chapter 10. The Truth Hidden In Sterling Manor
1079 Words
"If you want the rest of the truth... come to Sterling Manor before midnight."
The call ended.
Silence filled the hospital room.
My hands trembled.
Everything that had happened over the past twenty-four hours felt unreal.
My father wasn't my biological father.
My mother was alive.
And someone had stolen me as a child.
James slipped his phone into his pocket.
"We're going."
My mother grabbed his arm.
"No."
James turned toward her.
"Why?"
Her face turned pale.
"Because that's exactly where they want you."
James didn't hesitate.
"Then that's where we'll find our answers."
He looked at me.
"Rose?"
I took a deep breath.
"I'm coming with you."
His eyes searched mine.
"You're certain?"
"I've spent twenty-five years living a lie."
My voice grew stronger.
"I'm done running from the truth."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"Good."
---
Less than an hour later...
Three black SUVs pulled through the massive iron gates of Sterling Manor.
The mansion stood against the night sky like an ancient fortress.
Every window was dark.
Not a single light burned inside.
"It's too quiet," James murmured.
His security team spread out across the estate.
"Evelyn," James said into his earpiece.
"Any movement?"
"Nothing, sir."
"No heat signatures."
"No security cameras."
James frowned.
"They've disabled everything."
I looked at the mansion.
A strange feeling settled over me.
"I've been here before."
James turned to me.
"What?"
I frowned.
"I don't know why..."
"But this place feels familiar."
My mother closed her eyes.
She whispered something I couldn't hear.
James noticed.
"What did you say?"
She slowly looked up.
"This was your home."
I froze.
"My... home?"
She nodded.
"You were born here."
The words echoed inside my head.
"No."
"It can't be."
My mother pointed toward the grand staircase visible through the front windows.
"You used to crawl across those marble floors."
"You took your first steps beside that staircase."
Tears blurred my vision.
Tiny flashes of memory suddenly filled my mind.
A little girl laughing.
A woman's gentle voice singing a lullaby.
A silver music box.
Then...
Nothing.
I grabbed my head.
"It hurts."
James immediately caught me before I lost my balance.
"Easy."
"I keep seeing things."
"They're memories."
My mother nodded.
"They're coming back."
Suddenly—
The front door of the mansion slowly opened by itself.
A cold wind swept through the entrance hall.
No one stood there.
Only darkness.
Then a familiar voice echoed from inside.
"I've been waiting for you."
Victor.
James's eyes turned icy.
He drew his handgun.
"Stay behind me."
We stepped inside together.
The heavy doors slammed shut behind us.
The sound echoed through the empty mansion.
Every chandelier suddenly lit up.
At the top of the grand staircase stood Victor Sterling.
He wasn't alone.
An older man in an expensive black suit stood beside him.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
His posture radiated authority.
James stopped walking.
For the first time since I'd met him...
I saw genuine shock on his face.
"No..."
His voice was barely a whisper.
"That's impossible."
I looked at James.
"You know him?"
James didn't answer.
The older man smiled.
"Hello, son."
My heart stopped.
James had always believed his father was dead.
Yet there he stood...
Alive.
Smiling.
Standing beside the enemy.
"Hello, son."
James stood frozen.
For the first time since I had met him, the fearless billionaire looked completely shaken.
"No..."
His voice was barely audible.
"You died fifteen years ago."
The older man's smile never faded.
"That's what I wanted everyone to believe."
James slowly lowered his gun.
"I buried you."
"You buried an empty coffin."
Silence swallowed the grand hall.
I looked between them, trying to understand.
"James..."
I whispered.
"Is that really your father?"
His jaw tightened.
"Yes."
The man descended the staircase with slow, confident steps.
Every footstep echoed through Sterling Manor.
When he reached the bottom, he stopped a few feet away from us.
"You've grown into an impressive man."
James's expression turned cold again.
"You don't get to call yourself my father."
The man's smile disappeared.
"I suppose I deserve that."
"You deserve far worse."
Victor leaned casually against the staircase.
"This family reunion is touching."
James ignored him.
His eyes never left his father.
"Why?"
"Why fake your death?"
"Why abandon your family?"
The older man sighed.
"Because it was the only way to protect the Sterling legacy."
James laughed bitterly.
"You call this protection?"
"You left me to fight alone."
"You let everyone believe you were dead."
"And now you're standing beside the man who's trying to destroy me."
"I never wanted to destroy you," the older man replied calmly.
"I wanted to prepare you."
"For what?"
He turned toward me.
"For her."
Every eye in the room fell on me.
My heartbeat quickened.
"What do I have to do with any of this?"
The older man's gaze softened.
"Everything."
He reached into his coat and removed an old leather folder.
Inside were several faded documents.
One photograph slipped onto the marble floor.
James picked it up.
My breath caught.
It showed two newborn babies lying side by side in a hospital nursery.
One wore a bracelet labeled James Sterling.
The other...
Rose Sterling.
I stared at the name in disbelief.
"That's impossible."
My mother burst into tears.
"I'm sorry..."
She covered her face.
"I never wanted you to find out like this."
I looked at her.
"What does this mean?"
The older man answered instead.
"It means your real name isn't Rose Bennett."
He paused.
"Your name is Rose Sterling."
The room spun around me.
"No..."
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
James looked from the photograph to his father.
"What are you saying?"
The older man took a slow breath.
"Twenty-five years ago..."
"Someone tried to wipe out the Sterling bloodline."
"They kidn*pped Rose."
"Michael Bennett rescued her before they could."
"He raised her as his own to keep her alive."
Tears blurred my vision.
"So..."
I whispered.
"I've been a Sterling all along?"
The older man nodded.
"Yes."
James looked as stunned as I was.
Then he asked the question neither of us wanted to ask.
"If Rose is a Sterling..."
He swallowed hard.
"...then how can she be my wife?"
The older man's face darkened.
"Because there is one final truth..."
He looked directly into James's eyes.
"You are not my biological son."
The room fell into absolute silence.
Victor smiled.
"I told you..."
"The truth destroys more lives than lies ever could."
- Writer
