Chapter 2: The Dark Truth Unravels
Within hours, the royal banquet hall was forgotten, replaced by the private, heavily guarded study of the Vance estate. A rapid DNA test had been ordered, but looking at Mia—now safely wrapped in a warm blanket, sitting on a velvet sofa—Evelyn didn't need a piece of paper to know the truth. Mia had her mother’s smile and her father’s quiet dignity.
As they waited for the results, Evelyn called in her trusted head of security to investigate the woman who had raised Mia.
"Her name was Sarah Jenkins," Mia explained softly, sipping warm tea. "She was a quiet woman, always moving us from town to town. She worked as a private nurse. She loved me, but she was always looking over her shoulder, terrified of the police."
The head of security entered the room, his face grim as he handed a file to Evelyn. "My Lady, we ran Sarah Jenkins' background. Twenty years ago, she didn't just work as a private nurse. She was hired directly by your late husband’s brother—Julian Vance."
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Evelyn’s breath hitched. Julian. The envious brother who had inherited nothing after her husband's passing because the fortune was meant to skip a generation and go straight to baby Anastasia.
"Julian paid Sarah to kidnap the baby," the security chief continued. "He wanted the family line severed so the inheritance would default to him. But Sarah couldn't bring herself to harm the child. She ran away with the baby instead, hiding in plain sight."
