The Secret of the Forgotten Heiress

The Secret of the Forgotten Heiress

Max's Story

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Lily thought she had a simple life, surrounded by her adoptive parents in a small town. But everything changed the day she learned that her real parents were industrial tycoons and that she had a twin brother, heir to a family empire. Welcomed into a world of luxury, she found herself facing a reality very different from the one she knew. Her brother, a cold and ambitious man, had always hated her. "You're just an intruder, Lily," he told her. But another secret resurfaced: a mysterious businessman claimed that Lily was the rightful heir to a huge hidden fortune. "It's time you knew the truth," he told her. Between betrayals and revelations, Lily must choose between wealth and family loyalty.

Chapter 1 Chapitre 1

The wind blew gently across the small town, making the curtains of Lily's half-open window dance. Sitting on her bed, her legs crossed, she turned over a letter yellowed by time in her fingers. Her heart was beating faster than she would have liked. She hadn't read anything yet, but she already knew that these few lines were going to turn her life upside down.

It had all started that morning, when an unknown postman had come to deliver an envelope with his name on it. Nothing out of the ordinary on the surface, except that the writing on the paper seemed to belong to another era. No return address, no postmark. Just his first and last name, written in an elegant yet trembling hand.

She took a deep breath and opened the letter. The first words made her blood run cold.

* »Lily, it's time you knew the truth about your origins. What you think you know is a lie. »*

Her hands shook slightly. She scanned the rest of the message, her mind trying to make sense of the cryptic sentences.

* "You are not who you think you are. Your parents love you, but they are not your real parents. The blood that flows through your veins belongs to a lineage that has been tried to be erased. You must come to this address if you want to discover who you really are."*

Her breath caught. Her gaze fell on the address at the bottom of the letter. An unfamiliar street, in a city she had never visited.

The sound of a door opening downstairs brought her back to reality. Her adoptive parents had just returned. She quickly closed the letter and slipped it under her pillow before running down the stairs, her heart pounding.

- Lily? Are you there? came the warm voice of her adoptive mother, Marianne.

- Yes, I'm coming! she answered, trying to hide the confusion in her voice.

She found them in the kitchen, busy putting away the groceries. Her father, Paul, put a bag on the table and gave her a kind smile.

- How was your morning?

Lily hesitated for a second. She wanted to tell them about the letter, to ask them for explanations, but a dull fear tightened her throat.

- Good, she whispered.

She watched her mother put fruit into a basket and suddenly she felt it was time.

- Mom... Dad...

The serious tone in her voice made them turn to look at her.

- I got a letter this morning. Someone says that... that you're not my real parents.

Silence fell on the room like a guillotine. Marianne's hands remained suspended above the apples. Paul exchanged a worried look with his wife before calmly putting down the dishcloth he was holding.

- Who sent you this letter? he asked softly.

- I don't know. There was no name, just an address.

Marianne leaned against the countertop, her fingers clenched on the edge of the marble.

- We hoped we'd never have to tell you like this, she breathed.

Lily felt her heart clench.

- So... is it true?

Marianne closed her eyes for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

- We adopted you when you were a baby, Lily.

The world turned upside down. She expected a denial, a rational explanation that would make the letter seem absurd. But no. The truth lay before her, brutal and unforgiving.

- Why did you never tell me?

- Because we wanted to protect you, Paul replied in a serious voice.

- Protect me from what?

An awkward silence fell.

- We don't know everything, Marianne admitted. But what we do know is that your biological parents came from a... very powerful background.

Lily took a step back, stunned.

- A powerful environment? What are you talking about?

Paul sighed.

- The Richmont family.

The name meant nothing to her, but it resonated in her like a distant wave, a forgotten echo.

- And this address... she murmured, her throat tight.

- If someone sent it to you, they want you to find out something, Paul said worriedly. But be careful, Lily. These kinds of truths can be dangerous.

The rest of the day passed in a haze of confusion. Lily went up to her room, closed the door, and pulled the letter out from under her pillow. Her fingers ran over the writing over and over, trying to figure out what it meant.

Who was she really?

The next morning, she made an irrevocable decision.

She would go to this address.

***

The journey to the city indicated on the letter seemed unreal. Every kilometer she traveled took her further from the life she had always known. The train was taking her into the unknown, into a past she had never suspected.

Arriving in front of a huge stone building, she hesitated. A golden plaque indicated: *Cabinet Montclair & Associates.* A law firm.

Her heart was pounding as she pushed open the door. An elegant woman greeted her with a professional smile.

- Miss Lily Foster?

Lily nodded, surprised that anyone knew her name.

- Mr. Montclair is waiting for you.

Guided through hushed corridors, she entered a luxurious office where a man in his sixties was waiting for her, standing in front of a huge bookcase.

- Lily, welcome. I am Master Montclair.

He invited her to sit down and placed a file in front of her.

- If you are here, it is because you are ready to know the truth.

Lily felt her breath catch.

- Your birth name is Lily Richmont. You are the heiress to one of the largest fortunes in the country.

His whole body froze.

- But... why was I adopted then?

Montclair took a deep breath.

- Because after your mother died, your father decided to hide you.

Lily frowned.

- Hide from what?

The lawyer slowly placed his hands on the desk and looked her straight in the eyes.

- From your brother.

She felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

- Besides ?

Montclair nodded.

- Alexander Richmont. Your twin.

The silence that followed was deafening. Lily tried to gather her thoughts, but nothing made sense.

- Why would he want to harm me?

Montclair opened the file and pulled out a photo. A young man with a piercing gaze, a cold and calculating elegance.

- Because he was raised as the sole heir. And he doesn't want to share.

Lily felt her heart pound violently against her chest.

- Does he know I exist?

- Now, yes.

Montclair closed the file.

- You're in danger, Lily.

His breath caught.

She had come in here with questions.

She came out with a threat hanging over her.

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