Chapter 261

Chapter 261
The next morning, Gerald arrived at Rivera Corporation with a heart heavy with dread and anxiety.

He had to maintain the facade that everything was normal, ensuring Augustus wouldn't detect even the slightest hint of suspicion. But Freya's disappearance loomed over him like a guillotine blade, leaving him trapped in a suffocating prison of terror with each passing second. Every footstep in the hallway made his pulse spike, every glance from employees felt like an interrogation.

"Father, you wanted to see me?" Gerald knocked and entered Augustus's office, forcing his usual gentle smile despite the cold sweat beading on his forehead.

Augustus looked up, and for a split second, Gerald caught something—a flash of steel-cold calculation in those eyes—before the older man's expression returned to its familiar warmth. "Please, sit. Let's discuss the progress on the South District project."

Gerald settled onto the leather sofa, but every nerve in his body screamed danger. The way Augustus watched him felt different today, predatory almost, as if he were studying a specimen under a microscope.

Does he know? How much does he know?

The questions clawed at Gerald's mind like rabid animals.

"Let me make you some tea." Augustus rose with deliberate casualness and walked toward the mahogany tea cabinet in the corner of his office.

This was it—the moment Gerald had been preparing for. His heart hammered against his ribs as he quickly extracted the small vial from his jacket pocket. The colorless, odorless poison seemed to burn against his palm as he uncapped it with trembling fingers. While Augustus's back was turned, Gerald poured the lethal contents into one of the porcelain teacups, his hand shaking so violently he nearly spilled it. Just one sip,he told himself desperately. One sip and all my problems disappear.

Several agonizing minutes later, Augustus returned with two steaming cups of Earl Grey, the delicate china clinking softly against the silver tray.

"Try this—a colleague just sent over some exceptional tea from his estate." Augustus placed one cup before Gerald with practiced grace, then lifted the other to his lips.

Gerald's mouth went dry as dust. His entire future hinged on which cup Augustus chose. The poisoned one sat innocuously before him, looking identical to its harmless twin. Drink it,Gerald willed silently, his knuckles white as he gripped his own cup. Just drink the damn tea.

However, Augustus didn't take even a sip. Instead, he set his cup down on the glass coffee table with deliberate precision and fixed Gerald with that unsettling stare.

"Gerald, you've been with me for so many years now." Augustus's voice carried an odd weight, each word measured like a prosecutor building a case. "I've always treated you like my own flesh and blood."

A chill raced down Gerald's spine. This wasn't casual conversation—this was something else entirely. "Father, what's brought this on? You sound so... reflective all of a sudden."

"Just been thinking about the past lately." Augustus's gaze never wavered, boring into Gerald like a drill. "Particularly when you first arrived at our home—barely more than a child, yet you carried yourself with such unusual composure. Almost as if you'd rehearsed it."

He knows. Dear God, he knows everything.

Gerald fought to keep his voice steady, even as panic clawed up his throat like bile. "I suppose surviving on the streets forces you to grow up fast." He gestured toward Augustus's untouched tea with forced nonchalance. "Father, your tea's getting cold. Doesn't it suit your taste?"

Augustus glanced at the cup with what might have been amusement. "No rush. Let it cool down properly."

Sweat began to pool in Gerald's palms, and he had to resist the urge to wipe them on his expensive suit. Every second Augustus delayed drinking felt like an eternity in purgatory. The old man's behavior was all wrong—too calculated, too knowing.

"Father, the South District development team has been pressing for updates. Perhaps we should—"

"There's no rush for that either." Augustus cut him off with surgical precision. "Gerald, let me pose a hypothetical question. If someone discovered their entire identity was built on lies, what do you think they should do?"

The words hit Gerald like a physical blow, draining all color from his face in an instant. The room seemed to tilt on its axis, and he gripped the sofa arm to steady himself. "Father, I... what exactly are you implying?"

Augustus's smile was razor-sharp and twice as cold. "What do you think I'm implying?"

"I honestly have no idea what you're getting at..." Gerald's voice cracked despite his desperate attempt to maintain composure. His carefully constructed mask was crumbling, and they both knew it.

"No idea?" Augustus rose to his full height, towering over Gerald like an avenging angel. "Then perhaps the name Ralph might refresh your memory?"

