Chapter 5

Eleanor POV:

Hope. The name we had picked. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic, painful rhythm. I remembered Blake' s excited whispers, his hand resting on my flat stomach, dreaming of a future that would now belong to her. The raw wound of my own lost capability, the unfulfilled dream, tore through me.

I gripped the edge of the sink, my knuckles white, trying to keep my breathing even. "Congratulations," I managed, the word a bitter taste on my tongue. I pushed past her, needing to escape the suffocating air, the venomous glee in her eyes.

But as I moved, Hayleigh stumbled, a theatrical gasp escaping her lips. "Oh! My head..." she clutched her stomach, collapsing to the ground in a heap.

Before I could even react, the door burst open. Blake. His eyes, already blazing with fury, landed on me. "What did you do to her, Eleanor?" he roared, rushing to Hayleigh's side, scooping her into his arms. "Are you really so desperate that you'd attack a pregnant woman?"

"I didn't touch her," I said, my voice barely a whisper, but he wasn't listening. His world, his gaze, was solely focused on Hayleigh's feigned distress.

Just then, a hush fell over the room. Two figures, radiating an aura of quiet power and immense wealth, entered the ladies' lounge. Their faces were familiar from countless magazine covers – Hanson and Eleni Frye, the legendary tech titans. They were Silicon Valley royalty, known for their philanthropic endeavors and their formidable intellect.

"What's going on here?" Eleni Frye asked, her voice calm but authoritative.

Hayleigh, seeing them, let out a small, desperate sob. "Mom! Dad!" she cried, reaching out to Eleni.

My blood ran cold. Hayleigh was their daughter? The whispers around the room intensified, shifting from pity for Hayleigh to outrage at me. "Eleanor Fisher attacked a Frye heiress! Unbelievable!"

My mind reeled. This was a setup. A carefully orchestrated trap.

But then, Eleni Frye's eyes, sharp and intelligent, met mine. She paused, a flicker of something unreadable in her gaze. Hanson Frye, equally astute, followed her lead. He stepped closer to me, ignoring the chaos of Blake and Hayleigh.

"Forgive me, young woman," Hanson said, his voice surprisingly gentle. "But you have a remarkably familiar aura. And... that birthmark on your wrist. Is it a small crescent moon?"

My breath hitched. The birthmark. Almost invisible, usually hidden by my watch, it was something only my adoptive parents had known about. And they had passed away years ago.

"And your age," Eleni added, her voice trembling slightly. "Is it... thirty-two?"

My world stopped. Thirty-two. The exact age my PI mentioned for their long-lost daughter.

Hayleigh, seeing the shift in their attention, went white. "Mom, Dad, what are you talking about? She's... she's dangerous!" She tried to pull their focus back to her, but it was too late.

The room erupted in whispers. Blake stared at me, his mouth agape. Hayleigh, realizing her carefully constructed facade was crumbling, "fainted" dramatically into Blake's arms. The Fryes, however, remained fixated on me.

I stood there, numb. The revelation, while shocking, felt distant. After everything, this new truth was just another layer of unreality. I felt nothing but a quiet detachment.

Later that night, the news of my true parentage spread like wildfire. The Fryes had confirmed it. I was their daughter, lost to them decades ago. They wanted to meet, to explain, to welcome me into their world. But my heart felt like stone. I had nothing to say to them. Not now.

I remembered a small, hand-carved wooden bird. Blake had given it to me when we were building our first bar. It represented freedom, he said, and our dreams. It was still in the old apartment, the one he had renovated, the one he had erased me from. I needed it. A small piece of my own history, before everything became a lie.

I drove out to the old neighborhood, the streetlights casting long, distorted shadows. The apartment building stood dark and silent, a tomb of memories. The smart lock, a system Blake and I had installed years ago, blinked mockingly at me. My old code didn't work. Of course. He' d changed everything.

I pulled out my phone, my fingers flying across the screen. "Open the door. Now," I texted Blake. No pleasantries. No explanations. This was still my property. Half of it, legally, anyway.

Moments later, the door creaked open. But it wasn't Blake. It was Hayleigh, her eyes narrowed, her face a mask of suspicion. "What do you want, Eleanor?" she spat, clutching her stomach protectively. "Aren't you satisfied? You have wealth beyond imagination now. Don't you dare try to take this from us too."

"Us?" I scoffed, a humorless laugh escaping me. "My name is still on the deed, darling. This isn't yours. And it certainly isn't mine anymore. I'm here for something I left behind. Something that actually belongs to me." My gaze was cold, unwavering. "Now, step aside before I exercise my legal right to entry."