“Sorry to interrupt, Mama,” she says in a small voice. “I heard voices.”
Ella’s face softens as she places a protective hand on the child’s shoulder. “It’s alright, sweetheart. These are the people I told you about.” She looks up at us, her expression a careful mix of pride and apprehension. “This is my daughter, Nora.”
The little girl gives a shy wave, then tucks herself closer to her mother’s side.
Kane takes a half-step forward, his face a storm of emotions I can’t begin to untangle. I reach for his hand, finding it trembling slightly.
“Nora,” Ella says gently, “why don’t you go find Scout and play with him for a while? Mama needs to talk to these people.”
“But I want to stay,” Nora protests, her eyes fixed on Kane with undisguised curiosity.
“The dog misses you,” Ella insists, her tone firmer now. “And we’ll be talking about boring grown-up things. Go on now.”
With a dramatic sigh that only children can truly perfect, Nora reluctantly turns and skips back down the hallway, calling for Scout as she goes.
Once the sound of her footsteps fades, Ella facesus again. The confident facade slips just slightly, revealing the nervousness beneath.
“I imagine you have questions,” she says, her eyes moving from face to face before settling on Kane again. “Many questions.”
“You could say that,” Declan responds, his voice tight with controlled emotion. “Starting with how you exist when we were told you were a fabrication.”
Ella gestures toward a large seating area near the fireplace. “Please, sit. It’s a long story, and not an easy one to tell standing in the entryway.”
We move as if in a daze, settling onto plush sofas and armchairs. Kane sits rigid beside me, his face unreadable. I place my hand on his knee, offering silent support.
“Would anyone like a drink?” Ella asks, moving to an ornate bar cart in the corner. “I think we could all use one.”
“Skip the pleasantries,” Kat says sharply. “Just tell us what the hell is going on.”
Ella nods, abandoning the bar cart to take a seat across from us. She folds her hands in her lap, a gesture so like Kane’s that it makes my breath catch.
“I am Tomas’ daughter,” she begins, her voice steady despite the tension crackling in the air. “His oldest daughter. Born to a woman named Irina thirty-seven years ago.”
“Dr. Reid told us you didn’t exist,” Connor says,leaning forward. “That you were invented as part of Tomas’ plan to bring us together.”
A small, sad smile crosses Ella’s face. “Malcolm Reid has been protecting me my entire life. He lied to protect me now.”
Chapter 40
Kane
“Protect you from what?” I ask, finding my voice at last. The woman before me—my sister, apparently—looks so solid, so real, yet everything I thought I knew keeps shifting beneath my feet.
Ella’s eyes meet mine, and I see something familiar in them—the same wariness I’ve carried my whole life.
“From Mikhail Petrova,” she says, her voice dropping. “The son of my mother's husband—my stepfather. Tomas moved me from Ireland to Canada eight years ago, when Nora was born, to keep a closer eye on things because Mikhail was looking for me. He’s determined to marry me.”
“Marry you?” Kori asks beside me, her hand tightening on my knee. “Why would he want to marry you?”
Ella’s laugh is bitter. “Power. Money. Revenge. After his father found out about my mother and Tomas's affair, he wanted control of everything.”
I struggle to process this. “So, you’ve been hidinghere all this time?”
“Not exactly hiding,” she corrects me. “Living cautiously. Tomas purchased this property under multiple shell companies. On paper, I’m Eleanor Shaw, a widow raising her daughter in peaceful obscurity.”
“And the treasure hunt?” Declan asks. “The clues leading us here?”
“That was all Tomas,” Ella says, a complicated mixture of affection and exasperation crossing her face. “He knew his time was running out. The dementia was progressing faster than anyone expected. He wanted you all to find me, to protect me and Nora after he was gone. I knew when he stopped showing up a little over a year and a half ago, his dementia had progressed. Dr. Reid confirmed it and also told me of his passing.”
