The Monroe Estate sat quiet under the watch of a blood-orange moon, but inside, war brewed beneath the chandeliers and velvet drapes. And tonight, something shifted—something that would make the cracks in this broken family even deeper.
1
Ella didn't mean to snoop. She only wanted to escape the stifling silence of her room. But as she wandered into her father's old study, she noticed the blinking red light on the corner of the antique answering machine—an odd thing to keep around in the age of smartphones, but Gideon had been nostalgic about such things.
One new message.
Date: Two weeks before Gideon's death.
Time: 2:41 a.m.
With trembling fingers, Ella pressed play.
"—Valeria, if anything happens to me… check the safe. The one behind the Degas painting. The boys—only one of them is mine. I can't do this anymore. I thought I could live with the lie. But I can't. Doreen… she threatened—"
The tape cut off, static crackling in her ears.
Ella staggered backward, heart pounding.
Only one of them? Which boy?
And Doreen… What was she threatening?
---
2
At breakfast, Valeria sat with untouched coffee. Across from her, Caleb and Adrian were finishing toast under the watchful eye of their temporary governess. Ella slipped into the room, pale-faced and clutching the worn leather notebook she'd found in the drawer alongside the recording.
"Mother," she said firmly.
Valeria blinked. She hadn't heard that tone from her daughter since the funeral.
"Come with me."
In the hallway, Ella shoved the notebook into her hands. "He left a message. There's a safe behind the Degas."
Valeria's eyes darkened. "How do you know this?"
"Because I listened. And you're going to open that safe."
They walked in silence to Gideon's office. Valeria removed the Degas from the wall with practiced ease, revealing a small steel panel. She punched in the code: Gideon's mother's birthdate.
The door clicked open.
Inside lay several items: a legal folder stamped Confidential, a USB drive, and a small velvet box. Valeria opened the folder.
DNA Results – Adrian Monroe. Paternity: Negative.
Her hands trembled.
"No," she whispered.
Ella's voice was ice. "That means Caleb is his son. But Adrian…?"
Valeria covered her mouth, shaking her head. "She… she must have had another lover."
The room spun. The lies were layered deeper than they'd ever imagined.
---
3
Elsewhere in the city, Doreen stood in the shadows of a parking garage, her coat pulled tight against the chill. A man emerged from the elevator. Older, tall, with a limp.
"You're late," she snapped.
"Traffic."
"Do you have it?"
He handed her a plain envelope. "That's the original birth record. If Valeria ever finds out, this will destroy her."
Doreen smiled. "Good. Because this time, I want the whole estate."
He frowned. "And the boy?"
"I'll deal with him when the time's right."
She turned to go.
"You're playing a dangerous game, Doreen."
She paused. "So did Gideon. And he lost."
---
4
Valeria didn't cry. She didn't scream. She simply sat at her vanity, staring at her reflection like she was trying to see through herself.
How many lies had she accepted just to keep the image of a perfect marriage alive?
Gideon's affair.
His secret sons.
His silence.
She now had to raise two boys—one who wasn't even Gideon's—and keep the press, the board, and the vultures from tearing them all apart.
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
Ella entered, holding the USB drive. "We should see what's on this."
Together, they plugged it into her laptop. A video began.
Gideon sat at his desk, the camera shaking slightly. He looked tired. Older. Guilty.
"I don't know how much longer I have," he began. "Catherine's not just threatening me. She's blackmailing me with something from the past. Something about Doreen. And there's something off about Adrian's birth… but I need time to confirm it. If anything happens to me, Ella… protect your sister. And your brothers. Even Adrian. He's just a boy. Don't punish him for the sins of the adults around him."
Ella's lip trembled.
Valeria closed the laptop. "We protect them. All three."
But it was already too late.
---
5
That night, Adrian stood at the top of the stairs.
He had heard everything.
He wasn't Gideon's son.
And worse—he wasn't even sure who his real father was.
He didn't cry.
He just walked back to his room, climbed into bed beside Caleb, and whispered, "They're going to send me away."
Caleb turned over, eyes sleepy. "No they won't."
