Chapter 284

Stella's POV

The upscale café across from the hospital was quiet this morning. Adam had ordered several desserts for me, but I had no appetite at all, my stomach knotted with anxiety. The shock of Liam Davis claiming to be my brother had completely thrown me off balance.

Little sister. My brother.

These words kept echoing in my mind, making it difficult to focus on the conversation around me. Adam's hand held mine under the table.

This is insane. What the fuck am I even experiencing right now?

Emma Davis pulled out a document from her designer handbag and slid it across the table toward me. "I'm sorry we did this without your consent, but we needed to be sure."

My eyes fell on the paper. A DNA comparison test. I held my breath as I scanned the results, but strangely, I didn't feel the shock I had anticipated. From the moment Liam called me his sister, some part of me had already accepted the possibility.

I have a family. A real, blood-related family who have been looking for me all this time.

The realization was both overwhelming and oddly familiar, like recognizing a melody you'd heard long ago but couldn't quite place.

"Your real name is Olivia Davis," Emma continued softly, "you're our youngest sister."

I looked at her, then at Robert, remembering their strange reactions when we'd met at fashion events before. The way they'd stared at me, their unusual interest—it all suddenly made sense.

So they weren't being creepy after all, they recognized me.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" I asked, my voice steadier than I expected. "When we met at the fundraiser, or at Rouge?"

Liam leaned forward, his expression serious. "We couldn't be certain without evidence. Your birth records were tampered with, which is why it took us so long to find you."

"Tampered with?" I repeated, trying to process this new information. "What does that mean?"

"Someone deliberately altered your information in the system," Liam explained, watching my reaction closely. "We only identified the person responsible yesterday—Adrian Black."

The name hit me like a physical blow. "Adrian? That's... that's impossible." I shook my head in disbelief. "He's not that much older than me. How could he—"

That phone call of his... that warning... was it because he knew his identity was about to be exposed?

"Age doesn't limit capability," Liam interrupted. "Your husband founded GT Group when he was still a teenager. Intelligence and influence don't always correlate with age."

Adam's hand tightened slightly over mine, silently reminding me to stay calm. I took a deep breath, thinking of the baby in my womb. The timing of Adrian's call today suddenly felt less coincidental and more ominous.

That bastard. He knew all these years and never told me.

"Why would he do this?" I asked, unable to hide the hurt in my voice. "Why prevent me from finding my family?"

Liam's expression darkened. "We don't know his motives yet, but it's clear he's known your identity all along."

A memory suddenly surfaced—my dying grandmother, mumbling about how Adrian Black had helped her when I was young. I had dismissed it as the ramblings of a dying woman, but now...

All these years, he knew what I was searching for, watched me suffer, and remained silent. Why?

"Did Grace... know?" I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop it. The thought that Adam's former love interest might have known my true identity while I remained ignorant was unbearable.

If that bitch knew and didn't tell me, I absolutely won't let her get away with it.

Liam's expression hardened. "No. Grace came to our family after you disappeared. Our grandfather adopted her after she lost her parents." His tone made it clear this relationship was complicated. "We don't have much contact with her these days."

Emma reached across the table, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears. "Little sister, we've been searching for you for so long. You can't imagine how many times we thought we'd found you, only to be disappointed. I'm so sorry it took so many years to find you."

I managed a smile, touched by her emotion but still feeling strangely detached. "It's not your fault."

"If only our parents could see you now," she continued softly, "they would be so proud."

The mention of parents I couldn't remember created an odd ache in my chest. Adam, sensing my emotional overload, stood up.

"I think that's enough for today," he said firmly. "Stella needs to rest."

The Davis siblings looked ready to protest, but something in Adam's expression silenced them. As we prepared to leave, I caught fragments of their conversation.

"He won't even let us have a meal with our sister," Liam grumbled, clearly displeased.

Emma shook her head. "Robert's already had dinner with her a few times through his connection with Lisa."

Liam immediately shot his brother a look that would have been comical under different circumstances.

Back at Lancaster Manor, I sat cross-legged on the bed, surrounded by printouts of news articles about the Davis family that I'd collected during the afternoon. The more I read, the more real it all became.

Fuck, how did twenty years of my life suddenly feel like a lie?

The Davis family was indeed prominent, though they maintained a low profile compared to families like the Lancasters. Most reports focused on Grace Davis, with only sparse mentions of the mysteriously missing daughter. Between the lines of media coverage, a heartbreaking picture emerged:

Mrs. Davis had died from severe depression three years after her youngest daughter's disappearance. The last public report about Mr. Davis included his deathbed inquiry about whether his little girl had been found.

I stared at a blurry photograph of the Davis family—parents and three children, with the youngest conspicuously absent—feeling a hollow sensation in my chest. These people had spent years looking for me, while I'd believed myself unwanted, abandoned.

My mother died because of me. My father died still searching for me.

The weight of this realization made it hard to breathe. I curled up, knees to my chest, forehead resting on my knees, suddenly too exhausted even to cry.

I didn't hear Adam enter the study until he gently pulled me into his arms. The familiar scent of his cologne provided an anchor in the emotional storm.

"I always thought," I whispered against his chest, "that my birth parents threw me away because they didn't want me. Otherwise, why wouldn't they have found me all these years?"

Adam's lips pressed softly against the top of my head. "Stell, how could anyone not want you? They'd be lucky to have you."

"But now I know," I continued, my voice breaking, "my mother died from depression after losing me. My father's last words were asking if they'd found me."

"They loved you," Adam said softly, his arms tightening around me. "They never stopped looking for you. No one blames you, baby. No one."

I buried my face deeper into his chest, allowing myself to draw strength from his solid presence. After a moment, Adam pulled back, crouching to look me in the eyes.

"Stell," he said seriously, "the Davis family should be your support and comfort, not your burden. Understand? You don't owe them anything."

I nodded slowly, immensely grateful for his understanding. Whatever would happen with my newly discovered family, at least I wouldn't face it alone.

I may be Olivia Davis, but I choose to be Stella Winston. This is my fucking life, and no one else gets to dictate it.