Chapter 55 Family Secrets

Chapter 55 Family Secrets
Courtney's POV

I had learned long ago that families were built on secrets. Some were small and harmless—hidden birthday presents, surprise trips, whispered plans overheard through half-closed doors. Others had the power to destroy everything. The silence hanging over Damian's office felt like the second kind. I stood near the desk, my arms wrapped around myself as if they could shield me from the weight pressing down on the room. The afternoon sunlight filtered weakly through the tall windows, illuminating the dust drifting through the air.

No one spoke. Portia sat rigidly on the sofa beside Bella, clutching an old leather photo album against her chest. Bella's eyes were red. Damian stood behind his desk, staring at the closed file in front of him. The one Bella had handed him. My mind ran on Felicia Ardent and the chaos she's created just by existing. Hours ago, Felicia Ardent had been a stranger connected to Peter Ramsey by suspicion and rumor. Now—
"We found this in Dad's desk at the cabin," Portia said quietly. Her voice cracked. She looked down at the photo album. "There was a hidden compartment in the desk."
Bella swallowed hard. "There were photographs."

I frowned. "What kind of photographs?"
Portia hesitated before opening the album. The worn pages crackled softly. I moved closer. Bella leaned over. Even Damian stepped away from his desk. Inside the album were pictures preserved through decades. Photographs of Peter Ramsey. Younger. Smiling. Happy. Just the idea of that existing within the person who almost killed my best friend back in high school didn't make sense to me. The powerful businessman I'd known had always appeared controlled. Reserved. Cold. The man in these pictures looked different. Human.

Portia turned the page. A woman stared back at them. I didn't recognize her. Dark hair. Warm smile. Gentle eyes. She stood in a garden, cradling a baby wrapped in a pale blanket. Bella's breath caught.
"Who is that?"
"I don't know," Portia whispered.
Another photograph. The same woman. The same baby. Peter was standing beside them. His hand resting protectively against the woman's back. His expression soft. Proud.
I looked between the photographs as my mind raced. The baby. The woman. A family hidden away.
"We don't recognize either of them," Portia said, tears gathering in her eyes. "The baby..." She shook her head. "I would've remembered if Dad had brought another child around."
Bella stared at the pictures. "He never said anything."
The hurt in her voice sliced through the room.
"Our entire lives..."
She pressed trembling fingers against her mouth.
"He never told us."

My heart twisted. Peter Ramsey had many flaws. Apparently honesty had been one of them. Bella lifted her head toward Damian.
"I gave you the file because I thought maybe..." Her voice faded. Then strengthened. "You should open it."
Damian's expression darkened. "What is it?"
Bella looked toward Portia. "The DNA reports."
I felt the room shift. Everything narrowed to the thin manila folder resting on Damian's desk. Damian looked down at the folder. For the first time since I had met him, uncertainty crossed his face. His fingers lingered on the edge. Then he opened it. Paper rustled. Silence descended. I watched his eyes scan the first page. Then widen. Actually widen. Shock. Pure shock.

Damian almost never lost control of his expression. But now—
His face drained of color.
"What?" Bella demanded.
"Dami—"
"What does it say?" I asked.
He looked up. Slowly. As if he couldn't quite process the words himself.
"The probability of paternity..." His voice was rough. "...is 99.99 percent."
Bella stared. Portia went completely still. Damian lowered the report.
"Peter Ramsey is Felicia Ardent's biological father."

Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. I heard the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway. One. Two. Three.
Bella looked devastated. "No." Her head shook violently. "No, no, no..."
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"He couldn't."
My chest tightened. Bella wasn't crying because Felicia existed. She was crying because her father had lied. For decades.
"He had another daughter?" Bella whispered. "He had another family?"
Portia's own composure finally cracked. "Why wouldn't he tell us?"
She clutched the album tighter. "We would've accepted her." Her voice broke. "Wouldn't we?"
I thought about the photographs. Peter's smile. The mystery woman. The baby. A life carefully separated. Maybe Peter had convinced himself he was protecting everyone. Maybe he'd simply been selfish. Neither explanation made the betrayal hurt less.

