Chapter 100
Once Evelyn finished, a heavy, suffocating, silence sliced through the room pressing down on everyone in the room.
Jake stood there, frozen. His chest rose and fell unevenly, his fingers digging into his palms. His heart hammered so hard he thought it might burst through his ribs.
He had heard every word, every piece of the story that shattered the foundation of his life.
His throat ached, but no sound came out.
He couldn’t look at Evelyn’s tearful eyes or Charles’s broken expression. Because suddenly, he understood everything. The overprotection. The deep, fearful love. The way Evelyn sometimes clung too tightly whenever he left home for too long while he was growing up.
The way she’d insisted on taking him and Raymond to school despite her work. He’d thought it was the love of his mother. But now he knew better. It wasn’t just love. It was grief wearing the face of love. She’d been scared she’d lose them too.
Raymond on the other hand looked between the man he’d called his father, the woman who’d kissed away his childhood bruises, and the brother who now looked like a stranger.
His voice came quietly at first. “If… if you lost both your children that day,” he said slowly, his gaze fixed on Charles, “then… who was I? I’m not the second baby from the crash right? You later got pregnant, right p>
Charles’s mouth opened, but no words came out. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Evelyn pressed a trembling hand to her chest, her eyes glistening. “Raymond p>
“Who am I?!” Raymond half yelled.
“It’s what you already suspect. It wasn’t just Jake who was adopted. You too. Jake was the four years old and you the barely one year old in the other car,” Charles said, knowing that his wife wouldn’t be able to bring herself to say it again.
The room fell into dead silence, thick and unbearable. The weight of Charles’s words hung in the air like smoke, choking everyone in it.
Raymond blinked once. Then again. His lips parted, but no sound came. “What… what did you just say p>
Evelyn’s tears streamed freely now, her trembling hands clutching the edge of the table. “You heard us, sweetheart,” she whispered. “You and Jake, both of you were adopted. But that didn’t stop us from loving you like our real children p>
Raymond’s head shook before she even finished speaking. “No.” His voice was faint at first, then rose sharply. “No, that’s not true. That can’t be true p>
Charles sighed, his own eyes glossy with unshed tears. “Son p>
“I’m not your son?” Raymond’s voice cracked, stepping backward as though their words were blows to his chest. “No. You’re lying! You can’t be serious p>
“Raymond p>
“Stop!” he shouted, clutching his head as if trying to squeeze the words out of his mind. “Just stop this nonsense! You’re trying to make me feel guilty, right? You’re saying this because I exposed Jake’s secret p>
“Raymond.” Evelyn’s voice was soft, pleading. “We would never lie about something like this p>
Charles took a deep breath, walked toward his study cabinet, and pulled open the drawer. He returned moments later, holding a brown envelope. His hand shook slightly as he handed it over to Raymond.
“Here,” he said quietly. “These are your adoption papers. Both of yours p>
Raymond’s hand trembled as he took them. He opened the envelope with hesitant fingers, the sound of tearing paper echoing through the silent room. His eyes darted over the documents, the words blurring through his tears.
His heart stopped. His knees weakened, and the papers slipped from his fingers, fluttering to the floor.
“No he whispered brokenly. “No, no, no p>
He stared at Evelyn, his vision swimming. “You told me you gave birth to me. You told me I was yours p>
Evelyn’s voice broke as she stepped forward. “You are mine, Raymond. Both of you. You always have been.” Follow current novᴇls on ~net
But he shook his head violently, stepping back. “Don’t! Don’t call me that! You lied to me my whole life p>
Tears poured freely down her face. “We didn’t lie to hurt you. We did it because we wanted you both to have a normal life. We didn’t want you to feel unwanted or abandoned. I wanted you both to have all the love you ever wanted p>
But Raymond wasn’t listening anymore. His world was collapsing.
And in the midst of it, Jake stood still, silent, frozen. He didn’t move, didn’t speak. His gaze remained fixed on the floor.
He had no family. Not really.
