Between Love and Revenge

Chapter 15: Welcome Home, Isabelle

POV: Elena Carter

Elena stood at the open doorway, her heart pounding.

The man who had opened it was gone.

For a moment, she wondered if she had imagined the fear on his face.

She hadn't.

Someone inside this house had looked at her as though they had seen a ghost.

Elena tightened her grip on her handbag.

Then she stepped inside.

The entrance hall was enormous.

Marble flooring stretched beneath her feet, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. Everything looked expensive, polished, and carefully maintained.

But Elena barely noticed any of it.

Her attention was fixed on the people standing farther inside the room.

A middle-aged man stood near the staircase.

Richard Sterling.

Elena recognized him immediately from the photographs Agnes had shown her.

Beside him stood a woman.

Eleanor.

Elena's breath caught.

She had seen photographs of Eleanor too, but nothing prepared her for seeing the woman in person.

Eleanor was staring at her.

She looked confused.

Almost frightened.

And beside her stood Victoria.

The moment Elena's eyes met hers, something inside her tightened.

Victoria looked exactly like the woman in the magazines.

For one dangerous second, Elena forgot how to breathe.

Then she remembered why she was here.

She forced her expression to remain calm.

Richard was the first to speak.

"Who are you?"

Elena swallowed.

"My name is Isabelle Sterling."

Silence filled the room.

Eleanor's lips parted.

Victoria stared at Elena.

Richard's expression hardened.

"Isabelle?"

"Yes."

He took a step forward.

"Isabelle Sterling?"

Elena nodded.

Richard looked at the woman beside him.

Eleanor was still staring at Elena as if she were trying to understand what she was seeing.

"That's impossible," Richard said quietly.

Elena opened her handbag.

"I understand why you would think that."

She removed the documents Agnes had prepared and held them out.

"I was told that my name was Elena Carter for most of my life."

Richard's eyes narrowed.

"Who told you that?"

"The woman who raised me."

He didn't take the documents immediately.

"Where is she?"

"She died."

Eleanor's expression changed.

"When?"

Elena looked at her.

"Few months ago."

Richard finally took the documents.

He began examining them carefully.

Victoria moved closer.

"What exactly are you saying?" she asked.

Elena looked at her.

"I'm saying that I was born Isabelle Sterling."

Victoria's eyes remained fixed on her face.

"And how did you find out?"

Elena took a breath.

"The woman who raised me said so before dying and left some documents behind after her death. At first, I didn't understand what they meant. Later, I started looking into them."

She paused.

"That's when I discovered the Sterling name."

Richard looked up from the papers.

"And you expect us to believe that?"

"No."

Her answer surprised him.

Elena continued calmly.

"I don't expect you to believe me immediately. If I were in your position, I wouldn't believe me either."

Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.

Richard noticed.

"Eleanor."

She shook her head.

"No."

Her voice trembled.

She took a small step toward Elena.

"No, Richard."

Elena stood still.

Eleanor looked at her face again.

Her eyes moved slowly over Elena's features.

"How old are you?"

Elena told her.

Eleanor covered her mouth.

Richard lowered the documents.

"We were told Isabelle was dead."

Elena's heart skipped.

"Who told you?"

"The authorities."

Richard's voice was controlled.

"We searched for her for years."

Elena lowered her gaze.

"I know."

"You know?"

"The records I found included information about the search."

Richard stared at her.

"What happened to you?"

Elena had prepared for that question.

"I was raised by a woman who didn't tell me who I really was. I grew up believing the name she gave me was my real name."

She looked at Eleanor.

"I didn't know I had a family."

Eleanor's tears finally fell.

Elena felt something uncomfortable twist inside her chest.

She had expected anger.

Suspicion.

Questions.

She hadn't prepared herself for this.

Eleanor looked devastated.

"All these years..."

Her voice broke.

"Where were you?"

Elena didn't answer immediately.

"I was with the woman who raised me."

Eleanor shook her head as tears continued to fall.

"We looked everywhere."

Richard placed the documents on a nearby table.

"Eleanor, we need to be careful."

"I know."

"You don't know if this is really her."

"I know."

Eleanor's voice became firmer.

"But she could be."

Richard fell silent.

Victoria had not said anything for several moments.

She was still studying Elena.

Every expression.

Every movement.

Every word.

Elena could feel her eyes on her.

She turned toward her.

Victoria looked away first.

"Can I see the documents?" Victoria asked.

Richard handed them to her.

She read through them carefully.

Elena watched her.

Victoria's fingers paused over one of the photographs.

Then she looked up.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was among the things left behind by the woman who raised me."

Victoria stared at the photograph.

It was an old picture of Isabelle as a child.

The resemblance was undeniable.

Not perfect.

But enough to make the room fall silent again.

Victoria looked from the photograph to Elena.

Elena forced herself not to react.

She had spent hours studying that photograph.

She knew exactly what expression she was supposed to have.

Confusion.

Sadness.

A little disbelief.

Not too much.

Victoria handed the photograph back.

Eleanor stepped forward.

"Can I..."

She stopped.

Her eyes moved to Elena's face.

"Can I come closer?"

Elena didn't know what to say.

So she nodded.

Eleanor walked toward her slowly.

With every step, the woman's expression became more emotional.

She stopped directly in front of Elena.

For several seconds, she simply stared.

Elena could see the tears gathering in her eyes.

"You look so much like her."

Elena's throat tightened.

Eleanor lifted her hand.

Then stopped just before touching Elena's face.

Her fingers trembled.

"I'm sorry."

Elena's eyes widened slightly.

"For what?"

"For not finding you."

Eleanor's voice broke.

"I'm so sorry."

Elena didn't know how to respond.

This woman believed she was looking at her missing daughter.

But Elena wasn't.

She was an intruder standing in the middle of their home, wearing a dead woman's identity.

And yet the grief in Eleanor's eyes was real.

That made it harder.

Elena forced herself to speak.

"You didn't know where I was."

"But I should have found you."

Eleanor's hand finally touched her cheek.

Elena froze.

The touch was gentle.

Eleanor's thumb moved across her cheek as tears rolled down her own face.

"My baby girl..."

The words struck Elena harder than she expected.

For one moment, she couldn't move.

She couldn't speak.

Eleanor pulled her into an embrace.

Elena's arms remained at her sides.

She stared over Eleanor's shoulder at Richard.

He was watching them silently.

Victoria was watching too.

And Elena realized that the hardest part of pretending to be Isabelle wasn't going to be the documents.

It wasn't going to be the questions.

It wasn't even going to be Victoria.

It was going to be standing inside this house while a mother cried over a daughter Elena could never be.

Eleanor held her tighter.

"My baby girl is alive."

Elena slowly closed her eyes.

And for the first time since entering the Sterling estate, she wondered if revenge would be as simple as she had imagined.