Elara’s POV

“I’ll take Sierra.”

His voice echoed through the warehouse like a blade.

I didn’t cry. I didn’t scream. I didn’t flinch.

But inside, I shattered.

My ears buzzed. My breath thinned.

Across from me, Sierra sobbed. “Thorne! Thorne, thank you, I knew it! I knew you’d come for me!”

I stared at her through the haze.

The masked man ended the call as they went outside.

The rope around my wrists had gone numb.

I couldn’t feel my hands anymore. I couldn’t feel much of anything.

Across from me, Sierra sat slumped in a chair. Her knees were scraped. Her arms, bound like mine. Her expression was dazed. Like she was still trying to convince herself this wasn’t real.

Neither of us spoke.

There was no one to beg.

No one listening.

Only the sound of footsteps outside the door, growing louder.

Two men entered again. Black jackets. Masks. One carried a length of rope. The other carried the phone.

“She’s no use,” the first one said, jerking his chin at me. “This is the wife, right?”

The other nodded. “That’s what the intel said.”

“Dump her.”

The words didn’t register right away.

Then Sierra flinched. “Wait–what do you mean, dump her?”

“She’s a dead end,” the first man muttered. “The Ashford guy doesn’t want her. She picked you. Let the water have her.”

The rope hit the floor with a heavy thud. They untied my legs.

One of them grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet.

Panic didn’t come like a scream. It came like ice. Quiet. Immediate. Final.

I didn’t fight. I couldn’t.

They dragged me toward the door.

“Wait,” Sierra said, her voice thin. “Wait, please, don’t—”

She sounded scared. Not for me but for herself. Like she knew that once I was gone, her turn would come.

The door groaned open.

A corridor. A second metal door at the end. I could hear water through it.

Then the phone rang. The one in the second man’s pocket.

He stopped. Swore.

“Who the hell—?”

He picked up.

“Yeah.”

A pause. His body went still.

Then, he went quiet.

“What? Are you sure?”

The man turned to glance back at me.

Then louder, “She’s not the maid’s daughter?”

My heart stalled.

He stepped away from me, holding the phone closer to his ear.

“You’re saying the one we’re about to dump is the real Vance heir?”

Silence.

Then a long, hard curse.

He ended the call.

“New orders,” he muttered.

The other man frowned. “What?”

“No more games. We keep her alive.”

He pointed at me.

“This one’s not the decoy. She’s the one they want.”

“But Thorne—”

“Thorne picked the wrong girl. Doesn’t matter anymore. We’ll ransom the real Vance for a bigger value.”

—

I woke up gasping.

The room was warm again.

No rope.

No concrete floor.

Just silk sheets and the soft morning light creeping through the window.

I lay still for a moment, chest heaving.

A dream.

It was just a dream.

But my heart… still believed every second of it.

And those words echoed louder than anything.

They haunted me.

Then, a soft knock on the door broke my trance.

“Elara?” Aiden’s voice.

I cleared my throat as I sat up. “Come in.”

He opened the door, dressed in soft gray slacks and a black t-shirt. His hair was still damp from a shower.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“Barely.”

He paused. “Nightmare?”

I nodded once. “Yeah.”

He didn’t ask more.

He stepped in, setting a tray on the nightstand. A toast, tea, fruit, and a small bowl of something warm.

“I didn’t know what you liked anymore,” he said.

I offered a small smile. “Anything warm is fine.”

I reached for the tea, wrapping my fingers around the mug like it was the only solid thing in the world.

He sat on the edge of a reading chair, giving me space. “You look better today.”

“Better than what?”

“Better than soaked, freezing, and barely breathing.”

I gave a dry laugh. “That’s a low bar.”

He tilted his head, watching me for a second. “You dream about what happened last night?”

I hesitated.

“Sort of.”

I didn’t know how to tell him the worst part wasn’t being kidnapped in the dream.

It was the words.

The shift.

The choice.

His voice.

“I’ll take Sierra.”

Even in my dreams…

He chose her.

“I keep thinking I imagined it,” I murmured, not meeting his eyes. “But it felt real. Too real.”

Aiden leaned back slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know what you’ve been through these past few years. But… if dreams are giving you answers, maybe your mind’s already asking the questions.”

I sipped the tea. “You sound like a therapist.”

“I’ve been accused of worse.”

I smiled for real that time. Small. Fragile. But real.

For a few seconds, the silence between us wasn’t heavy. Just still.

Then my phone buzzed on the nightstand.

A message.

Mrs. Vance: Family dinner tonight. Come with Thorne. There will be announcements. Wear something presentable.

The tea soured in my mouth.

Aiden watched my face shift. “Something wrong?”

I looked up slowly.

