Chapter 92 THE LOST HEIRESS..
SLOANE'S POINT OF VIEW.
The lights felt too bright.
All I could focus on was the loud ringing in my ears, as I stood on the huge stage with the rest of the cast. For some reason, Seraphina had walked on stage as well and stood beside Ace, her expression stony. It felt as though the lights burned my eyelids, making me feel like they were bleeding and on fire, as my head pounded with a massive headache.
What’s wrong with me?
My body feels like it’s underwater, heavy and slow, every movement a delayed echo, rippling through me like I’d been hit by a massive wave.
Applause ripples in the distance, but it sounds muffled and warped, like I’m hearing it through glass walls. My body feels like it’s lifting, and all I want to do is collapse.
I blink. Once. Twice. The velvet curtain looms before me, and my chest rises and falls too quickly. I shouldn’t feel like this.
A whisper coils in the back of my head, a phantom voice I almost recognise. I barely hear it through my jagged breathing, but by some reason, I can hear it enough to understand;\\
Remember who you are, little dove. Forget the rest.
I know that voice….it’s…..I turned to stare at him, but he was already looking at me, his eyes filled with tears, and something akin to the same emotion and recognition I’d seen earlier backstage. My eyes well with tears of my own as I try to control my emotions, but for some reason, I cannot.
“Dad?” I whisper, as the memory pools into my mind rapidly.
I remember everything now! The woman in the fire, the mansion….everything.
I barely remember that my microphone is still on when I whisper the word, because everyone else catches it, and stares in the direction I’m looking at.
Next thing I know, he crosses the row of chairs to the stage, gets on it, and walks towards me with hurried steps. All I feel after that is his warm arms around me, as he pulls me into a big hug, while sobbing into my neck.
“Oh, thank god. I swore this wouldn’t work.” He whispers in my ears, hugging me tighter against him. My own tears fall down my face too, because for the first time in my life, everything makes sense again.
“You’re the man in my dreams….you’ve been the one this whole time, pushing me away from the fire,” I whisper, sobbing into his neck too. All I can smell is his familiar scent of Sandalwood, the very one that made me feel like the monsters would stay away as a child every time my mother would tuck me in because he was running late.
He pulls away from me and kisses my forehead with a sad smile. “Finally. You remember everything? I did everything to make sure you would. I dreamed so much of this day, hoping, praying that you would finally see everything that I’d needed you to see all this time. I’m so sorry I took so long.” He says, maintaining that sad smile. “I was in a coma for the longest time because of what your uncle Reginald did. The first thing I did when I awoke was ask after you, but I could not get to you because I had to recover.”
I smiled as more memories pulled into my mind again. I remembered him carrying me on his shoulders every time I needed to play, him tucking me into bed after putting a small pink crown on my head, and then reading something from the Princess Diaries to me. I remember him getting me my favourite ice cream and eating it with me.
“But what happened? Why did all that happen?”
“It was my mistake. I should never have trusted my brother enough to think he would let go of old family feuds and his sick obsession over your mother. If I hadn’t let him in, this would never have happened.”
“Uncle Reginald?”
“Yes, my dove. He, the man who has been pretending to be your father all this time, he’s the one who tore our family apart and made you an orphan. He wanted the company because your grandparents saw through his lies and realised that he was never the right fit for leadership. So he tried to kill your mother and me, and kidnap you so you could transfer everything over to him when you turned twenty. But he fucked up, because there was a clause stating that the property could never be transferred to him, not even by my flesh and blood. So he planned to turn up with you a few years from now, like he found you after a long time, and you would share everything with him.”
I frowned at that….would Dad ever do such a thing?
“But that’s not possible. He’s always protected me…especially against my….well, my fake mother.”
“You mean the crazy druggie he hired to torment you time and time again so his hypnosis over you would work?”
“What?”
“This was also part of his plan. That woman knew she wasn’t your mother. The plan was always to get you in such a state of trauma that he would always have a way to control you anytime he needed to.”
“But….why is he so evil? She tormented me all my life… and for what, a few millions?”
“Billions, my dove.”
My eyes widened to the size of saucers.
“Billions???”
“Yes. You’re the lost heiress of the Everhart fortune.” He announced, his tone a bit louder at the revelation. “This was your story, and you revealed it perfectly. You and your siblings are the heirs to the generational wealth in our name.”
“Siblings?”
I asked, and he turned to look behind me. “Your siblings.” He said, pointing at Seraphina and Ace. “Seraphina, and Ace, those are your siblings….and your mother…she’s there.”
“Wait….Ms Vale?” I asked.
She smiled at me and walked closer to me immediately. “Yes, dove. It’s me.”
More of my tears roll down my cheeks. No wonder she always felt so familiar, so….comforting to me. Every time I had one issue or the other, she was always there to pick me up. When I’d been bullied, felt hungry, or even just tired, she was always there to feed me or pick me up. And even after Lucien and I got together and the bullying had stopped, she never abandoned me.
Wait… did he just say I’m a lost heiress????
I turned to stare ahead, but was met with the flashing cameras of the press and Ravenscroft High students. We’ve been in public this entire time???
The press is here!!