Not only was Raymond not his brother, but the people he had loved and lived for weren’t his parents either.
The room began to blur, his chest tightening painfully. It felt as though someone had ripped the ground right out from beneath him.
So that was it.
He wasn’t loved because he was theirs. He was loved because he filled a void. Would they even have protected and insisted on keeping him if they hadn’t lost their children? Wouldn’t they have agreed to drop him off at a foster home or the orphanage?
Jake turned toward the door, every step slow and heavy. He just needed to breathe. He needed to get out before he broke apart.
“Jake, wait!” Evelyn’s voice rang out, frantic. She rushed forward and caught his arm. “Please don’t leave like this! Just say something, okay p>
He stopped but didn’t look at her. His voice was low, raw. “What should I say? You’ve told me everything I needed to know so why should I stay here p>
“Because you’re my son!” she cried. “You’re my son, Jake, no matter what blood runs in your veins. You know I’ve never treated you differently, never once made you feel like an outsider. You know that. Just because you know now that you were adopted doesn’t change anything p>
Jake turned slowly to her, eyes glassy and distant. “It doesn’t? Then tell me something,” he said, his voice shaking. “What were the names of your sons? The ones you lost p>
Evelyn blinked, confusion flickering across her face. “What does that p>
“Just tell me,” he pressed softly.
She hesitated, then whispered through tears, “They were Jake… and Raymond p>
A bitter, humorless chuckle slipped past Jake’s lips. “Of course,” he murmured. “Jake and Raymond. That’s what you named us too p>
“Jake, listen to me p>
“All this time,” he said, his voice trembling with disbelief and pain, “I thought you loved me because I was your child. But now I see it. I was just… a replacement. A stand-in for someone else’s life p>
Evelyn’s sobs came harder now, her voice desperate. “No! No, Jake, that’s not true. You’re not a replacement; neither of you are p>
She stepped closer, clutching his arm again. “When we found you, we didn’t even know your names. You were both so little. I had to name you; it was the only thing I could do to make you mine. I chose those names not because I wanted to replace my children, but because I wanted to remember them through love, not pain p>
Her voice trembled. “Do you know what’s hard for me? It’s not that you weren’t born to me. It’s that sometimes, when I see you and Raymond, I still wonder what my boys would’ve been like if they’d grown up. But that doesn’t mean I ever loved you less. You both made me a mother again, Jake. You gave me life when I had none left p>
Charles stepped forward then, his deep voice steady but filled with emotion. “Your mother’s right. Even if we hadn’t lost our children, we still would’ve stopped that day. We still would’ve helped those orphans. Because that’s who we are. You both became our sons not by chance, but by choice. Don’t let this truth erase the years we’ve built together p>
Evelyn reached up to touch Jake’s face, but he gently pulled back. His chest rose and fell heavily, his eyes glistening.
He didn’t say another word. He just turned and walked toward the door. A lot had happened today and he needed to think. He needed alone time to think.
“Jake, please Evelyn’s voice cracked, but he didn’t stop.
The sound of the door closing echoed through the mansion like thunder.
Raymond stood frozen in place, his mind spinning. The truth stabbed deeper the longer it settled. He had wanted to destroy Jake’s world, to strip away his identity, to make him doubt everything he’d known but now his own had shattered. He was the one doubting everything he’d ever known.
He sank to his knees, clutching his head. “I was such a fool he whispered, voice breaking. “I wanted to ruin him. I wanted him to hurt. But now—” his voice cracked, and a sob escaped his lips, “now I’m the one who doesn’t even know who I am p>
Evelyn rushed to him, dropping beside him on the floor, wrapping her arms around him despite his resistance. “It’s okay,” she cried softly. “It’s okay, my son. You’re still ours p>
Raymond broke completely then, sobbing into Evelyn’s embrace, his cries raw and childlike. For the first time in his life, he didn’t care about pride, or status, or rivalry.
All he could feel was loss and love that hurt too much to hold.