“She wants me to go to dinner with Thorne,” I said.

“And?”

“She said they have… announcements.”

Elara’s POV

Aiden hadn’t said a word since we left the house.

His hand rested on the gearshift, the city gliding past outside in grays and silvers. The only sound in the car was the rhythmic pattern of light rain tapping the windshield.

I sat quietly in the passenger seat, fingers twisted in my lap. I was still wearing the black dress I packed before I left the penthouse, simple, safe, forgettable.

I hated that I looked like I belonged on my way to a funeral.

Maybe I was.

When the penthouse came into view, I sat up straighter, heart starting to drum.

Aiden slowed the car to a stop in front of the entrance.

“I can wait,” he said.

I shook my head. “No. He’ll make it a scene.”

He didn’t argue.

I placed my hand on the door but didn’t open it.

I could feel his eyes on me.

“Elara,” he said, voice low, like he wanted to ask me something he knew I couldn’t answer.

So I saved him the trouble. “I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“I know,” I whispered. But I still opened the door.

The wind hit me first. Then the familiar ache in my chest as I looked up at the building I had once called home.

The glass doors to the penthouse slid open just as I stepped onto the sidewalk.

And there he was.

Thorne.

Descending the private elevator alone.

Sharp suit. Umbrella tucked under his arm. Jaw tight. Eyes unreadable.

In one hand, he held a folded envelope. Red. A little worn at the edges.

I recognized it instantly.

My divorce papers.

He spotted me a second later.

He didn’t greet me. He didn’t frown. He just stared like I was some stranger blocking his path.

We stood there for a beat.

I lowered my eyes first.

He stepped past me and opened the car door.

I followed him in.

Not because I wanted to.

But because I needed to know why they were dragging me back.

The drive was short and silent.

Thorne’s cologne filled the car. Clean. Cold. Unfamiliar, even after all these years.

I stared out the window, trying to calm the rising tide in my chest.

He didn’t say anything.

He didn’t ask where I’d been.

Not even, “Are you alright?”

I didn’t offer anything either.

Maybe we were both pretending that nothing had changed.

The Vance estate appeared over the hill like something out of a dream I didn’t want to remember.

Lights in the windows.

Slick stone steps.

Everything polished to perfection, like the people inside hadn’t ruined me.

Thorne opened his door and stepped out first.

He didn’t wait for me.

We barely made it through the entry hall before she appeared.

Sierra.

Descending the grand staircase like she’d just won a pageant.

All soft curls, painted lips, and a gown too expensive for her personality.

“Thorne,” she sang, rushing toward him. “You look divine tonight.”

She clung to his arm like they were already married.

He didn’t pull away.

Her eyes slid to me. “Oh,” she added with a smile too sweet to be real, “You came too. Brave.”

I didn’t answer.

I didn’t have the energy.

She looped her hand tighter around Thorne’s elbow and whispered something to him. He said nothing.

I walked behind them like I was the assistant, not the wife.

I always have been.

Dinner was in the gold room.

Everything shimmered.

Candlelight danced off crystal glasses. Silver clinked against porcelain. Mrs. Vance sat at the head of the table like a queen presiding over her chosen peasants.

I took the seat furthest from her, next to Thorne.

Sierra sat across from us, her chin in her hand, eyes on him like he was dessert.

“I’m so glad everyone could make it,” Mrs. Vance said as the first course was served.

Thorne didn’t respond.

I didn’t look up.

Mr. Vance cleared his throat. “It’s been a while since we’ve all sat down together.”

“It’s been tense,” Mrs. Vance added smoothly. “But we’re a family, after all.”

No one answered.

She turned her eyes to me.

“Elara, how’s married life treating you these days?”

My fork paused mid-cut.

Sierra smirked into her wine glass.

I forced my throat to work. “Fine.”

“Fine,” she repeated. “Is that what you’d call vanishing last night without explanation?”

“I needed space,” I said quietly.

“From your husband?”

I didn’t reply.

Mrs. Vance leaned back in her chair, lips pursed in mock thought.

“I suppose some unions were never built to last. Which brings us, actually… to why we’re here.”

The table went still.

“Elara,” she said, smiling like she was offering a gift, “since you seem determined to go through with the divorce… we won’t stop you.”

I blinked once.

Then again.

Thorne said nothing.

“We’ve spoken with the Ashfords,” she continued. “And since Sierra is finally back from her little detour abroad—”

She reached for her wine.

“Thorne will marry her instead.”

My stomach dropped.

Sierra giggled, twisting a curl around her finger. “Don’t worry, Elara. I’ll take good care of him.”

Elara’s POV

The clink of silverware had barely faded when the man in the gray suit appeared.

“Elara Vance?”

