CHAPTER 13 The Daughter Who Walked Into Her Own Wedding
Nobody reacted.
Not immediately.
The human mind had limits.
There were moments when reality became too impossible to accept, and the brain simply refused to process it.
This was one of those moments.
Marissa.
The woman who had betrayed Owen.
The woman who had destroyed Evelyn's marriage.
The woman who had stood beside Thomas.
Was her daughter.
"No."
Evelyn's voice was barely audible.
She shook her head slowly.
"No."
Claire didn't look away.
"I wish it wasn't true."
Owen stared at Claire.
"You expect us to believe this?"
Claire understood his anger.
"I understand how it sounds."
"How it sounds?"
His voice rose.
"My fiancée sleeps with my father, steals from my family, and now you're telling me she's my mother's missing daughter?"
Silence.
Nobody could blame him.
The truth had become too twisted.
Too cruel.
Valerie stepped forward.
"Claire."
Her voice was quiet.
"But the evidence?"
Claire nodded.
"I have it."
She opened another section of the Phoenix folder.
Inside were medical records.
Hospital documents.
Adoption files.
DNA reports.
Evelyn looked at the papers.
Her hands started shaking.
"Where did you get these?"
Claire answered:
"From Thomas."
The name alone was enough.
Thomas had been behind everything.
Every betrayal.
Every secret.
Every broken life.
But this...
This was something else.
"He knew?"
Claire nodded.
"He knew from the beginning."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
The pain was overwhelming.
"He knew I had a daughter."
"Yes."
"He knew where she was."
"Yes."
"And he let me believe she died?"
Claire looked down.
"Yes."
A tear rolled down Evelyn's face.
Twenty-eight years.
Twenty-eight years of mourning a child who had been alive all along.
Owen looked at the documents.
"Why?"
The question came out quietly.
Not angry.
Just exhausted.
"Why would he do that?"
Claire answered:
"Because Marissa was not supposed to become part of your family."
Everyone looked at her.
"What?"
Claire continued.
"Thomas raised her to become something else."
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"Explain."
Claire took a deep breath.
"Thomas knew your family had one weakness."
"Love."
She looked at Owen.
"He knew you would never question someone you loved."
The room went cold.
"He planned everything."
Claire continued.
"The relationship."
"The engagement."
"The wedding."
"The financial transfers."
"All of it."
Owen looked sick.
"So she was never..."
Claire interrupted.
"Don't misunderstand."
She looked at him.
"Marissa made her own choices."
The distinction mattered.
She was a victim of Thomas.
But she was also responsible for her actions.
At that moment...
A sound came from the entrance.
Everyone turned.
Marissa stood there.
Pale.
Broken.
She had heard everything.
Nobody knew how long she had been listening.
"Evelyn..."
The name came out as a whisper.
Evelyn looked at her.
The woman she had once welcomed into her family.
The woman she had loved.
The woman who was somehow...
Her child.
But also...
Her betrayer.
The emotions collided.
Anger.
Love.
Pain.
Confusion.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Marissa stepped forward.
"I didn't know."
Nobody spoke.
"I swear."
Owen laughed bitterly.
"You didn't know what?"
She looked at him.
"That she was my mother."
Silence.
"That Thomas was using me."
Silence.
"That I was part of some plan."
She looked at Evelyn.
"But I knew what I was doing with Thomas."
Her voice broke.
"And I am sorry."
Evelyn wanted to hate her.
She tried.
She truly tried.
But then she saw something.
Something she had noticed since the first day she met Marissa.
The same small gesture.
The same way she touched her necklace when nervous.
The same expression when frightened.
A tiny movement Evelyn had seen in the mirror her entire life.
Because Marissa had inherited it.
From her.
"Your birthday."
The words escaped Evelyn.
Everyone looked at her.
Marissa froze.
"What?"
"When is your birthday?"
Her lips trembled.
"October 14th."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
The date.
The exact date.
The one written in the hospital documents.
The one she had never forgotten.
Owen stepped backward.
The woman he planned to marry...
Was his sister.
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
He grabbed the edge of a table.
"No..."
Alexander moved toward him.
"Owen."
"No."
He looked at Marissa.
"I..."
He couldn't finish.
Every memory changed.
Every moment.
Every feeling.
Everything.
Marissa collapsed into tears.
"I didn't know."
Evelyn looked at her.
For the first time...
Not as Thomas's accomplice.
Not as Owen's fiancée.
But as the baby she lost.
Her daughter.
The child she thought had disappeared forever.
She whispered:
"Why didn't you come home?"
Marissa looked up.
And the answer destroyed everyone.
"Because I didn't know where home was."
Suddenly...
The mansion lights flickered.
Daniel checked his device.
"Someone is accessing the security system."
Claire looked alarmed.
"Thomas."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
He stared at the screen.
"Someone else."
A file appeared.
A video.
Sent from an unknown location.
Title:
THE TRUTH ABOUT MARISSA COLLINS
Everyone froze.
Daniel opened it.
The video began.
A hospital room.
Twenty-eight years earlier.
A young nurse holding a newborn baby.
A man standing beside her.
The man was younger.
But recognizable.
Thomas.
He was speaking to someone off-camera.
His words were clear.
"Take her away."
The nurse looked frightened.
"Mr. Hawthorne, are you sure?"
Thomas replied:
"She cannot remain here."
The video continued.
Then the person holding the camera stepped closer.
The face appeared.
A person nobody expected.
Someone who had been missing for decades.
Someone connected to Thomas.
Someone who knew the entire truth.
The video froze.
A name appeared on screen.
VICTOR HAWTHORNE
Valerie's face turned completely white.
"No..."
Evelyn looked at her.
"Who is Victor?"
Valerie whispered:
"Thomas's older brother."
Everyone stared.
"But Thomas never had a brother."
Valerie looked at the frozen image.
"He did."
A pause.
"And Victor was the real owner of the Hawthorne empire."
The screen suddenly went black.
Then one final message appeared:
THOMAS WAS NEVER THE MASTER OF THE PLAN.
May you like
HE WAS ONLY THE FIRST PIECE.
END OF CHAPTER 13
