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“I agree with Suzannah,” Gabriel says.
Suzannah rolls her eyes. “That’s a first.”
“Not about the eyebrows, but about the fact that she shouldn’t get any inheritance. It’s unfair. We’ve been here all this time, enduring all kinds of shit from you, doing everything you ask us to do, and she appears out of nowhere and you just hand her a fortune without her doing anything?”
“It is unfair,” Calvin agrees.
“Even though she’s a Northup?” Christine asks.
Samuel snorts. “You know what’s unfair? You people growing up to be useless even though you had everything you wanted.”
“Everything I wanted?” Gabriel raises his voice. “When did you ever give me what I wanted, hmm?”
“Gabriel, please,” Vivian tells him. “Let’s not forget that Daddy is still sick.”
“I didn’t forget. I know he’s sick and he hasn’t got much time left. Why do you think I’m so concerned about his will?”
“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble,” I say.
Gabriel snorts. “You expect me to believe you after you conveniently showed up now?”
“Hey,” Rainier scolds him. “Ellis came here with me. She just wanted to get to know you. She didn’t know that Samuel was sick.”
So he believes me now?
“And now that she does, she wants his money?” Gabriel asks.
Rainier frowns. “Ellis doesn’t need your money.”
“Well, that’s good to know.” Gabriel looks at his father. “She’s already engaged to a billionaire. She can have his money. Just give us ours.”
“Yours?” Samuel chuckles. “Have you forgotten that I’m still thinking about cutting you out of my will after that last stunt you pulled?”
Gabriel’s hand crashes down on a table. “How many times do I have to tell you that wasn’t my fault?”
“Nothing ever is, is it?”
Gabriel clenches his jaw. “You wouldn’t dare cut me out of your will. I am your son.”
“And Samantha was my daughter,” Samuel says. “Ellis is her daughter. I’m putting her in my will.”
“Before you do, at least get a DNA test,” Calvin says. “That way, we can all be sure she is a Northup before we let her become rich like one.”
“I think that’s wise,” Vivian agrees.
“I don’t mind,” I say. “I could give you some blood right now.”
Suzannah grimaces. “Ew!”
Samuel touches my arm. “You don’t have to.”
“I want to,” I tell him. “If this will put everyone’s mind at ease, I really don’t mind.”
“It won’t put my mind at ease,” Gabriel says. “I still think someone who just showed up now shouldn’t get any money just because she has Northup blood.”
“I’m giving you all money just because you have Northup blood,” Samuel says. “Do you think my mind is at ease?”
Gabriel draws a deep breath.
Vivian puts her hands up. “We’ll just do the DNA test, okay? And then we’ll move on from there. In the meantime…”
“I’ll change my will,” Samuel says. “If she’s not a Northup, I’ll change it again, though I think I’ll still leave her a bit of money just because she’s nice.”
He gives me a smile.
“That’s absurd,” Gabriel complains again. “Can’t you wait to make sure she’s a Northup before you include her in your will?”
“You know I can’t,” Samuel answers. “What if I die tomorrow and she’s a Northup, hmm? I’m not going to leave her penniless.”
“She’s a doctor,” Calvin points out. “She’s hardly penniless.”
“And what if you die and she’s already in your will but then she’s not a Northup, hmm?” Gabriel asks.
Samuel grins. “Then you better hope I don’t die yet.”
Gabriel sighs.
“Does that mean Ellis is staying here until the results come out?” Christine asks.
I hadn’t thought of that.
I glance at Rainier. “We’ll talk about it.”
~
“So now you want to talk?” Rainier asks me when we get back to the room. “What? That didn’t occur to you this morning or last night when we were in bed or, I don’t know, when you asked me to bring you here, maybe?”
“What was I supposed to say? ‘I think I’m a Northup, so can you please introduce me to the other Northups?'”
“That would have been nice. At least, if you had, I wouldn’t be feeling like a fool right now, or that I’ve just been used.”
The raw honesty in his words makes my own curl into a ball in my throat.
Rainier’s right. I made him come here just so I could meet my family. I treated him like a ticket.
I swallow. “You’re right. I used you. I made you bring me here. When I heard you talking about a party being thrown by the Northups, I just thought it was an opportunity for me. I just found out I was adopted, that I could be a Northup, that my mother was dead and no one knew who my father was. I was wondering how I could find out more about myself and my real family and then you mentioned that party. I thought it was the answer to my questions. It felt like the key to my past had suddenly been thrown into my lap.”
