The Heiress They Ignored

Chapter Eight

Jeremy

“Rob, do you think I need to tell Amera what we found out today?” I asked as we drove back home.

“I wouldn’t advise that. It would be better to contact the Roosevelts first, tell them that you met their daughter, and find out if they want to meet her. If you tell her first and we don’t get a positive response from her biological parents, it could get ugly and be even more heartbreaking.”

“You’re right. She’s been through so much already. Best to work discreetly until we’re certain. Thank you, Rob.”

“You’re welcome. So, where are we headed now?”

“I don’t know, Rob. I’m not ready to go home just yet. We still need to finalize our next course of action.”

Who would have actually thought that Amera Paul was Amera Roosevelt?

What a shocking turn of events.

Just when I thought I had found a girl I had been trying to find for years, I found out that she was actually the daughter of one of the most influential families in the country.

And somehow, I had found her on the worst night of her life.

I looked out the window.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how different her life was going to be if everything we found out today turned out to be true.

Would she even believe us?

Would she want to meet them?

Would the Roosevelts even want to meet her?

There were too many questions and absolutely no answers.

I need to schedule a meeting with them as soon as possible, but I can’t exactly come at them with—

“Hi, I have your daughter.”

How do I even do this?

I wondered as I looked at the card between my index and middle fingers.

“Maybe you should call first,” Rob suggested.

“I know. I just don’t know what to say without it sounding like I’m calling for business.”

“Start with the truth.”

I looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“That’s the problem. I don’t even know the whole truth yet.”

He nodded slowly.

“We’ll figure it out.”

I sighed and leaned back.

I knew we would.

I just wish figuring it out didn’t involve potentially reopening twenty-two years of pain for someone who had already had enough pain for one lifetime.

Amera

I could slowly feel myself getting bored, and I couldn’t help it when my mind started to wander.

I wonder what Daniel is doing right now.

Is he thinking of me?

Is he worried about me?

Has he gone to the house to look for me?

Has he perhaps found out that I got kicked out because I’m not their biological child?

That would have been very embarrassing.

It’s a good thing we broke up before that happened.

I would have gone to stay with him without knowing how he truly felt about me. Then, I would need to pack up and move again.

I could feel my heart breaking all over again.

Maybe this is a good thing.

Maybe Daniel breaking up with me was actually a blessing in disguise.

At least I found out what he really thought of me before I built an entire life around him.

I turned on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Who knows?

Maybe this was the universe’s way of forcing me to start over.

A fresh start.

New city, new life, new Amera.

Except I had no idea where to begin.

I don’t know what’s worse, getting body-shamed and dumped, or finding out that you’re not the biological child of the family you lived with all your life and then getting thrown out into the dark night where you’re almost…

Well, the latter is obviously worse.

A knot formed in my throat, but I couldn’t feel any tears filling my eyes.

Maybe I had no tears left to cry.

This sucks.

I laid back in bed and stared at the ceiling for a few more seconds.

The room was so quiet that I could hear the faint ticking of a clock somewhere.

Everything around me was beautiful.

The huge bed.

The soft sheets.

The expensive-looking furniture.

The ridiculously large bathroom.

Yet, somehow, I still felt completely lost.

This wasn’t my home.

I didn’t even know whose house I was in.

I didn’t know why these strangers were being so kind to me.

And I didn’t know what I was going to do tomorrow.

For the first time in my life, I’d never felt so lost and confused.

I pulled the blanket closer to myself and closed my eyes.

Oh…

I have some tears left to cry after all.

I cried until my eyes got heavy with sleep.

And somewhere between one sob and the next, I finally drifted off.