Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Fire
Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Fire
Three days later, Lena sat inside a private library surrounded by documents.
Birth records.
Photographs.
DNA reports.
Every piece of evidence confirmed the impossible.
She was Princess Elena Volkov.
The last surviving heir of the Volkov royal family.
The kingdom itself no longer existed.
Years earlier, a violent revolution had ended the monarchy.
The royal palace had burned.
Most of the family had died.
Or so the world believed.
Adrian finally revealed the truth.
"The fire wasn't an accident."
Lena looked up.
"What do you mean?"
Adrian placed a folder before her.
Inside were decades-old investigation files.
One photograph made her blood run cold.
Charles Whitman.
Much younger.
Standing beside a group of men outside the palace gates.
Lena stared.
"That's impossible."
"It was his father," Adrian said quietly.
The truth emerged slowly.
Charles's family had helped finance the uprising that destroyed the royal household.
In exchange, they gained control of vast properties and hidden assets once belonging to the crown.
For decades, nobody knew Elena survived.
Nobody except one person.
Victoria.
Lena felt her stomach drop.
"No..."
Adrian nodded.
"Victoria discovered your identity years ago."
The room became silent.
Every cruel comment.
Every humiliation.
Every promotion denied.
Every opportunity stolen.
Suddenly it made sense.
Victoria hadn't hated Lena because she was poor.
She hated her because she knew exactly who Lena was.
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And feared what might happen if the truth ever emerged.
The woman who spent years trying to make Lena feel worthless had secretly been terrified of her all along.
