Chapter 21: The Unlikely Meeting

Victor stood at the edge of the drawing room, his fingers gripping the letter that had been handed to him by his solicitor. The heavy paper felt like a weight in his hands—one that seemed too large for him to carry. He had read the words multiple times, but they refused to settle in his mind.

“Marcus Thorne, your father, has an illegitimate daughter.”

Victor’s world tilted on its axis as he reread the line. Amelia Thorne. His father’s secret had been kept from him for years, hidden beneath layers of lies and neglect. And now, after his death, it had come to light in the most unexpected way. The name he had spent so many years trying to escape—the legacy of cruelty and power—now had another face attached to it.

His breath caught in his throat. How had he never known?