Seraphina's POV
"Do you know who you really are?"
The question hangs in the air between us, heavy and sharp.
I stare at him, my heart pounding so hard I can hear it in my ears. "I just told you," I say slowly. "My name is Seraphina Cole."
He studies me for a long moment, his dark eyes unreadable. There's no pity in them. No softness either. Just focus. Like he's looking at a locked door and already knows where the key is.
"That's the name you were given," he says calmly. "Not the one you were born with."
My chest tightens. "What are you talking about?"
He leans back slightly, crossing his arms. "You deserve the truth. Especially after what you've survived."
"I don't even know your name," I snapped, fear creeping into my voice. "And you're talking about my birth like it's a business file."
"Lucien Drake," he says. "And this is a business file."
My stomach twists.
"I don't understand," I say. "I'm exhausted. I've lost everything. If this is some kind of joke…"
"It's not," he cuts in. His voice doesn't rise, but it hardens. "And you haven't lost everything. You just didn't know what you had."
He reaches into his coat and pulls out a slim folder. Thick. Official. My name is typed neatly on the front.
Seraphina Cole.
My throat dries. "What is that?"
"Proof," he replies. "Something that was hidden from you your entire life."
I shake my head. "I don't want riddles."
"You don't have a choice," he says simply.
He opens the folder and pulls out several documents, spreading them carefully on the small table beside my bed. Charts. Letters. Seals. Names I don't recognize.
Then one name makes my breath catch.
Vale.
"What is that?" I whisper.
Lucien watches my reaction closely. "That," he says, tapping the paper lightly, "is your bloodline."
I swallow hard. "I don't understand."
"Your mother didn't die the way you were told," he continues. "And your father wasn't a nobody."
My heart starts racing. "Stop."
"You were born Seraphina Vale," he says quietly. "Only surviving child of the Vale family."
The room tilts.
"No," I whisper. "That's not possible."
Lucien slides another paper toward me. "That's your DNA test."
I laugh weakly. "I didn't take a DNA test."
"No," he agrees. "But someone did. On your behalf."
My hands shake as I look at the paper. I don't understand everything on it, but the words confirmed lineage and direct heir stand out clearly.
"This is fake," I say. "It has to be."
"It isn't," Lucien replies. "It was conducted twice. Two separate labs."
I press my palms into the mattress. "Why would anyone do this?"
"Because the Vale Empire doesn't pass power lightly," he answers. "And because they've been looking for you."
I look up sharply. "Looking for me?"
"They thought you were dead," Lucien says.
The words hit like a punch.
"What?" I whisper.
"Official records show the Vale child died years ago," he continues. "A tragic accident. Closed case."
My heart pounds harder. "But I didn't die."
"No," he agrees. "You were hidden."
"By who?" I ask.
"People who wanted the empire without the heir," he replies.
I shake my head again and again. "This doesn't make sense. I grew up poor. I struggled. No one ever came for me."
"That was the point," Lucien says. "You were erased."
My chest aches. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because you collapsed in the rain," he replies simply. "Because I recognized your face."
My breath catches. "Recognized me from where?"
"I've seen your mother's portrait," he says. "Many times."
Tears blur my vision. "My mother is dead."
"She was killed," Lucien corrects calmly.
My body goes still.
"You can't just say that," I whisper.
"I can," he replies. "And I am."
Silence stretches between us, thick and suffocating.
"The Vale Consortium controls shipping lanes, technology patents, political leverage," he continues. "Trillion-naira influence. Old money. Quiet power."
I laugh again, this time hysterical. "And you're saying that's mine?"
"I'm saying it was always yours," he replies. "They just made sure you never knew."
I think of Margaret Ashford calling me temporary. Disposable. Of Julian choosing silence over me.
"They knew," I whisper suddenly.
Lucien's eyes sharpen. "Who?"
"The Ashfords," I say. "They knew I had no backing. No family. No protection."
"Yes," he says. "That's why they used you."
My hands curl into fists. "They destroyed me."
"They underestimated you," Lucien corrects.
I look up at him. "Why are you involved in this?"
"Because the same elite circles that buried your family destroyed mine," he replies. "And because you're not weak, Seraphina."
"Don't say my name like that," I snapped. "You don't know me."
"I know you survived what should've killed you," he says evenly. "That's enough."
I close my eyes, breathing hard. "If this is true… everything I believed about my life is a lie."
"Yes," Lucien says. "And that's why it hurts."
I open my eyes again. "What happens now?"
A pause.
"That depends on you," he replies.
I swallow. "Depends how?"
"On whether you want to stay buried," he says, "or rise."
My heart pounds.
"And if I choose to rise?" I ask quietly.
Lucien meets my gaze, his voice low and deliberate.
"Then you reclaim what was stolen," he says. "And you make them regret ever thinking you were nothing."
The room feels too small for my breathing.
"They thought you were dead."