Chapter 85

Kurt and his wife looked at each other, their faces going pale.

They had buried this secret so deep that even Lainey herself had no clue. So how on earth did Denny manage to dig it up?

A wave of panic washed over Kurt.

But the more he thought about it, the less surprising it seemed.

With Denny's reach and influence, pulling a secret like this intothe light would have been child's play.

Forcing his lips into something that resembled a smile,Kurt tried to keep his composure. "Mr. Perkins, you certainly keep yourself well-informed."

However, Denny wasn't finished, and the very next words out of his mouth hit like a thunderclap. "From the way you're reacting, don't tell me you actually stole her back then?"

Kurt's heart nearly stopped. His hands trembled as he shook his head wildly. "No! Absolutely not! We adopted her properly, from an orphanage,with all the official paperwork!"

Lauryn Gilbert, Kurt's wife, was terrified that the wrong idea might take root and jumped in at once."Yes,exactly! Westhaven Orphanage.Everything was done by the book, and all the documents are there!"

Denny casually jotted down the name, then let his tone ease into something almost friendly. "No need to be so stiff. We're just talking. Tell me, after you brought her home, how did she grow up? What kind of student was she? I want the whole picture,every detail. This could determine whether you end up holding this project."

Neither Kurt nor Lauryn dared hold anything back after that They poured out everything they could remember.

What they didn't realize was that someone else had heard it all. Lainey had been on her way inside when the words stopped her cold.

Adopted? The identity she had worn like a crown for years, the pride of being the Gilberts' daughter, was nothing but a lie?

Even if things with Jonny had fallen apart, she had thought she could still lean on the Gilbert family.

But now, she wasn't even theirs by blood. The truth was too much to bear.

She just couldn't accept it.

Just like that bitch Eleanor, she was nothing more than an orphan.

In that moment, it felt as if her entire world had crumbled.

Her knees went weak, and she staggered back several steps before finally steadying herself.

Inside, the conversation ended, and Denny stepped out. His aura of wealth and authority was impossible to ignore.

Lainey's heart lurched, and she instinctively shrank into the shadows near the doorway

Denny didn't notice her.

He paused in the courtyard, pulling out a wooden rabbit, his eyes burning with a hope he could barely contain.

He needed to arrange a meeting with Lainey and somehow get hold of a strand of her hair. A DNA test would confirm everything.

With that decision made, he tucked the rabbit back into his pocket and left the Gilbert family's estate. Only when the sound of his car faded did Lainey slip out from her hiding spot.

That rabbit... wasn't it the very one she had smashed to the ground?

So,he had picked it up afterward?

From the bits she overheard and Denny's demeanor,a wild, reckless thought began to take root.

Could it be that this man was from Eleanor's real family?

Could he have mistaken her for Eleanor?

Her nails dug into her palms. No.

That could never be allowed.

Eleanor must remain an orphan forever

If Eleanor not only carried the title of Enigma and was destined to marry into the Stewart family but also turned out to be from a powerful household...then her life would be utterly eclipsed. She would never stand a chance again.

The idea alone filled Lainey with fury.

Forcing herself to calm down, she pulled out her phone, uploaded the photo she had secretly snapped of Denny, and quickly ran a search.

The results made her pulse race.

The man was Denny Perkins, chief assistant at the Benton Group, one of the most powerful dynasties in the world.

Their influence stood shoulder to shoulder with the Stewart Group's, stretching across continents.

Lainey's thoughts went wild.

If she played her cards right, she could slip seamlessly into that kind of fortune

The Gilberts would be nothing in comparison.

And Jonny? By then, he would be a discarded