Twenty-one and ready to take on the world, orphan Lizzie Gold didn't expect her chance encounter with a stranger to lead to a damnable task - to take down a rising business tycoon.
Ryan Pierce - her viciously handsome target and her new boss - might...
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R Y A N 49 | my little Jo
The hush that follows Winston's words is pregnant with a cloud of doubts. His voice echoes in my ears, the feel of Lizzie's hand slipping from my arm a distant sensation that I register faintly.
"My name?" Lizzie points a finger to her chest, her throat swallowing a gulp down.
"You don't believe me?" Winston expresses. "See for yourself."
He reaches into the pocket of his dress pants and I raise the pistol back to point it at him, afraid of what he is about to produce. He sees the action and raises one hand to gesture for me not to shoot him while he takes his phone out. He swipes through it before extending it for Lizzie to take.
Lizzie spares me a hesitant glance. I nod and she nods back before taking the phone from Winston with a trembling hand. We both carry the same expression as we look at the document which Winston has opened on the phone, the one that my Mom signed. There is Mom's name in it and in the place where I had expected to see Winston's name, there is written in clear bold letters — Miss. Elizabeth Gold, daughter of Mr. Gael Gold and Mrs. Maria Gold.
"What is this?" Lizzie challenges, her eyes glassy as she looks at Winston. "What game are you playing?" She turns to me, seeming desperate. "Ryan...I swear, I had no clue about this. He... did it to trap me. Please, believe me."
"I believe you always, love," I say, putting an arm around her shoulder to bring her to me.
"I didn't do it to trap you. The mansion belongs to you, Elizabeth," Winston interrupts.
"Stop speaking in riddles and start from the beginning," my brother chimes in, stalking toward us.
He stops next to Lizzie, a hand reaching to touch the small of her back while Winston dances his gaze between the three of us.
"I didn't know I'd ever find you..." Winston begins, a glimpse of a smile on his lips as he looks at his shoes. "I searched for you...everywhere. They won't tell me where you were, where Marcus put you in. I...I went door to door of every orphanage in the city, asking for you. I had lost hope after ten years of fruitless search until I collided with you that day at the mall."
Lizzie's breath catches with an audible hiss. She curls her fingers around the lapel of my suit, her breaths coming out in soft pants.
"What...what are you talking about?" she croaks out, her knees knocking together with tremors that descend upon her body.
A lump forms in my throat. I meet Winston's eyes which are full of compassion for some reason.
"You're her..." he says. "You're Josephine Hayes, Caitlin and Silas' daughter."
The ground moves under my feet. I grasp onto Lizzie's shoulder for my sanity as the revelation rings in my ears, echoing like an untapped tune. Lizzie's hand falls from my suit, her face turning pale. Reece is the one among us with a better hold on himself. He holds Lizzie when she falters a step, lost in a trance.
