Chapter 50 The Bloodline Lie
Elena stood in the center of the Persian rug, her fingers digging into the leather of her bag, her heart racing as she faced the judging eyes with their wine glasses.
The wealthy investors and board members stared at her messy hair and her tear-stained face like she was some kind of dirt in their perfect evening.
Marcus Vance took a slow step toward her. He didn't look like her father but rather like a judge delivering a sentence.
He adjusted his silk tie and turned his head slightly to address the room.
"I apologize to everyone here," Marcus said, gesturing vaguely toward Elena. "As you can see, the girl is unstable. I suppose this is the risk one takes when you bring a child into your home out of charity. You can give them the name, you can give them the clothes, but you cannot give them the character."
Elena’s heart stopped. She felt the air leave her lungs as if she’d been punched. "What?" she whispered. "Dad, what are you talking about?"
Marcus didn't look at her. He kept his eyes on the board members. "Elena is not a Vance. Not by blood. I took her in years ago as a favor to a distant acquaintance who passed away. I tried to raise her as my own, to give her a life she didn't deserve. But as you see today, her true nature always comes to the surface."
Whispers broke out among the guests.
"So that’s why," one woman in a pearl necklace murmured, loud enough for Elena to hear. "No wonder he sold her off to that lawyer so quickly. He was just cleaning the house."
"Exactly," a man replied, sipping his champagne. "He was doing the girl a favor by finding her a husband like Thorne. And now she shows up here looking like a vagrant, trying to bite the hand that fed her."
Elena felt the room spin. The walls of the mansion, the memories of her childhood, the portraits on the walls, everything felt like it was melting away.
"You’re lying," she gasped even when she knew the truth many months ago. Her legs were shaking so hard she had to reach out for a nearby armchair to stay upright. "I’m your daughter. I grew up here! Alex, tell him! Tell him he’s lying!"
Alex didn't even look at her with sympathy. He leaned against the marble fireplace, his arm still around the blonde woman with a bored look on his face. He didn't say a word to defend her.
Marcus turned back to her. "I have spent millions on you, Elena. I gave you a name that opened doors. I found you a husband who is the most powerful legal mind in this country. I did you the biggest favor of your life, and how do you repay me? You run away from him? You show up here and embarrass me in front of my peers?"
The shock was too much.
Elena’s vision began to blur at the edges. Her knees buckled, and she felt herself slipping toward the floor, but a rough hand caught her arm.
Alex had stepped forward, gripping her elbow tightly, he was not there to comfort her, but to keep her from making even more of a scene.
"Stay on your feet," Alex hissed in her ear. "Get out of here before you ruin the rest of the night. You’ve done enough damage."
Elena shoved him away, her shock turning into a white-hot flare of rage.
She stood tall, her eyes burning as she looked at Marcus. "I don't care what lies you tell these people! I know the truth about Julian! He is a dead man! And I’m not going back to that house! I’m not going back to him!"
She threw her bag onto the floor with a heavy thud.
"Listen to me, Marcus!" she screamed, dropping the 'Dad' entirely. "If you don't help me, if you don't listen to what I found, I will end this marriage tomorrow. I’ll go to the press and I’ll tell them everything. And then your precious merger will fall apart! The Vance Group will have nothing because Julian Thorne is the only thing keeping it afloat, and I’m the one who controls that contract!"
The room went silent again.
Elena expected Marcus to turn pale. She expected the board members to panic.
Instead, Marcus began to laugh mockingly.
"You think you control the merger?" Marcus asked. "Elena, look around you. What do you think we are celebrating tonight?"
Elena frowned, her confusion returning.
"The deal is done," Marcus said with a smirk. "The merger was finalized three hours ago. The papers are all filed. The Vance Group and Thorne’s interests are now one single entity. We are celebrating the birth of a new empire."
Elena shook her head. "That's impossible. Julian said... he said he needed me there. He said he couldn't sign without my physical presence as the majority shareholder of the trust. How could he do it without me?"
Marcus looked over at Alex. "Show her."
Alex reached onto a side table and picked up a thick blue folder. He walked over to Elena and tossed it at her chest.
The papers hit her and slid to the floor. Elena scrambled to pick them up, her hands shaking as she flipped through the pages.
There it was. At the bottom of the final page, in dark, bold ink, was the signature: Julian Thorne. And right next to it, in a handwriting that looked exactly like hers, was her own signature.
"I didn't sign this," Elena whispered, her heart racing. "I wasn't even in the city! This is a forgery!"
"It doesn't matter what you call it," Marcus said, stepping into her personal space. "It’s legal and it’s done. Julian didn't need you there, Elena. He just needed your name, and he took it. He owns you. He owns this company. And through him, I own everything I’ve ever wanted."
Elena dropped the papers, the white sheets scattering like snow over the dark wood floor.
She looked at her father and realized that she was never a person to him. She was a currency. She was a piece of paper that he had traded away to a man who wasn't even real.
"You’re a monster," she said, her voice trembling.
"I am a businessman," Marcus corrected. He stepped back and pointed toward the front door. "Now, I am going to give you one final ultimatum. You have two choices. You can walk out those doors, get into the car waiting outside, and go back to your husband. You will be an obedient wife, you will keep your mouth shut, and you will enjoy the life of luxury I have provided for you."
He paused, his eyes turning into chips of ice. "Or, you can stay on this path. You can keep fighting. And if you do, you will leave this house tonight with nothing. You will never see a cent of Vance money. You will never use the name. And you will never show your face in this house or this city again. I will erase you as easily as I created you. Choose. Now."
Elena looked at the faces of the board members. They were nodding in agreement, looking at her as if she were a broken piece of equipment that needed to be discarded.
She looked at Alex, who was already turning back to his drink, bored with the drama.
She felt a sob build in her chest, a raw, painful sound that she couldn't hold back.
She had no one. Her family was a lie. Her husband was a ghost. She was standing in a house full of people, and she was completely alone.
"I hate you," she whispered to Marcus. "I hate all of you."
"Hate doesn't pay the bills, Elena," Marcus said, turning his back on her. "Alex, see her out. She’s boring the guests."
Elena didn't wait for Alex to touch her. She turned around, leaving her bag on the floor.
She stumbled toward the foyer, the tears pouring down her face so fast she could barely see where she was going.