Chapter 85

Chapter 85
Sloane's POV

The doctor examined the bloodline stone with careful, professional movements, turning it over in his hands under the lamplight. I stood frozen beside Juan's desk, my heart hammering against my ribs as we all waited for his verdict.

This is it. This is the moment everything changes.

Juan sat rigid in his chair, his knuckles white as he gripped the armrests. Zaid paced near the window, running his hands through his hair every few seconds. His whole body screamed anxiety. And Zaid... poor, clueless Zaid sat slumped in the corner chair, staring at his hands like they held all the answers to the universe.

"Mr. Juan," the doctor said finally, his voice cutting through the suffocating silence. "This bloodline stone is completely pure. There are no artificial additives whatsoever."

My stomach flipped. Holy shit. The stone is clean.

"It can provide accurate blood relationship testing," the doctor continued, setting the stone carefully on the desk.

I watched Eloise's face go another shade whiter. She looked like she might actually pass out.

The doctor turned to Zaid, pulling out a small silver needle. "Young Master, may I have a drop of your blood?"

Zaid looked up with confused, frightened eyes. "Why? What's happening? I don't understand any of this."

God, he really has no idea what's about to hit him.

"It's just a simple test," Juan said, but his voice was strained. "Just cooperate."

Zaid held out his hand, trusting and obedient as always. The needle pricked his finger, and bright red blood welled up.

We all held our breath as the doctor carefully placed Zaid's blood on the stone.

The seconds stretched into eternity. I could hear my own heartbeat, Juan's ragged breathing, Eloise's barely controlled panic.

Then the doctor looked up with heavy, serious eyes.

"According to the bloodline stone's reaction, this young man has no blood relationship with Mr. Juan."

The words hit the room like a bomb going off.

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. It's true.

Silence. Complete, devastating silence.

Then Juan's face went from pale to absolutely white. His body swayed in his chair like he'd been physically hit.

"No!" Zaid's voice cracked as he shot to his feet. "That's impossible! There must be something wrong with the stone!"

His voice was raw with panic, desperate and young. Poor kid. His whole world just exploded.

"It has to be broken!" he kept shouting, his voice getting higher. "I'm definitely Father's son! I know I am!"

The doctor shook his head gravely. "Sir, bloodline stones don't make mistakes. I've been practicing medicine for thirty years. This result is absolutely accurate."

"But I checked the stone myself beforehand," he continued. "It's completely pure."

Zaid collapsed back into his chair, his whole body shaking. He looks so lost. So broken.

Juan stood up slowly, like his body weighed a thousand pounds. When he turned to face Eloise, the look in his eyes could have cut glass.

"Sixteen years," his voice was barely above a whisper, but it filled the entire room. "Sixteen years!"

Then he exploded.

"Sixteen fucking years!" Juan roared, slamming his fist on the desk so hard the bloodline stone jumped. "You made me raise another man's child! You made me believe he was my son!"

Eloise shrank back against the wall, but there was nowhere to run.

"I gave him everything!" Juan's voice cracked with rage and pain. "My name, my love, my inheritance! I planned my entire future around him!"

The pain in his voice is breaking my heart. I'd never seen Juan like this. The strong, composed man I'd known was completely shattered.

"And it was all built on your fucking lies!" He turned on Eloise with pure fury blazing in his eyes.

Eloise knew she was cornered. Her mask was finally slipping, but she was still trying to play the victim.

"Juan, I can explain!" Her voice was desperate, pleading. "I loved you! I only wanted us to be a family!"

"Love?" Juan's laugh was bitter and harsh. "You call sixteen years of deception love?"

"I was already pregnant when I came to you," she rushed on. "If I'd told you the truth, would you have still married me? Would you have still wanted me?"

"That wasn't your choice to make!" Juan's voice boomed through the room. "You stole sixteen years of my life! You made me love a child who isn't mine!"

She's still making excuses. Even now, when everything's falling apart, she's trying to justify what she did.

"I did it for us!" Eloise's voice was getting shriller. "For our family! So you could have a son to carry on your legacy!"

"Our family?" Juan stepped closer to her, his voice dropping to something dangerous. "What family? Everything about our family was a lie!"

I glanced at Zaid. He was sitting there like a statue, staring at nothing. He's in shock. Complete shock.

"Juan, please," Eloise was crying now, but they looked like crocodile tears to me. "I made mistakes, but we can work through this. We can—"

"Work through this?" Juan's voice was deadly quiet now, which was somehow more terrifying than when he was shouting. "You destroyed my daughter. You turned me against my own child. You murdered innocent people. And you want to work through this?"

Eloise's face went even whiter. "What are you talking about?"

"I know what you did to Sophia's nanny's family," Juan said coldly. "I know you had them killed because they knew the truth about what really happened that day."

Wait. How does he know about that?

"I don't know what you're—"

"Don't." Juan held up his hand. "Just don't. I've heard enough lies from you to last several lifetimes."

He walked to his desk and pressed a button. Within seconds, two guards appeared at the door.

"Vincent," Juan called out. "Come in here."

Vincent? My blood went cold as a tall man with graying hair stepped into the room. This had to be Zaid's real father.

Vincent looked around the room, his eyes stopping on Zaid for a long moment before turning to Juan.

"You heard everything?" Juan asked.

Vincent nodded slowly. "I heard everything."

Eloise's face went from white to green. "Vincent, what are you doing here?"

