PART 6: THE SECRET GRANT NEVER KNEW
PART 6: THE SECRET GRANT NEVER KNEW
The question followed me all the way home.
Ask Grant who his real father is.
At first, I thought it was another manipulation.
Another game.
Another powerful person trying to control the story.
But then I remembered Victor’s expression.
He wasn’t threatening me.
He was warning me.
And that scared me more.
Grant was in the living room when I returned.
He looked exhausted.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Just tired.
When he saw my face, he stood.
“What happened?”
I didn’t answer immediately.
Because I didn’t know how to ask.
How do you look at the person you married and say:
I need to know if your entire identity is a lie?
Finally, I said:
“Who is your father?”
The question hit him harder than I expected.
He froze.
“What?”
“Your real father.”
The color drained from his face.
“Avery…”
“Answer me.”
For a long moment, he just stared.
Then he whispered:
“Why are you asking that?”
And that was enough.
Because innocent people don’t ask why.
They ask who.
I stepped closer.
“Victor Kane told me.”
Grant immediately looked away.
His silence was louder than any confession.
“You know him.”
He didn’t respond.
“You’ve always known him.”
His jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
My chest tightened.
“Then tell me.”
He sat down slowly.
Like his legs couldn’t support him anymore.
“There are things I never told you.”
I almost smiled.
“Apparently, there are many.”
Grant rubbed his face.
“My father died when I was young.”
“That’s what you told me.”
“It’s what everyone believed.”
I waited.
He looked at me.
“My mother made sure I believed it.”
A pause.
“Because the truth was worse.”
He opened an old file from his laptop.
Inside were documents.
Old birth records.
Private investigations.
Letters.
I looked at the dates.
My hands went cold.
Victor Kane.
The name appeared everywhere.
“No.”
Grant nodded.
“Yes.”
I stared.
“Victor is your father.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The room felt smaller.
All this time…
The man behind everything…
Was Grant’s father.
“My mother hated him.”
Grant continued.
“She said he destroyed her life.”
“So she hid you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why work with him?”
His laugh was bitter.
“Because she needed his money.”
There it was.
The cycle.
Power.
Fear.
Control.
The same things that destroyed everyone around them.
“My mother spent my entire childhood telling me Victor was a monster.”
“Then one day…”
He stopped.
“One day what?”
“He came back.”
Grant looked down.
“He found me.”
“And?”
“He wanted to know his son.”
I almost laughed.
“After all those years?”
He nodded.
“He offered me everything.”
Money.
Connections.
A future.
“But?”
Grant looked at me.
“The price was loyalty.”
I understood immediately.
“He wanted you to become like him.”
“Yes.”
For the first time, I saw something in Grant.
Not an excuse.
Pain.
Real pain.
“My entire life, I was trying to prove I wasn’t him.”
A pause.
“And somehow…”
He looked around.
“I became exactly what he wanted.”
I didn’t know what to say.
Because the truth was complicated.
His past explained him.
But it didn’t excuse him.
Pain could explain cruelty.
It could not erase responsibility.
“You still hurt my mother.”
His face fell.
“I know.”
“You still hit me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“And you still chose Virginia.”
A long silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised me.
Maybe because for once, he wasn’t trying to escape consequences.
“I thought power was the only way to survive.”
He looked at me.
“My whole life, everyone told me that.”
“Victor.”
“My mother.”
“Society.”
“And I believed them.”
I crossed my arms.
“And now?”
He looked broken.
“Now I realize I destroyed the only person who never cared about my power.”
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
My attorney.
I picked up.
“Avery.”
His voice was urgent.
“Something happened.”
“What?”
“We received a legal challenge.”
“From who?”
Silence.
Then:
“Victor Kane.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does he want?”
My attorney paused.
“He’s claiming ownership of the penthouse.”
I looked around.
The place I thought I owned.
The place where everything started.
“What?”
“He says the original purchase agreement has his signature.”
I felt anger rise.
“That’s impossible.”
“I checked.”
Another pause.
“He’s right.”
I ended the call.
Grant looked at me.
“What happened?”
I laughed softly.
Because of course.
Of course there was another secret.
“Victor is claiming my home.”
Grant stood immediately.
“No.”
“Why?”
His face changed.
Because he knew.
“The penthouse wasn’t just purchased with money.”
He looked terrified.
“It was a message.”
“What does that mean?”
Grant swallowed.
“My father always believed that owning someone’s home meant owning their security.”
A pause.
“He wanted control from the beginning.”
I looked out the window.
The entire city spread below me.
Beautiful.
Bright.
Dangerous.
Then I understood.
Victor hadn’t been waiting for Virginia to fail.
He hadn’t been waiting for Grant to fail.
He had been waiting for me to discover the truth.
Because once I knew…
He could finally make his move.
That night…
A package arrived.
No sender.
No label.
Inside was a single envelope.
My name was written on it.
Avery.
I opened it.
One photograph fell onto the table.
It showed my mother.
Young.
Standing beside Victor Kane.
Holding a baby.
Not Grant.
Me.
My blood froze.
May you like
Because on the back of the photograph were six words:
Ask your mother who saved you.
