Damon didn't hesitate. He started explaining everything immediately, knowing that waiting would only make things worse."My mother was murdered," he said directly. "She was killed by the woman my father married right after her death. Lucas's mother, Vanessa Sterling."Celia's shock was instant, her mouth opened slightly and her eyes went even wider than before. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.All the hurt feelings from moments ago started disappearing from her expression. They were replaced by something else entirely. Sympathy, sadness, and horror at what she was hearing.Damon continued without giving her time to interrupt. "It all started when I was expelled from the Sterling family after my mother died. I didn't know at the time who had killed her. I was just a kid. But even though I was young, I understood that my mother didn't die in an accident. Someone actually murdered her."He paused, the memory still painful even after all these years

The doorbell of the Vance mansion started ringing. Tessa was in the living room, just turning on the TV since she was the only one home. Mr. Vance had gone to work earlier that morning.She walked to the front door and pulled it open. Her eyes widened immediately when she saw who was standing there.Serena and she's smiling.Tessa didn't hesitate. She grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her inside quickly, then wrapped her arms around her daughter in a tight hug.Serena understood why her mother was acting this way. She hadn't seen her for a whole week, so of course Tessa was worried.When they broke the hug, Tessa's words came out in a rush. "Your father and I have been trying to call you countless times for a week now but you weren't picking up. We didn't know what happened to you or where you were.""I'm fine, Mom—""We even went to the Thorne family house thinking maybe you were with Michael since he wasn't answering his phone either." Tessa's voice rose with frustration. "But they s

Serena wasn't expecting her mother to ask that question. But now that Tessa had brought it up, Serena found herself actually thinking about it for the first time.The pregnancy was three months along. That meant she was already pregnant before she divorced Damon. But at the same time, she and Michael had already been together secretly before the divorce happened.So that meant she didn't really know who the father was. It could be Damon's child or it could be Michael's child. She hadn't thought about it before because she'd just assumed it was Michael's. She'd wanted it to be Michael's.But the truth was she had no idea.Serena's face must have shown her uncertainty because Tessa quickly cut off her thoughts."Don't worry yourself about it," Tessa said firmly. "The pregnancy definitely belongs to Michael.""But Mom, I don't actually know—""It doesn't matter what you know or don't know." Tessa's voice was plain and cold. "As long as Michael doesn't question it and accepts the pregnanc

Inside the hotel room, Vivienne was packing her bags carefully. Eliza had returned and was helping her fold clothes and organize everything into the suitcases."Are you sure you want to go back to Sydney right now?" Eliza asked."I have to." Vivienne placed another dress into the suitcase. "I need to settle everything with my family once and for all. I can't keep avoiding them.""Will you come back to Newcastle?"Vivienne paused, her hands resting on a stack of folded shirts. "I don't know yet. Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on how things go with my parents."She'd been calling Damon for the past day, trying to reach him to thank him properly for everything he'd done to help her. She also wanted to apologize for causing that fight between him and Celia when Celia found her at his house wearing his shirt.And she really wanted to apologize to Celia in person. She'd planned to go to Celia's house right after finishing packing to say sorry face-to-face.But Damon wasn't picking up his phon

Damon walked into his mansion, exhaustion etched across his face. He headed straight to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of water, but it did nothing to calm the storm raging inside him. His hand slammed against the kitchen cabinet—not hard enough to hurt, but enough to release some of the frustration building in his chest.Had he made a mistake telling Celia the truth now? Was the timing still wrong?He shook his head sharply. No. That couldn't be why she'd left with just that single word hanging in the air: "But.""I told her at the right time," Damon muttered to himself, pacing the kitchen floor. "If I hadn't told her everything now, she might never have wanted to hear it again. I did the right thing."He needed to believe that. He needed to convince himself that revealing his identity hadn't been a big mistake."She just needs time to process everything," he said. "Time to understand why I hid who I really was."That had to be it. Celia hadn't looked angry when she left—confuse