"Cleaning up messes," Juan answered for him. "Vincent came to me this morning. He told me some very interesting things about you, Eloise. About threats you made. About plans you had."

Oh my Goddess. Vincent betrayed her.

"You asked him to kill me," Juan continued, his voice ice-cold. "You thought you could manipulate him into eliminating the threat to your secrets. But Vincent isn't as stupid as you thought."

Eloise was shaking now. "Vincent, how could you?"

Vincent stepped forward, his green eyes hard as stone. "How could I? How could you, Eloise? You told me my son was in danger. You made me believe I had to choose between protecting him and my own conscience."

"He is your son!" Eloise screamed.

"Yes, he is. And that's exactly why I couldn't let you turn me into a murderer. What kind of father would that make me?"

This is insane. Absolutely insane.

Juan turned to the guards. "Arrest Vincent. Charge him with conspiracy to commit murder."

Vincent held out his hands calmly. "I expected this."

"Wait," I found myself saying. Everyone turned to look at me. "He came forward voluntarily, didn't he? He stopped Eloise's plan and told you the truth."

Juan's expression softened slightly as he looked at me. "You're right, Sophia. Vincent, you'll face reduced charges for your cooperation."

As the guards led Vincent away, he paused at the door and looked back at Zaid.

"Son," he said quietly. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

Zaid didn't respond. He was still staring at his hands like he was in another world.

Juan turned his full attention back to Eloise. The fury in his eyes was terrifying.

"As for you," his voice was deadly calm. "You tried to have my daughter murdered. You deceived me for sixteen years. You destroyed my family."

"Juan, please—"

"I'm not finished." His voice cut through her pleading like a blade. "You won't get the mercy of a quick death. You're going to live with what you've done."

He nodded to the remaining guards. "Take her to the estate dungeons. She'll spend the rest of her life down there, thinking about every life she's destroyed."

"No!" Eloise screamed as the guards grabbed her arms. "Juan, we had something real! We had love!"

"We had nothing," Juan said coldly, not even looking at her. "We never had anything real."

As they dragged her toward the door, Eloise's mask finally fell completely away. "You'll regret this!" she snarled, her face twisted with rage. "You think that little bitch is really your daughter? She's playing you just like I did!"

Juan didn't even blink. "Get her out of my sight."

The door slammed shut behind them, leaving us in heavy silence.

Saskia was crying quietly in her chair, her whole body shaking. Her entire world just collapsed. Everything she thought she knew about her family was a lie.

I wanted to comfort her, but I didn't know what to say. How do you console someone when their mother turns out to be a murderer and their brother isn't really their brother?

Juan slumped back into his chair, suddenly looking every one of his years. "Sixteen years," he whispered. "My whole marriage was a lie."

The pain in his voice is killing me. I'd gotten my revenge, exposed all of Eloise's lies, but seeing Juan like this... it hurt more than I'd expected.

"Dad," I said softly, moving closer to him. "I'm sorry. I know this is devastating."

He looked up at me with eyes full of regret. "Sophia, I owe you more than an apology. I failed you as a father. I chose to believe their lies instead of trusting my own daughter."

If only he knew how much more complicated this all was.

"What happens now?" I asked.

Juan was quiet for a long time, staring at his hands. "Now we try to rebuild what's left of this family. If there's anything left to rebuild."

He looked at Saskia, who was still sobbing quietly. "Saskia, sweetheart, come here."

She stumbled over to him, and he pulled her into a fierce hug. "None of this is your fault," he whispered into her hair. "You're innocent in all of this."

Then he looked at Zaid, who was still sitting in stunned silence.

"Zaid," Juan's voice was gentler now, tired but not cruel. "You're not my biological son, but you're still family. You're still Saskia's brother. That hasn't changed."

Zaid finally looked up, his eyes red with unshed tears. "But everything else has changed, hasn't it?"

Juan nodded slowly. "Yes. Everything else has changed."

Sophia, can you see this? Can you see how they're all paying for what they did to you?

The justice felt hollow somehow. Yeah, Eloise was going to rot in a dungeon for the rest of her life. Vincent was facing prison. But Sophia was still dead. Nothing could bring her back.

At least her memory is finally cleared. At least Juan knows the truth now.

"I need to be alone," Juan said finally. "All of you, please. I need time to process this."

I squeezed his shoulder gently before heading for the door. "If you need anything..."

"Thank you, Sophia. Thank you for fighting for the truth, even when it hurt all of us."

If only you knew how much of the truth you still don't know.

As I walked toward my room, I felt this weird mix of satisfaction and sadness. The revenge was complete, but somehow it didn't feel as good as I'd thought it would.

Maybe that's just how justice works. It rights the wrongs, but it can't undo the pain.

Sophia was finally at peace. That was what mattered most.

Outside my window, the first hints of dawn were creeping across the sky. I sat on my bed, staring out at the estate grounds where Sophia had once run and played as a child.

It's over, I thought. It's finally over.

But even as I said it, I knew it wasn't really over. There would be consequences for all of this. Fallout. Changes that rippled through everything.

What happens to me now? Do I keep pretending to be Sophia forever? Do I tell Juan the truth?

I touched my face, thinking about the birthmark that was gone, the scars that had healed, all the ways I'd become someone new.

Maybe that's a question for tomorrow, I decided. Tonight, justice was served. That has to be enough for now.

I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes, finally allowing myself to rest. For the first time since I'd arrived at this estate, I felt something like peace.

Sleep well, Sophia. Your family knows the truth now.