The name struck Gerald like lightning, and he collapsed back into the sofa as if his strings had been cut. Ralph. His real name—the name he'd buried so deep he sometimes forgot it himself. The name only one person alive could have told them.

"I can see the recognition dawning." Augustus's voice had turned to winter itself. "Freya was quite thorough in her confession. She told me everything—your original scheme, your true identity, every sordid detail of your deception."

Something snapped inside Gerald's chest, and his carefully maintained facade shattered like glass. His eyes took on a feral gleam as years of suppressed rage and desperation bubbled to the surface. "When did you figure it out? How long have you been playing with me like a cat with a mouse?"

"The moment my mother fell down those stairs, I knew something was wrong." Augustus spoke each word like a death sentence. "She told me herself—with her own lips—that you were the one who pushed her."

Gerald's laughter was the sound of a man whose sanity had finally snapped. He shot to his feet, ripping away the mask he'd worn for over two decades like shedding diseased skin. "Well, since the charade is over, why should I keep pretending?"

His transformation was complete and terrifying—gone was the dutiful son, replaced by something wild and dangerous. "You're absolutely right! I'm a fraud! A street rat who clawed his way into your precious family! And I'd do it all again!"

"You monster!" Augustus roared, his own composure finally cracking under the weight of years of betrayal.

"Monster?" Gerald's laugh turned vicious, his face contorting with bitter resentment. "You want to talk about monsters? What about the monsters who let children starve in the gutters while they feast in their mansions? Where was your precious family when I was eating garbage to survive? And now you have the audacity to judge me?"

"That doesn't give you the right to destroy innocent lives! To hurt my mother!" Augustus's hands clenched into fists, his whole body trembling with barely contained fury.

"Innocent?" Gerald's voice climbed to a shriek. "There's no such thing as innocence in this world! Everyone's guilty of something—you, me, that meddling old woman who should have minded her own business!"

The insult to his mother was the final straw. Augustus lunged forward with a growl of pure rage, intent on wrapping his hands around Gerald's throat.

But Gerald had been preparing for this moment. In one fluid motion, he drew a wickedly sharp hunting knife from inside his jacket and drove it toward Augustus's heart with the desperate strength of a cornered animal.

"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!" Gerald snarled, his eyes blazing with murderous intent.

At that critical moment, the office doors exploded inward with tremendous force.

Sophia and Benjamin burst through, followed by a team of armed police officers, their weapons drawn and ready.

"FREEZE!" Benjamin's command boomed across the room as he launched himself at Gerald with the speed of a striking viper.

Startled by the sudden invasion, Gerald's killing blow went wide, the blade slicing across Augustus's forearm instead of finding his heart. Blood bloomed across the white shirt sleeve, but the wound was superficial.

Benjamin's martial arts training served him well as he executed a perfect takedown, sending Gerald crashing to the floor and sending the knife skittering across the polished hardwood.

"Gerald Rivera—or should I say Ralph—you're under arrest for attempted murder, identity fraud, assault, conspiracy, and a dozen other charges!" The lead detective stepped forward, handcuffs gleaming in the afternoon light streaming through the windows.

"Get your hands off me! You have nothing! NOTHING!" Gerald thrashed like a wild animal in the officers' grip, spittle flying from his lips as he screamed his denials.

Sophia stepped forward, her expression carved from ice. "Nothing? We have Freya's detailed confession, Ethan's testimony about the DNA tampering, and—" She held up a small recording device with a satisfied smile. "—every word you just said on tape."

Gerald's face went through a kaleidoscope of emotions—shock, disbelief, and finally, crushing defeat. "No... that's impossible..."

"Uncle Augustus, are you hurt?" Sophia immediately turned her attention to Augustus, her cold mask slipping to reveal genuine concern as she examined the bleeding wound on his arm.

"It's nothing serious, just a scratch." Augustus watched Gerald being dragged away in handcuffs, his eyes burning with righteous satisfaction. "That bastard finally showed his true colors."

"It's over now." Sophia's gentle touch on his shoulder was both comforting and grounding. "He'll never hurt anyone in our family again."

As they watched the police car disappear down the street with Gerald screaming threats from the back seat, Benjamin moved to stand beside Sophia. "Amanda was arrested simultaneously at her apartment. This whole sick charade is finally finished."

Augustus drew in a deep, shuddering breath, feeling as though a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders after years of crushing pressure.

The imposter who had poisoned his family for so long had finally received his just punishment.