Sera's POV
The photo slips from my shaking hands.
Richard. Richard Thornton. The man who called himself my father. The man who tucked me in when I had nightmares. The man who walked me through my first day at his business.
That same man is standing next to my parents' car hours before they died.
"No." The word comes out broken. "No, that's not—it can't be—"
"It's him." Damien's speech is gentle but firm. "I've had three different experts prove it. The timestamp shows this was taken at 11:47 PM the night before the crash. Your parents died the next morning at 6:23 AM when their brakes failed on the highway. "
I'm going to be sick. I press my hand over my mouth, trying to breathe.
"There's more," Damien says slowly.
"More?" I laugh, and it sounds hysterical. "How can there possibly be more?"
He spreads out more papers on the floor. Police reports. Mechanic ratings. Insurance claims. "The official report says mechanical failure," Damien explains. "Old car, worn brakes, terrible accident. But this—" He points to a mechanic's report. "This is from an independent inspector I hired two years after the crash. He found proof of tampering. The brake lines were cut carefully, then frayed to look natural."
My head is spinning. I sink down onto the floor next to the papers, trying to make sense of it all.
"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why would Richard kill my parents? He was their business partner. Their friend."
"Money." Damien pulls out another file. "Your father's company—Ashford Empire—was worth billions. When he died, everything was meant to go to you as the sole heir. But you were twenty, officially an adult. You couldn't be adopted without your permission."
"So they made me believe I wanted it," I whisper, understanding coming. "The forgetfulness. The confusion. They told me I was an orphan, that they were saving me—"
"And you were so grateful, so lost, that you signed papers without really reading them." Damien's jaw tightens. "Guardianship papers. Power of attorney. Documents giving them control of your medical decisions, your funds, your entire life."
I think back to those first few months after the accident. The hospital. The pain. The strange gaps in my memory. Richard and Margaret visiting every day, being so kind, so patient.
"You're safe now," Margaret had said, holding my hand. "We'll take care of everything."
They weren't helping me. They were catching me.
"How much?" I ask softly. "How much did they steal?"
Damien pulls out a thick business report. "Your trust fund currently holds nearly eight hundred million dollars. But it should hold nearly two billion."
The number doesn't even sound real. Two billion dollars. "Over six years, they've siphoned off over a billion through fake business expenses, fraudulent loans, offshore accounts." Damien's finger traces down stacks of numbers. "Monthly payments of fifty to a hundred thousand dollars. Just small enough not to trigger checks. Just consistent enough to drain your fortune dry." I stare at the numbers. All that money. Money my parents worked their whole lives to build. Money meant for me, for my future, for my children someday.
Stolen. All of it stolen.
"And Vanessa?" I ask. "Was her sickness fake too?"
"Completely fake." Damien pulls out medical records. "Real doctors, fake illnesses. They paid off experts to create a paper trail showing terminal heart disease. But look at this—" He shows me lab results. "These are her real medical records, obtained through less than legal means. She's perfectly healthy."
The rehearsal dinner flashes through my thoughts. Vanessa laughing, touching Adrian's arm. Her makeup perfect. Her energy high.
"The dying sister act was just another manipulation," Damien adds. "Get Adrian to marry her, remove you from his protection, isolate you totally. Once you had nothing—no job, no money, no support system—they could make you disappear and say you ran away. Unstable. Ungrateful."
"And no one would look for me," I finish softly.
"No one except me." Damien's eyes meet mine. "I've had people watching you 24/7 for six years. Making sure you stayed safe. Making sure that if they ever tried something, I'd know immediately."
It should feel creepy. Someone watching me for years. But instead, it feels like the only thing that kept me alive. "The engagement to Adrian actually helped," Damien says. "It kept you visible. In the general eye. Harder to make disappear softly. But once that ended—" "I became useless again. " I wrap my arms around myself. "That's why they kicked me out tonight. Not because I embarrassed them. Because they don't need me anymore."
