Chapter 96 Unraveled
Caleb
“I’m home.”
Sarah Lancaster’s voice cut through the living room as she stormed in with armed men behind her.
The guards stationed outside had already been neutralized by her people. In a matter of minutes, she had taken over the Lancaster estate again. What she did wasn’t rushed or careless. It was planned, precise, and executed like she had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. It made one wonder how long she had been preparing for it.
She caught everyone off guard. No one believed she was capable of pulling off something like this. I had always known Sarah was dangerous. I just hadn’t realized how dangerous.
I was standing near the staircase when it happened, halfway lost in a thought I couldn’t even remember anymore. The sound of her voice didn’t just draw attention—it woke something in the house. Every head turned at once.
“Why does everyone look so stunned?” she asked, her eyes moving from me to Dad, then to Aiden and Jacob. “Seems you’re not happy to see me.”
Mrs. Chavez was panicking. I could see it clearly now. Her hands were shaking, her face pale, and she made no effort to hide her fear.
“What is this madness?” Dad demanded, stepping forward. “You cannot just storm into my home with armed men.”
Sarah smiled at him. “Your home?” she asked. “That’s funny. I got hold of the files you locked away in that safe deposit box you thought no one knew about. The original documents. The ones with real signatures, not the copies you’ve been waving around for years.”
She turned slightly, one of the men handing her a thick folder. She didn’t even look at it before continuing.
“Eighty percent of everything you call yours is mine. The mansion. The businesses. The land. I let you pretend otherwise because I was tired. Because I was sick. Because you convinced everyone I had lost my mind.”
When Elsie told me where Sarah was, I had driven there only to find the place empty. I’ve never seen a woman so smart yet looked so innocent and vulnerable.
Her eyes swept the room, lingering on each of us. “And then you made me mad.”
“No one made you mad,” Malcolm snapped. “You became a danger. To yourself and to others. You were drunk on power and completely out of control.”
She laughed then. Not loud. Not soft. Just bitter. “Power drunk? Or betrayed?”
She turned and pointed directly at me.
“Or was it when you brought this bastard into our home?”
The room went silent.
Bastard! I chuckled inwardly. I’ve been called that a million times for it to get to me now. It’s already a tag I wear everywhere I go, in every board meeting, in the courtroom, and even in this house. She made sure everyone knew I was a product of her husband’s sin.
“You got rid of me,” she continued, her voice rising now, “and then you brought your mistress into my house.”
Mistress. My mom?
Every single person in the room looked at the others in shock. Mrs. Chavez made a strangled sound beside the couch.
Sarah turned slowly toward her. “You,” she said, her voice low and venomous. “You had the guts to walk back into my home after what you two put me through.”
Mrs. Chavez’s hands were shaking. “Sarah, I—”
“Caleb didn’t know who you are?,” Sarah cut in, turning back toward me. “Did he?”
I swallowed. My mouth felt dry. “What are you talking about?”
Her eyes flicked between Malcolm and Mrs. Chavez, and something cruel curved her lips. “You didn’t tell him?” she asked them. “You really didn’t tell him she’s his mother?”
The words didn’t register at first. They floated, unreal, as something said in another language. Mrs Chavez is my mum?
Then the room tilted.
I grabbed the back of a chair to steady myself, my vision blurring at the edges. It was like pieces of my life were suddenly being dragged into the light and forced into place. The way Mrs. Chavez had always taken care of me. She knew the things I liked and made sure they were at my disposal. She didn’t let anyone else do my laundry or make my coffee… it all made sense now why she cared so much for me.
Malcolm opened his mouth. Closed it again.
Sarah didn’t give him the chance to speak.
“When we got married,” she said, her voice trembling now with something deeper than anger, “she was his secretary. That’s all he said she was. Until I found out they were sleeping together. Even the night after our wedding.”
Mrs. Chavez broke down then, covering her mouth, tears spilling freely.
“He told me he was exhausted,” Sarah went on. “Said he couldn’t touch me. Said the day had drained him. But he had enough energy to sneak out of our bed and go fuck her, leaving his wife alone.”
My stomach twisted violently.
“When I found out,” Sarah said, “I forgave him. I was stupid enough to forgive him. Until I learned she was already pregnant before the wedding.”
Malcolm stepped forward. “That is enough.”
“No,” Sarah snapped. “You don’t get to decide when it’s enough.”
She turned back to me. “After she gave birth, I took you in. Raised you as my own. On the condition that she would leave us for good. And you promised me she would.”
Her eyes flicked back to Malcolm. “But you didn’t. You kept her. You kept meeting her. You kept sleeping with her.”
She let out a shaky breath. “When I finally asked for a divorce, you told everyone I was unstable. You sent me away. Do you know how it felt knowing that while I was locked up, she was living in my house?”
Silence swallowed the room.
I looked at Malcolm, waiting for him to deny it. To say something. Anything.
He didn’t.
That was when I knew.
Sarah straightened her shoulders. “I didn’t come back for revenge,” she said. “I came back to take what was always mine.”
She snapped her fingers, and one of the men moved forward, handing Malcolm a document. “Sign,” she said. “Or we do this the hard way.”
“You think you’ve won,” Malcolm said quietly.
“I know I have,” she replied. “And now you will leave.”
Mrs. Chavez let out a sob. “Please— I just want to be close to my child.”
Sarah looked at her once, cold and final. “You want to stay?” Mrs Chavez nodded. “Good. I’ll let you stay but you will have to earn it. You will get on your fucking knees and kiss my feet.”
My heart ached with betrayal. I had been lied to my entire life. I thought my mother was dead. How could she look at me every single day and never once feel the need to tell me I was her son? And my father—he lied too. They both did. They both fucking lied to me.
Mrs. Chavez dropped to the floor and crawled toward Sarah, tears streaming down her face. Sarah was humiliating her, tearing her apart in front of everyone, and I stood there unable to stop it. This woman was not my mother. She could never be my mum.
When Mrs. Chavez reached Sarah, she bent forward to kiss her feet, but before her lips could touch her leg, Jacob stepped in and pulled her up.
“This is madness,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “And it needs to stop.”
He wrapped an arm around Mrs. Chavez, who was crying uncontrollably, and gently led her out of the room.
Malcolm stared at Sarah, his jaw clenched, pride and fury warring in his eyes. “You’ll regret this.”
She leaned closer. “I already lived my regret. This is just the aftermath.”
As Malcolm was escorted out, Sarah turned to me.
“You can stay,” she said. “Or you can go. That choice is yours.”