Chapter 238: Rekindling

THIRD PERSON’S POV.

“First, I’d like to say how happy I am that you made it out of that explosion alive, Serena,” Spencer smiled.

They were all gathered in Steven’s living room, Serena and the three lawyers, as Serena waited patiently to see what was inside the envelope they had brought for her.

“Trust me, you are not as glad as I am,” Serena responded.

Spencer unlocked her briefcase and brought out a red-covered folder. It smelled as though it had just been removed from a bank vault. She handed it over to Serena.

“Your grandfather left strict instructions on when this should be handed to you, but I suppose today is as good a day as any. So… here.”

Serena accepted the folder with both hands, her fingers absently tracing the hard cover.

“Do I need to read this with you all present?” she asked.

“No, you don’t,” Bill answered. “Our job was simply to deliver it, and now that’s done.” His voice softened. “Now that your aunt has announced her resignation, the only thing keeping Horace from becoming CEO is us, and even we can’t delay him for much longer. You have to move fast, Serena. You have less than a week.”

It wasn’t a warning Bill had given her, but a statement of fact.

One she knew all too well.

After the lawyers left, and with Steven still out in the city of Santa Varela, Serena settled into the quiet of the evening, the folder resting between her trembling hands.

She knew whatever was written inside those pages was bound to change the trajectory of her life. What she didn’t know was whether it would change it for better or for worse.

She inhaled deeply.

“Well… time to find out,” she mumbled before opening the folder, unwilling to give herself another chance to lose her nerve.

~ ~ ~

The folder contained the answers to the family secrets she had spent her entire life wondering about. It answered questions she had asked herself countless times over the years.

The first truth—and by far the most heartbreaking—was that Horace wasn’t her biological father.

She froze when she read that paragraph.

Her eyes scanned over the words again and again, hoping they would somehow change.

“No…” Her hands flew to her mouth. “How can that be?”

Tears welled in her eyes.

Horace had murdered her real father out of jealousy.

Years ago, Horace had married Eleanor, Serena’s mother, purely for her inheritance. But once Clara was born, cracks began to appear in their marriage, and Eleanor slowly realized just how insincere Horace’s love truly was.

Not long afterward, Eleanor began an affair that resulted in her pregnancy with Serena. Overjoyed, she asked Horace for a divorce.

But instead of quietly walking away from her life, Horace hired men to have her lover murdered.

His death was the final blow that pushed Eleanor over the edge. She couldn’t recover from losing the love of her life, and little by little she became only a shadow of the woman she once was.

Eventually, however, she decided she had to save both herself and her daughters from a lifetime of misery.

So once again, she confronted Horace with talks of divorce.

Consumed by rage, greed, and above all the knowledge that a divorce would cost him everything he had spent years working toward, Horace staged the car accident that killed Eleanor.

Unfortunately for him, the crash claimed only Eleanor’s life.

Not the baby growing inside her.

Serena survived against all odds.

And that had been the reason behind Horace’s hatred of her ever since.

To him, she was the mistake he had never been able to erase.

Charles Gregory, her grandfather, had long suspected Horace. That was why he had secretly hired private investigators to look into Eleanor’s death.

And just when he finally received the evidence he had been searching for…

Horace found out.

From that moment on, he began poisoning Charles slowly.

Charles knew his death was inevitable.

So he did the only thing he could.

He rewrote his will, ensuring that the majority of Gregory Enterprise’s shares would pass to Serena upon her marriage.

Tears streamed freely down Serena’s face, the discoveries she had just made redefining everything she thought she knew about her family, her identity, and her past.

But the revelation that shattered her most wasn’t learning that Horace wasn’t her father.

It was realizing that she had spent her entire life desperately trying to earn the love of a man who was incapable of loving anyone but himself.

In that moment, Serena made herself a promise.

Horace Gregory would die.

And she would be the one to pull the trigger.

But first, she had to expose every one of his crimes to the world.

And there was only one reporter she trusted enough to help her do that.

Pulling out the phone Steven had provided for her, she dialed the one number she had memorized since their university days.

The receiver picked up on the second ring.

Serena smiled.

“Hello, Trish.”

~ ~ ~

During the course of the call, Trisha seemed to experience every stage of grief all at once, from disbelief, to guilt, and finally, acceptance.

She even cried for some seconds, but they were mostly tears of joy from getting her bestfriend back.

By the time the conversation ended, she had convinced Serena to meet her at the annual Monterra Charity Gala so she could collect her statement and every piece of evidence needed to expose Horace.

Serena had been hesitant at first, but Trisha promised her complete secrecy.

She also promised to send her a gown and a proper mask so no one would recognize her.

“Okay then,” Serena finally agreed. “I’ll attend the masked gala. After all, I do need to start making my return to society.”

“That’s my girl!” Trisha squealed.

After exchanging a few more goodbyes, the call finally came to an end.