"Exactly." Damien starts putting the papers back into folders. "Vanessa marries into the Cole fortune. They retain their social status. And you're gone before you can remember the truth or ask dangerous questions."
I look at all the proof spread across my tiny apartment floor. Six years of lies. Six years of theft. Six years of living with my parents' killers and calling them family.
"I want them destroyed," I say quietly. "Not just jailed. Not just embarrassed. I want them to lose everything the way they made me lose everything."
"Good." Damien's smile is sharp. "That's exactly what we're going to do. But we need to be smart about it. Strategic. They have strong friends who'll protect them if we come at them directly."
"So what's the plan?"
"First, we get married tomorrow. Courthouse, simple ceremony, just legal paperwork." Damien ticks off things on his fingers. "Second, we announce your real name to the world. Sera Ashford, heir to the Ashford Empire, has returned from the dead. The media will go crazy."
"But won't that warn them? Give them time to hide evidence?"
"That's the beauty of it." Damien's eyes gleam. "By the time we announce, I'll have already stopped all Thornton Industries accounts pending fraud investigation. Already filed lawsuits to take their assets. Already given evidence to the FBI."
"You can do all that?"
"I'm the CEO of Cross Global Holdings. Twentieth richest man in the country. I have lawyers who specialize in business warfare." His smile widens. "The Thorntons picked the wrong person to steal from."
I should feel relieved. Grateful. Victorious.
Instead, I feel suspicious.
"Why?" I ask quickly.
"Why what?"
"Why are you helping me?" I stand up, facing him straight. "You say we're half-siblings, but you didn't grow up with me. You barely know me. You're risking your reputation, your business, your resources to take down the Thorntons. Why?"
Damien goes very still. Something flickers across his face—too quick for me to read.
"I told you. They killed my father—"
"Six years ago." I cut him off. "You've had six years to reveal them. Six years to bring them down. Why wait until now? Why wait until I had nowhere else to go?" I step closer. "What aren't you telling me?"
The silence stretches between us.
Finally, Damien sighs. "You're smarter than they gave you credit for."
"Stop ducking. Why are you really helping me?"
He studies me for a long moment. Then reaches into his briefcase one more time and pulls out a final paper.
"This is your father's will," he says softly. "The real one, not the fake version the Thorntons filed. Written two weeks before he died."
He hands it to me. I scan the pages, my heart racing.
Then I see it. The clause that makes everything make sense. "In the event of my death, control of Ashford Empire goes to my daughter Sera Ashford. However, if Sera is unable or unwilling to take control, or if she dies before age thirty, all assets transfer to my son Damien Cross."
I look up at him slowly. "If I die, you inherit everything."
"Yes."
"Two billion dollars."
"Yes."
"So helping me means you get nothing." My voice hardens. "Unless this is all a long game. Unless you're going to—"
"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead." Damien's voice cuts like ice. "I've had six years of chances. Six years where you were weak, isolated, easy to eliminate." He steps closer. "I'm helping you because you're my sister. Because they killed our father. And because watching you live as their prisoner while they stole your inheritance made me sick every single day."
"But you'd still benefit if—"
"I don't need your money, Sera." His laugh is bitter. "Cross Global Holdings is worth three billion dollars. I built it from nothing while looking for you. I don't need the Ashford Empire." He stops. "But you do. You need it. You deserve it. And I'll be damned if I let those killers keep one more penny of what your parents built."
I want to believe him. God, I want to believe someone in this world actually cares about me without hidden motives. "So why are you helping me?" I ask one more time.
Damien's expression changes. Becomes unreadable.
"Let's just say I have my reasons," he says strangely. "Reasons you'll understand soon enough."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer you're getting tonight." He checks his watch. "It's 3 AM. We both need sleep. Tomorrow's going to be the most important day of your life."
"Tomorrow's the day Adrian marries Vanessa," I say sadly.
"No." Damien's smile is dangerous and exciting. "Tomorrow's the day Sera Ashford rises from the dead and declares war."