Adrian's voice cracked. "What if they don't love me?"
Caleb reached out and held his hand.
"I do."
---
6
The press was circling again.
Paul Ridley burst into the house with a newspaper in hand.
"Someone leaked the paternity scandal," he said grimly. "It's on the front page."
Valeria snatched the paper.
'Monroe Heiress Raises Illegitimate Son of Her Husband's Killer?'
Her vision blurred with rage.
Ella snatched it from her. "Who did this?"
Paul lowered his voice. "I think… Doreen. She's planning something bigger."
Valeria didn't blink.
"She wants war?" she said quietly. "She's got it."
---
7
Outside the estate, Doreen watched from the tree line, a sinister smile curving her lips.
"This time," she whispered, "they'll all pay."
Late into the night, Ella wandered into the library, searching for answers. She pulled every photo album, diary, and document left behind by Gideon. If her father had uncovered something darker than an affair, she needed to know.
At the bottom of an old trunk was a sealed envelope marked:
DO NOT OPEN UNLESS I'M DEAD.
Inside was a copy of an old passport, a fake identity. And beneath that, a birth certificate.
Name: Adrian James Colton
Mother: Doreen Ana Colton
Father: Name withheld.
Ella's breath caught.
Why was the father's name blank?
There was also a faded photo. A man. Familiar, yet not.
Ella stared until her eyes widened in horror.
"Oh my God."
She knew that face.
---
9
Meanwhile, Valeria sat by her fireplace, trying to calm her storming thoughts. The estate lawyer, Martin Kane, entered with heavy steps.
"I did some digging," he said without preamble. "Doreen forged more than just birth records. She falsified documents to have Adrian recognized legally as Gideon's son years ago. Which means—if we don't challenge this in court—Adrian might inherit half of the estate."
Valeria closed her eyes. "Gideon wouldn't have wanted that."
Martin hesitated. "Actually… he left a clause in his final letter of instruction. If anything happens to him, Adrian must not be cast aside. Gideon wanted him to be part of the family… despite everything."
Valeria's heart clenched. Gideon had lied, betrayed, and hurt her—but even in death, he'd tried to protect everyone, including the boy who wasn't his.
"I won't abandon him," she whispered. "But I will destroy Doreen. That, I promise."
---
10
The next morning, chaos erupted.
Paul Ridley entered pale-faced. "Adrian is missing."
"What?" Valeria stood so fast her chair toppled.
"He left no note. The staff saw someone resembling Doreen's old driver near the gate just before dawn. We think she took him."
Ella's face drained of color. "She couldn't."
Paul looked grave. "I think she did."
Valeria gripped the edge of the table. "We need to find him. Now."
---
11
Across town, in a run-down motel cloaked in shadows, Adrian sat in a chair too big for him, knees pulled to his chest. Doreen paced the room, manic energy sparking in her eyes.
"You don't belong with them, baby," she murmured. "You're not a Monroe. You're mine. I saved you."
Adrian didn't speak.
"I made sacrifices for you," she continued, crouching before him. "That woman—Valeria—she never loved your father. She loved his money. And now she's trying to push you out."
Adrian finally looked up. "You killed him."
Doreen froze.
"I heard the whispers. The trial. You killed him, didn't you?"
Her face shifted, from motherly sorrow to something darker.
"I did it for us."
---
12
Valeria's voice was steel as she addressed the press on her estate steps.
"My son—Adrian Monroe—is missing. If anyone has seen him, we are offering a five-million-dollar reward for information leading to his safe return. To the woman who took him… know this: You will face me. And I will not be kind."
A sea of flashbulbs went off, reporters shouting questions. But Valeria had said enough.
Ella came to stand beside her.
"We'll get him back."
Valeria nodded. "And when we do—Doreen will no longer breathe free air."
---
13
Back in the motel, Doreen made a call.
"It's me," she whispered. "They've issued a bounty."
A deep voice replied, "You pushed too far."
"You said you'd protect us."
"Not if you keep slipping. I'll handle the boy."
"What does that mean?"
Click.
Doreen stared at the phone.
Even her allies were turning against her.