Portia wiped her eyes. Then inhaled sharply. "There's something else."
I turned toward her. Portia's face had gone pale. "I almost forgot."
Bella frowned. "What?"
Portia set the album down carefully. "There were documents." She hesitated. "Letters."
Damian's attention sharpened immediately.
"What kind of letters?"
Portia walked toward the desk and picked up a large envelope I hadn't noticed before. "They weren't personal." She looked uncomfortable. "They were communications."
"With who?" I asked.
Portia met Damian's gaze. "A private investigator."
The room froze. Damian's expression became unreadable.
"What?"

Portia swallowed. "Dad hired someone."
Bella's confusion returned. "For what?"
Portia held out the envelope. "He was having someone followed."
Damian took it. My pulse quickened. Something terrible settled in my stomach. Followed. By Peter Ramsey. Damian slid photographs from the envelope. The blood drained from his face again. His hand tightened around the stack. I moved beside him.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer. So I looked. My breath caught.
"No..."
Photographs. Hundreds of them. Damian. Mason. Peter. He and his brothers. Snapshots taken from a distance. Outside schools. At parks. Walking down city sidewalks. Laughing together. Older. Younger. Years' worth. And then—
I felt cold. Pictures of a woman. Standing outside grocery stores. Sitting on park benches. Getting into her car. Smiling at something beyond the camera's frame.A woman Damian knew by heart. A woman she'd heard him speak about only rarely. His mother.

His jaw clenched beside me and I could swear I heard something snap.
"Why?" Bella whispered.
Portia looked horrified.
"Dad was watching them?" Bella asked.
"He had investigators following Damian's family?"
I looked up at Damian. He hadn't moved. He stared down at the photographs. His eyes unreadable.
But I noticed his fingers trembling. Barely. Almost imperceptibly.

"So he's been keeping tabs on her. And after he killed her, he continued to monitor us." His voice was dangerously quiet.
My mind raced.
Peter Ramsey's background was now slowly unfolding. His secret family he kept hidden away. His obsession with Damian's mother before and after her death. He'd hidden one daughter.
Watched another family from afar. Collected pieces of lives he never claimed. Secrets layered beneath secrets.
Bella looked sick. "Our father..." She covered her mouth. "I don't understand."

Neither did I. Because the photographs didn't look malicious. There were no threatening notes. No signs of violence. Just observation. Years and years of observation.
Portia wiped away fresh tears.
"I cannot believe that the man who I looked up to for so many years could turn out to be so deceitful! That monster who is terrorizing the McKay's is actually our half-sister?!"
Bella shook her head sharply.
"She became that monster because of our father. You asked a moment ago if we would have accepter her. Maybe if she was brought to us when she was younger, yes. But now. Now she's shown us that she's grown up to become someone we won't ever recognize as family."

I looked down at the image resting on top of Damian's stack. Damian at sixteen. Laughing at something one of his brothers had said. Happy. Unaware someone was watching. Unaware Peter Ramsey had preserved that moment. Damian carefully returned the photographs to the envelope. His movements were precise. Controlled. Too controlled. I slipped my hand into his. His fingers tightened instantly. The only sign that the revelations had affected him at all. The room felt smaller. Heavier. Bella and Portia had lost the version of their father they had loved. Damian had discovered he'd been part of Peter Ramsey's secret history long before he'd ever realized it. And I—
I understood with absolute certainty that this wasn't the end. The DNA report had answered one question. Peter Ramsey was Felicia Ardent's father.
But the photographs raised a hundred more. Why had he hidden Felicia? Why had he watched Damian's family? What had he intended to do with all of this information? Most importantly—
What other secrets was Peter Ramsey keeping with him?

Across the room, Bella reached for Portia's hand. Portia moved in closer. Two sisters who just found out they were bonded to another by betrayal.
"We need to call Elena. She needs to be told all of this," Bella said quietly as Portia nodded, holding back tears.
I squeezed Damian's hand harder. For the first time since I'd met him, I saw something dangerous flicker beneath his calm exterior. Not anger. Not grief. Determination. He looked down at the envelope one final time. Then lifted his gaze.
"We're going to find out everything," Damian said.
The quiet certainty in his voice sent chills down my spine.
"No more secrets."
And somehow, I knew Peter Ramsey's hidden life had only just begun to unravel.