Chapter 99 Mysterious woman
Caleb
“Hey, buddy,” I said as I walked into Dante’s bedroom.
He was sitting in front of his gaming console, a controller in his hands and a headset covering one ear. His eyes flicked up to me briefly before returning to the screen.
“Dad,” he said, distracted, “what did we say about knocking?”
I smiled. “That you’d pretend to be mad and then forget about it in five seconds?”
He huffed. “That you should knock.”
“That’s fair,” I said, stepping farther into the room. “But you might be taller now, and your voice might be trying to deepen, but you’re still my small boy.”
He finally looked at me properly, unimpressed. “I’m eleven, Dad.”
“And I’m three times your age,” I replied easily. “Which means I’ve earned the right to ignore your rules sometimes.”
He shook his head, lips twitching despite himself, and went back to his game. The room looked exactly like what it was—a boy’s space, lived in and loud in its own way. Basketball posters covered the walls, some peeling at the edges. Stickers from tournaments and gaming brands were slapped onto his desk, his wardrobe, even the door. A worn basketball sat in the corner beside his sneakers, the soles dusty from the court. His bed was unmade, sheets tangled like he’d rushed out earlier and never looked back.
“How was your game today?” I asked.
He paused the screen, pulled the headset off, and placed it carefully on the table. Then he spun his chair around to face me.
“It was good,” he said.
“Just good?” I raised a brow. “That doesn’t sound like the Dante who promised me he’d dominate.”
He shrugged. “We won.”
“By how much?”
“Eight points.”
“That’s not ‘just good,’” I said. “That’s a solid win.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Coach put me in as a shooting guard today.”
I blinked. “Really?”
“Yeah. Said my defense has gotten better.” He hesitated, then added, “I blocked Ryan’s shot.”
I grinned. “Ryan Miller?”
“The same annoying Ryan,” he said. “He was mad.”
“Good,” I said. “That means you did something right.”
He smiled then, a quick, shy thing, like he wasn’t used to praise even though I gave it freely. “I missed one shot, though.”
“You’re allowed to miss,” I told him. “What matters is that you kept playing.”
He nodded slowly, absorbing that. “I did. I didn’t stop trying.”
“That’s my boy.”
There was a quiet moment after that. Comfortable. Familiar.
I looked at him properly then—really looked. He’d grown so much it scared me sometimes. Longer limbs, sharper features, a confidence creeping into his posture. And yet, when he talked about his game, he still sounded like a kid who wanted to know if he’d done enough.
“I’m glad you came,” he said suddenly.
I tilted my head. “For the game?”
“For everything,” he said, then shrugged like he hadn’t meant to say it out loud.
I felt something tighten in my chest.
“I’ll always come,” I said. “As long as you want me there.”
He nodded, satisfied with that answer, and turned back to his screen. “I’m almost done with this level.”
“Don’t stay up too late,” I said.
“I won’t.”
I lingered at the door for a second, watching him, listening to the familiar sounds of the game filling the room. Seven years ago, I’d fought for this. For him. For the right to be here, to knock on this door, to ask about his day.
Winning custody of Dante was the one thing in my life that felt completely right. And I intended to do it properly. To be present. To be steady. To make sure he never grew up feeling alone the way I did.
I turned off the light behind me and closed the door quietly this time.
Some promises don’t need to be said out loud.
The moment the door shut behind me, reality crashed down on me.
I was about to lose everything I had worked for.
Sarah never missed an opportunity to remind me that I wasn’t her son. No matter how convincingly she pretended I belonged in that house, I knew the truth—I never really did. And now she was about to hand over everything I’d built, everything I’d bled for, to a stranger.
MedLyn Lancaster.
Who the hell was she? And for the record, there were no other Lancasters in this state besides us.
I pulled my phone out and ran a quick Google search as I joined Aiden and Jacob in the lounge. Several articles popped up immediately, all praising MedLyn Lancaster’s entrepreneurial brilliance. Awards. Recognition. Features. It looked like she’d even been honored in California for her work.
No photos.
I frowned and scrolled harder.
“She sounds like a solid choice,” Aiden said, leaning back as he skimmed through the articles on his own phone. “Probably better than you.”
I ignored the jab. “There’s not a single photograph of her anywhere,” I said, sitting down. “How does someone win this many awards and never get photographed?”
“There’s nothing in the employee database either,” Jacob added quietly. His tone was grim.
“Mysterious and competent,” Aiden said, glancing up with a smirk. “She already has my vote.”
Of course she did. They’d vote for anyone—as long as it wasn’t me. Ever since I brought Elsie back without Elsie, things between us had never been the same.
They resented me for it. And maybe they were right to.
I had gone back for her. God knew I had tried. But Diego had laughed as he told me exactly how he killed her. The details were so vivid, so cruel, that something in me snapped. I’d strangled him until his body went limp beneath my hands.
Elsie died seven years ago.
It was the one truth I could never tell them.
I stuck to the story that she walked away because the alternative would destroy everything that was left of me.
Guilt hollowed me out from the inside. The only time I wasn’t drowning in it was when I worked. When I buried myself in TitanCrest, in contracts, negotiations, numbers. And now Sarah Lancaster was about to take even that from me.
“Will you stop going against me for once?” I said to Aiden. “I try to be patient with you, but you never give me a chance.”
“I’m not against you,” he replied calmly. “I just want my vote to go to the person who can manage the company best. Mom built this from the ground up. We owe it to her to put it in the right hands. And honestly? I think you’re better off staying a lawyer. You should leave TitanCrest.”
“You’re not always wise in your decisions,” Jacob added slowly. “You’re driven, yes—but you’re also rigid. You don’t consider alternatives, even when they’re better. I don’t doubt your loyalty. I just want the best person for the role of CEO.”
Silence settled between the three of us.
I went back to reading the articles.
MedLyn Lancaster was young—twenty-eight, maybe twenty-nine. TitanCrest had invested in her idea to develop and manufacture fitness trackers at a production cost far below market standards. She was being praised for job creation, innovation, and pushing the electronics and IT industries forward.
She reminded me of someone else.
Someone just as intelligent. Just as resourceful.
If Elsie had been given a chance, she would’ve done extraordinary things too.
Pain tightened in my chest as memories flooded back. The first real conversation we ever had—when she served me breakfast and nervously told me about her dreams. She wanted to save up and return to school. She wanted to become a lawyer because she admired what I did.
She was ambitious, but gentle. Strong, but kind. I’d never met anyone with a warmth like hers. She was beautiful in ways most people never noticed, hiding it every day beneath those ridiculous maid uniforms.
My eyes burned. I blinked hard, refusing to let the tears fall where my brothers could see them. They loved her too. And they carried their own guilt for not being able to protect her.
Seven years had passed.
I still hadn’t forgiven myself.
I stood up abruptly and left the room, heading for the staircase that led to the bedrooms upstairs. I was exhausted—physically, mentally, emotionally.
I didn’t think I could ever love another woman the way I loved Elsie.
If fate ever gave me another chance, I’d trade everything I had just to be with her again.