complicated feelings

CHAPTER 5: THE MEETING

The Hourton dining room had not been used in 6 months.

Until today.

Isla stood at the door in a black dress. Not designer. Not borrowed. Hers. She refused to let them dress her like a doll they could return.

Lorenzo was already inside. Standing by the window. Damian was next to him. In a suit. Jaw tight.

And at the head of the table - Richard Hourton.

He looked older than his photos. Mid-60s, silver hair, watching everything with wine in his hand. Colder. And nothing like a father.

No one spoke for 10 seconds.

"Miss Allen," Richard said finally. "The secret daughter."

Isla walked in. Her heels clicked. She sat across from him. Lorenzo on her left, Damian on her right.

"My name is Isla. Not the secret daughter."

Richard smiled. "Feisty. Like your mother."

"You knew her?" Isla asked.

"I met her once. At a gala. 2006. She was young. Cute. Ambitious. I was drunk."

The room went cold.

"Are you saying I'm an accident?" Isla asked. "A mistake?"

"It was 2006," Richard said. "Mistakes happen. And we deal with them."

Damian slammed his hand on the table. "Don't you dare talk about her like that."

Richard chuckled. "Ah, the knight. You warned me your brother was emotional, Lorenzo."

"The DNA was inconclusive at first because you paid the lab in 2007," Lorenzo cut in. He hadn't looked at his father. "But the second private test you did after legal told you? It matched. 99.9%. You knew since 2007. You just wrote 'Unacknowledged' on the file."

All eyes went to Lorenzo.

Richard's smile dropped. "You always were the smart one, boy. Always digging."

"After legal told you it matched, you said 'Nothing. Pay the invoice.' Liar. Everyone wants something," Isla said, her voice shaking. "Why did you keep a file for 20 years and never send one letter?"

For a second, Richard looked tired. "Because, finally, your mother asked for nothing. She said she'd be fine on her own. And she was. Until she wasn't."

"No, Isla whispered. She died in 2007 because she couldn't afford treatment. Not because she was fine. You left her with nothing and now you say she was fine?"

Richard stood up. "This meeting is over. You wanted truth, you have it. You are my blood, but you are not a Hourton. That's all you're getting."

Isla stood too. "No. I said again, I'm not here for your name. Or your money. I'm here because I deserve an answer. Did you tell her to get rid of me?"

Richard looked at her. Really looked. Then said softly, "I offered to handle it. She refused. That was her choice. Like coming here is yours."

He walked out.

Damian followed. "Father, wait-"

Damian turned to Isla. "Are you okay?"

Isla nodded. But her hands were shaking.

Lorenzo handed her a glass of water. His fingers brushed hers.

"You were brave," he said quietly. "Don't let him get to you. He wants you to leave."

Damian signed to Isla. "Let's get out of here. Garden?"

Isla shook her head. "I need to be alone."

She went back to her room. Locked the door. And opened her mother's old photo.

On the back, in Marie's handwriting: "Rome, Dec 2006 - the night everything changed."

Then a knock. "It's me. Lorenzo's voice."

He opened the door. He was holding a folder. The one from room 214. And something else. A small box.

"Because there's something else you need to see," he said. "Something about your mom."

He opened the box. Inside was a photo. Young Marie. At the 2006 gala. Her arm was around someone's waist. And that someone was not Richard.

It was someone else. Someone Isla knew.

Lorenzo whispered, "Think about it. I'll be in my office."

He left.

Isla looked at the photo again.

Her mother, 24, in love with a man who forgot her.

Isla wasn't going to forget.

And she wasn't going to leave. Not until she got the truth. All of it.