PART 2 — THE TEST THAT FAILED
Despite Victoria Sterling’s warning, Lily refused to walk away.
She had spent twenty years searching for a man who might have been dead.
She had followed every rumor.
Every forgotten record.
Every tiny piece of information that led nowhere.
She had dreamed of this moment too many times.
Finding her father.
Looking into his eyes.
Hearing him say her name.
She couldn’t abandon that because one woman misunderstood her intentions.
But there was something bothering her.
Something she couldn’t ignore.
The scar.
The tea.
The way Arthur moved.
The way he carried himself.
Everything felt like her father.
Except for one thing.
His memory.
If Arthur Sterling was really Daniel Carter, why didn’t he recognize her?
Why didn’t he react when she walked into the room?
Why didn’t he look at her and see the little girl he once carried on his shoulders?
Unless…
Unless something had happened.
A trauma.
An accident.
A lost memory.
She needed proof.
Real proof.
Not just emotions.
That evening, Lily stayed late in the mansion.
The halls were quiet.
The staff had already gone home.
Only the soft ticking of the antique clocks echoed through the rooms.
She sat alone in the archive room, staring at old documents.
Arthur Sterling’s life was filled with gaps.
Strange gaps.
Business records appeared suddenly twenty years ago.
A man with no clear history before that.
A billionaire who built an empire almost overnight.
But almost nothing about his personal past.
No childhood photos.
No family records.
No old friends.
No history before the storm.
It was as if Arthur Sterling had appeared out of nowhere.
Just like her father disappeared.
Lily’s hands tightened.
The answer was close.
She could feel it.
The next morning, she decided to perform one final test.
A test she knew was cruel.
But necessary.
Her father had one weakness.
One thing he could never hide.
An allergy.
Apples.
Severe.
Deadly.
When Lily was six years old, Daniel Carter ate a slice of apple pie at a neighbor’s house.
Within minutes, his face turned red.
His breathing became difficult.
Her mother rushed him to the hospital.
After that, he never touched apples again.
Not once.
If Arthur reacted badly to apples…
He was her father.
If he didn’t…
Then she had been chasing a ghost.
That afternoon, Lily entered the kitchen.
She told the staff she wanted to prepare a thank-you dessert for the family.
A homemade apple pie.
The same recipe her father loved before the accident.
The same one that almost killed him.
As she mixed the ingredients, her hands shook.
Not because she was afraid of being discovered.
Because she was afraid of the answer.
What if he wasn’t him?
What if the last twenty years of hope collapsed in one bite?
That evening, the Sterling family gathered for dinner.
Arthur sat at the head of the table.
Victoria sat beside him.
Her eyes followed Lily constantly.
Suspicious.
Watching.
Waiting for a mistake.
“This looks wonderful,” Arthur said when the pie was served.
Lily forced a smile.
“Thank you.”
Victoria picked up her fork.
“Interesting choice.”
Lily looked at her.
“Excuse me?”
“Apple pie.”
Victoria smiled slightly.
“My husband rarely eats dessert.”
Lily’s heart jumped.
Rarely?
She watched as Arthur cut a slice.
Slowly.
Calmly.
He lifted the fork.
And ate.
One bite.
Then another.
Lily counted.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Nothing.
No reaction.
No redness.
No breathing problems.
Arthur simply smiled.
“Excellent.”
The world around Lily seemed to stop.
“It’s been years since I had apple pie this good.”
Her fingers went cold.
Years?
She stared.
Impossible.
Her father couldn’t eat apples.
He couldn’t even smell them without reacting.
But Arthur was fine.
Completely fine.
Victoria noticed Lily’s expression.
A small satisfied smile appeared on her lips.
As if she had won.
After dinner, Lily returned to her room.
She closed the door.
Then slid down against it.
Tears filled her eyes.
She had been so sure.
The tea.
The scar.
The memories.
They had all seemed impossible to fake.
But the apple test had destroyed everything.
Maybe she was wrong.
Maybe Arthur Sterling wasn’t her father.
Maybe she had just wanted him to be.
She wiped her tears.
Then noticed something.
A small detail.
Something she had missed.
When Arthur ate the pie…
He didn’t react immediately.
But he also didn’t take a second helping.
He only ate one small piece.
And before leaving the table…
He quietly drank a glass of water.
A lot of water.
The way her father used to after accidentally eating something he shouldn’t.
Lily froze.
Could it be?
That night, a storm rolled over Beverly Hills.
Thunder shook the mansion.
Rain hit the windows like stones.
Lily couldn’t sleep.
Something was wrong.
She needed to know.
So she returned to Arthur’s study.
Quietly.
Carefully.
She searched through old photographs.
Old files.
Anything connected to his past.
Her hands moved faster as panic grew.
Then—
She found it.
A photograph hidden inside an old book.
A young man standing beside a woman.
The man looked different.
Younger.
But unmistakably—
Arthur.
And the woman beside him…
Was Lily’s mother.
Her breath caught.
Before she could process it—
A loud sound exploded behind her.
The study door slammed open.
Lily turned.
Victoria stood there.
Her face was twisted with fury.
“You.”
Lily stepped back.
“Mrs. Sterling, I can explain.”
Victoria walked forward.
“No more lies.”
“I wasn’t lying.”
“You followed my husband. You searched his private files. You have been pretending to work while trying to get close to him.”
“That’s not true.”
Victoria threw a stack of photographs onto the desk.
Lily looked down.
Her heart dropped.
Photos of her watching Arthur.
Photos of her collecting clues.
Photos of her standing outside his office.
“You’re sick,” Victoria whispered.
Then—
Her hand moved.
The slap came fast.
Pain exploded across Lily’s cheek.
She fell onto the carpet.
For a moment, she couldn’t hear anything except the storm.
Then footsteps approached.
Heavy.
Slow.
Arthur.
He stood at the doorway.
His eyes moved from Victoria.
To Lily.
To the photographs.
Lily looked up desperately.
“Mr. Sterling… please.”
“I can explain.”
But Arthur didn’t move.
His face was unreadable.
Cold.
Almost angry.
He reached into his jacket.
Pulled out a sealed brown envelope.
And dropped it onto the desk.
Right over the photographs.
The thunder outside shook the windows.
Arthur’s voice was quiet.
But it terrified her.
“Did you really think I didn’t know?”
Lily froze.
Arthur stared directly at her.
“I know exactly who you are, Lily.”
A pause.
“And I know exactly why you came here.”
Lily’s heart stopped.
Because she suddenly realized…
Arthur Sterling had been watching her too.
May you like
And he knew the truth.
Before she ever found him.
