Chapter 10 - THE SECRET OF MY BIRTH
My mother’s medical records were sealed inside the Sterling family archive.
They had not been opened in thirty-two years.
Richard knew where to find them.
At four in the morning, we sat inside the townhouse library surrounded by boxes.
Carter came with me.
I did not invite him.
I also did not make him leave.
Something between us had changed.
Not repaired.
Just stripped bare.
No lies left comfortable enough to hide behind.
Richard found the folder.
“Serena.”
I took it.
My mother, Caroline Sterling, had given birth at a private clinic in Boston.
But there was something strange.
No paternal information.
No husband listed.
No Michael Sterling.
No Nathaniel.
No Thomas.
No Charles.
Then I found the surgical notes.
Emergency delivery.
Maternal complications.
And one line that changed everything.
GESTATIONAL CARRIER.
I stared at the words.
Carter leaned closer.
“What?”
“My mother didn’t…”
I swallowed.
“She didn’t carry me.”
Richard closed his eyes.
He knew.
“You knew.”
“Only recently.”
“Who was the biological mother?”
He looked toward another box.
Inside was a legal agreement.
My grandmother had arranged everything privately.
The biological mother was her youngest daughter.
Rebecca Sterling.
My aunt.
A woman I had been told died before I was born.
“She was my mother?”
Richard nodded.
“Rebecca became pregnant at nineteen.”
“By whom?”
“That part was hidden.”
“Why would Caroline raise me?”
“Rebecca was very ill after the pregnancy. Eleanor wanted to protect both daughters from scandal.”
Carter stared at the documents.
“So Serena spent her whole life looking for the wrong father because she thought Caroline was her biological mother.”
Exactly.
Every clue.
Every rumor.
Every affair.
Meaningless.
The truth belonged to Rebecca.
I searched deeper.
Then found a letter.
Rebecca’s handwriting.
Dear Serena.
My hands shook.
I opened it.
The letter was short.
Rebecca wrote that she had loved my father deeply but could never publicly name him because doing so would destroy two families.
Two families.
My heartbeat accelerated.
At the bottom was a sentence.
If you ever need the truth, look at the photograph Eleanor refused to display.
I looked around the library.
“What photograph?”
Richard frowned.
“There was one picture Eleanor kept locked in her desk.”
We searched.
The desk drawer was empty.
Then Carter noticed scratches beneath the wood.
A false bottom.
Inside was a black-and-white photograph.
Rebecca stood beside a young man at a lake.
They were laughing.
In love.
I turned the photograph over.
One name.
David Cole.
Nathaniel’s younger brother.
Richard whispered, “Dear God.”
David Cole had died before I was born.
An accident.
At least according to family history.
That meant Nathaniel was not my father.
He was my uncle.
Everything he had done took on a different shape.
Not better.
But different.
Then my phone rang.
Evelyn Shaw.
I answered.
“Serena, you need to get to Harrington headquarters.”
“What happened?”
Her voice shook.
“The board called an emergency vote.”
“For what?”
“To remove Charles.”
“That’s expected.”
“No.”
She inhaled.
“They’re voting to sell Harrington Global.”
“To whom?”
There was a pause.
“Northstar Advisory.”
I stared at Carter.
“But Northstar belongs to Vivien.”
Evelyn whispered the final secret.
“Not anymore. She transferred ownership three hours ago.”
“To who?”
May you like
Evelyn’s answer made Carter go completely still.
“To you.”
