcase onto the table with a thud that made the crystal glasses tremble. “You mean our children, or the ones you abandoned like yesterday’s trash? You’ve been hiding this for years—ex-husbands, another family. And now you’re tearing this house apart looking for one of them? Eliana, was it? While Clara, your other darling, waltzes around Rafael like she’s part of the family. Your children infiltrated my home without me even realizing it p>
Caleb and Celina exchanged uneasy glances, the air growing heavier with each barbed word. Celina fidgeted with her necklace, whispering to her brother, “This is worse than last week. Dad’s really losing it p>
Charles continued, his voice rising in a crescendo of regret and rage. “I regret ever trusting you, Mirabel. Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life. I left Eleanor—my first love, the mother of my son—for what? For you? A woman who already had a trail of broken homes behind her? You convinced me to abandon Rafael when he needed me most, after that accident left him blind and broken. You said you were ’uncomfortable’ around him, that his disabilities were a burden. And I listened! God, what a fool I was p>
Mirabel’s eyes flashed with defiance, but beneath it lurked a flicker of guilt, a shadow from her past she could never fully escape. She stepped closer, her voice trembling with emotion. “Charles, you don’t understand. I did what I had to do to survive. Frank Bennett was a nobody—a sickly man scraping by. I wanted more for myself, for my future children. And now, with Eliana out there… I have to find her. She’s in danger or she could be. Rafael’s not the saint you think he p>
“Rafael?” Charles interrupted, his face reddening. “My son, who won’t even look at me now? Who pretends I don’t exist because of what we did? You’re moving heaven and earth for your abandoned daughter, begging Clara’s forgiveness like some repentant saint, but Rafael? You treat him like a pariah. Like the devil himself. He’s blind, paralyzed, for Christ’s sake! What harm could he possibly bring to Eliana?! And you wonder why this family is falling apart p>
To be continued p>