The voice was too smooth, too clinical.

“I’m Mr. Ward, legal representative of the Ashford family,” he said, stepping into the dining room like he owned it. “I have the official paperwork finalizing your divorce.”

My hands went cold.

No one stood. No one reacted. Not even Thorne.

Sierra sipped her wine like it was nothing.

“Wonderful,” Mrs. Vance said, clasping her hands. “Let’s get that settled quickly. We have wedding planning to do.”

Mr. Ward laid the papers in front of me.

“The original document was signed but incomplete. Please sign the final page, here and here for full legal release.” He tapped the lines with a fountain pen he produced from his pocket.

I stared at the paper. My own signature was already there from that night I left.

But now it looked small. Weak. Like a bruise on white paper.

“Elara?” he prompted.

I reached for the pen. My hand trembled.

Mrs. Vance sighed, her tone airy. “Oh, Elara. Don’t make it dramatic. You said you wanted this.”

“Let her take her time,” Sierra said sweetly. “Wouldn’t want her to mess up her own goodbye.”

Mr. Vance’s voice chimed in. “This is the best for everyone, dear. Thorne deserves someone… more suited to the role.”

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood.

My throat was dry. My eyes stung.

Then I signed.

I wrote the last two signatures. Quietly. Carefully. Like the act itself would split me in half.

Mr. Ward smiled. “All done.”

I handed him the pen, numb.

“Thank you,” Mr. Ward said, closing the folder. “Congratulations to the Ashfords and Vances on the upcoming engagement.”

He turned and left.

I barely whispered, “Excuse me.”

No one noticed.

No one cared.

I left the table, my feet silent on the marble floors. I didn’t know where I was going. I just walked past the formal hallway, past the grand piano, down the staircase that led to the older wing of the house.

I ended up outside the door I hadn’t seen in years.

Her room.

The nanny’s room.

My mother’s.

I stepped inside.

The scent of old linen and worn floorboards hit me like a memory I hadn’t known I’d kept.

I sat down hard, knees buckling as the tears finally broke loose. Not loud. Not messy. Just slow and quiet, like something inside me was leaking.

I missed her.

Not the Vances.

Not the penthouse.

Not even the version of Thorne I used to wish existed.

Her.

The only person who ever looked at me like I mattered.

I don’t know why I pulled open the drawer in the nightstand. I just needed something that reminds me of her.

Inside was a locket. A folded scarf. And at the very back was a small envelope.

Yellowed with age. Faintly torn at the corner.

It was labeled in shaky handwriting:

If anything happens to me, give this to Elara. She deserves to know.

I opened it with shaking hands. Wondering what is this, and why did she even write this.

Inside were two hospital ID bracelets, a thin birth certificate, and a handwritten note, scrawled and smudged.

One bracelet was named Baby Vance.

The other was Baby Reyes, my mother’s surname.

The note was shaky, but clear.

They gave me the wrong child. I know it. She had a mole on her shoulder and lighter eyes. Yours didn’t. I think they made a mistake. But I was too scared to say anything. I thought if I said something, they’d fire me and take you away. I don’t want that. I love you and I know in my bones that you aren't mine by blood. But you are mine in every other way. I kept this because someday… they need to know the truth. I’m sorry for being a coward. I hope to meet my real daughter if I’m present by the time you read this. But if otherwise, I hope both of you will bond like real sisters. I love you.

The room swam.

The breath left my lungs.

I was not the maid’s daughter.

I was the daughter of the Vance family.

Then it all came flooding back, every crack they carved into me.

Mrs. Vance’s condescending smile.

Sierra’s smug little giggles, her fingers laced through Thorne’s arm.

Thorne himself, cold and bored, holding the divorce papers like they were a receipt.

I was treated like background noise. A name on paper. A placeholder in someone else’s fantasy.

Married off like a favor. Ignored like a burden.

All while they raised her in my name. My life.

I stood up on shaky legs, the envelope clutched to my chest like a lifeline.

I didn’t know where I was going.

And in my mind, the thoughts rose like smoke, slow and furious.

How would they take it if they knew it was me all along?

What would Mrs. Vance do if she found out her “real” daughter wasn’t her blood?

What would Sierra say if she knew I was the one born into everything she pretended to be?

Would Thorne still choose her then? If he knew I was the one they all owed everything to?

I was halfway into the hallway when someone turned the corner and walked straight into me.

Thorne.

His eyes searched my face.

“What are you doing down here?”

I couldn’t answer.

I was still in the fog. Still reeling.

“The dream was true,” I whispered, the truth slicing through me like a blade.

He frowned. “What?”

I looked up.

Right into his eyes.

“I’m the real daughter of the Vance family.”