The Secret Heir Return To Wealth And Love

Jacob and Larkin were cut from different cloths. Jacob had his passions, sure, but he also had his responsibilities, his duties to uphold.

Where Larkin might abandon everything for love, clinging to a foolish hope for a decade, Jacob couldn't afford such luxuries. Once he took the helm at Strand Group, his path was set-destined to follow in the footsteps of generations of magnates before him.

The restaurant was quiet. Jacob had chosen this spot specifically for a convenient talk with Rosalynn.

"You can relax here. It's my own place," he said, uncorking two bottles of ice wine as he settled across from her.

"Trying to get me drunk before the food serves?" she quipped.

"The food will be out soon." He got Rosalynn some wine, asking as he did so, "Where's Wayne?"d2

She took a sip, appreciating the wine. Jacob had a knack for selecting the perfect bottle-this one matched her taste to a T. She took another generous gulp, savoring the sweet burn as it warmed her chest. Pure comfort.

"Jacob, I've got to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever know... did Natalie and Wayne ever come to blows?" Rosalynn's gaze locked onto Jacob, her voice measured.

Jacob was momentarily taken aback.

"Why this all of a sudden? Who's been filling your head with stories?"Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

"Just answer me."

He sat back, pondering for a moment. "You're aware of the whole deal with Natalie keeping Wayne's uncle under her thumb with violence, aren't you?"

Rosalynn's expression faded bit by bit, "Where did you heard the story?"

Jacob grabbed another bottle, pouring himself a drink too.

"That goes way back. Wayne wasn't always so icy or authoritarian. He used to be... well, more human. I think he was around twelve or thirteen when it happened? I can't remember exactly. One day he came to me, looking like he'd seen a ghost, with... a handprint on his face."

He gestured to his own cheek.

Rosalynn's grip on the armrest tightened, her entire body tensing with the urge to stand.

"He said he'd stumbled on some earth-shattering secret, got into a spat with grandma, and she slapped him to 'bring him to his senses'," Jacob recounted, eyes meeting Rosalynn's. "I still don't know what that secret was, but it must've been huge. After that day, Wayne changed. He became more detached, developed that aversion to being touched."

That earth-shattering secret must have been the truth about his own origins, and Wayne was slapped that day.

Rosalynn's eyes began to sting.

"But he shared something else with me," Jacob continued, shifting the conversation. "He found his late uncle's diary. And his grandma had been mentally dominating his uncle with violence for years." In that moment, the question that had haunted Rosalynn suddenly found its answer.

Why had Wayne remained silent after learning the truth about his birth?

He had fought back once, and it had ended with that slap.

That slap had reminded a young Wayne of the diary.

Natalie might not have controlled Wayne with violence directly, but because of that diary, the young Wayne was still under the tyrannical grip of Natalie from over a decade ago.