Chapter 5 THE WOMAN WHO WASN'T A MAID
The next morning changed everything. Bella woke to find James standing outside her room. His face was unreadable.
"Come with me." He said.
Bella immediately knew something was wrong. Neither spoke as they drove through New York. Thirty minutes later, they arrived at a private laboratory.
Bella frowned. "Why are we here?"
James didn't answer. A bad feeling settled inside her stomach. Inside the building, doctors greeted them. Paperwork was signed, blood samples were collected, then they waited.
Hours passed, neither said much. Finally, a scientist entered the room. Holding a sealed envelope. Bella's heart pounded. The scientist handed the results to James. James opened them. His eyes widened. Bella knew. Whatever was inside had changed everything.
Slowly, he handed her the paper. Her hands trembled. She looked down.
DNA MATCH: 99.99%
Bella's knees almost gave out. She wasn't imagining it. She wasn't mistaken. She wasn't dreaming.
Richard Brown was her biological father. The maid. The employee. The outsider. The poor girl that was struggling to survive, was actually the rightful heir to part of the Brown family fortune.
Tears filled her eyes. "My whole life was a lie."
James caught her before she fell. For a moment, neither spoke. Then Bella whispered.
The laboratory suddenly felt too small.
She blinked several times. Then looked at the results again. Still the same.
99.99% Match.
Richard Brown. Her father.
The paper slipped slightly between her fingers. The silence seemed to swallow the room whole. Bella slowly lowered herself into a chair. Her legs no longer felt steady. Everything she believed about herself had just changed. Every memory, every struggle, every question she had carried for years. Nothing made sense anymore.
James sat across from her. Watching quietly. He knew this wasn't something words could fix. Some truths were simply too large to process all at once. Bella swallowed hard.
"My mother knew." It wasn't a question. The scientist excused himself, leaving the room.
James sighed. "Maybe."
Bella shook her head. "No."
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"My mother would have told me." Her voice cracked.
"She never lied to me."
James remained silent. Because he couldn't argue with that. Bella stared at the report again.
"If she knew, she should've told me."
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
A tear slid down her cheek. Then another. James noticed. Without saying anything, he handed her a handkerchief. Bella laughed softly through her tears.
"You carry those around?" A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You cry a lot." Bella stared at him. Then punched his arm playfully. James actually laughed. The sound surprised both of them.
For a brief moment, the crushing weight in the room eased. Then Bella became serious again.
"What happens now?"
James leaned back. "That's up to you."
"What does that mean?"
"It means nobody's forcing anything."
Bella looked confused.
James continued. "You don't suddenly become someone else because of a DNA result."
His voice softened. "You're still Bella."
The words settled somewhere deep inside her.
Still Bella. Not a billionaire. Not an heiress. Not a headline. Just Bella.
For the first time since reading the report, she felt herself breathe properly. Across the room, Richard Brown stood near the window. Watching. Listening. Unable to stay silent any longer.
Slowly, he approached. Bella immediately became nervous. Neither knew how to speak to the other.
How could they? They had lost twenty-five years.
Where did someone even begin after that? Richard stopped a few feet away. His eyes glistened.
"Can I sit?"
Bella nodded.
He lowered himself into the chair opposite her. For several moments, neither spoke. The silence wasn't uncomfortable. It was fragile. Like both feared saying the wrong thing. Finally Richard broke it.
"I looked for you."
Bella lifted her head. "What?"
His voice trembled. "After they told me my daughter died, something never felt right."
Bella watched him closely.
"I hired investigators." His jaw tightened.
"I spent years searching."
The confession stunned her. Years. He had spent years looking. Richard swallowed hard.
"Every birthday..." His voice cracked.
"I wondered what she would've looked like."
“Elena warned never to come looking for you. She said it was for your safety. Then she suddenly cut off ties. She became unreachable.”
Bella felt tears return.
Richard continued. "I wondered if she'd have my eyes."
A sad smile appeared. "Turns out she doesn't."
Bella laughed through her tears. The laughter quickly turned emotional. Because for the first time in her life, she wasn't listening to a billionaire. She was listening to a father. A father who had lost his child and somehow found her again.
Richard reached into his jacket. Then removed a small photograph. The image looked worn from age. He handed it to her. Bella stared. It was a picture of a nursery. A tiny crib, baby toys, and a rocking chair. Everything prepared for a child. It was all for her.
"We never took it apart." Richard whispered.
Bella looked up sharply. "What?"
Richard nodded. "The room is still there."
A lump formed in Bella's throat. Twenty-five years. And they had kept the room, waiting, hoping and praying.
The realization shattered whatever emotional wall remained inside her. Tears spilled freely down her cheeks. This time she didn't bother wiping them away. Because for the first time since her mother's death, Bella no longer felt completely alone.
Unfortunately for them, someone else received the same news.
Lisa.
And she completely lost control. The expensive vase shattered against the wall. Glass exploded everywhere.
"No!" Her scream echoed through the penthouse.
"This can't happen.
" She grabbed her phone. Immediately calling Mason.
The moment he answered, she shouted.
"They confirmed it!"
Then Mason spoke. "Then we're out of time."
Lisa's breathing became ragged. "What do we do?"
Mason's voice turned deadly calm.
"The final phase."
That night, Brown Mansion hosted a charity gala. The richest people in New York attended, politicians, business executives, celebrities, everyone but nobody suspected the storm that was coming.
Bella wore a silver gown. For the first time in her life, she looked like she belonged among them. James couldn't take his eyes off her. Neither could half the room.
Lisa noticed. Hatred burned inside her. Everything should have been hers, everything. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, a microphone squealed.
Richard Brown stepped onto the stage. The room quieted.He cleared his throat.
"There is something I need to announce." Bella's heart skipped. James looked confused. Richard's eyes found Bella. Then he spoke.
"Twenty-five years ago, I lost a daughter." Gasps spread across the ballroom. Richard continued.
"Today, I found her." The room exploded with whispers. Bella froze. Tears filled Richard's eyes.
"My daughter..." He pointed toward her.
"...is Bella Tom."
Shock rippled through the crowd. Cameras flashed. Questions erupted. Bella could barely breathe.
Then, a waiter appeared beside her holding a tray. A cup of tea.
"Miss Bella." She accepted it automatically, distracted, completely overwhelmed and emotional. The waiter smiled. A strange smile. Cold. Wrong.
Bella suddenly remembered the hospital incident. The poisoning. The tea. Her eyes widened. The waiter turned away too quickly. Bella looked down at the cup. Something felt wrong. Very wrong.
Across the room, James noticed her expression. His instincts screamed danger. Then he saw the waiter and recognized him. Not a waiter but Mason Blake disguised.
James's heart stopped. "BELLA!"
The entire ballroom turned. Bella looked up.
At that exact moment, The cup slipped from her fingers. And shattered against the floor. The smell rising from the liquid made Detective Evans react instantly.
"Nobody touch it!"
The room descended into chaos. And while everyone stared at the broken cup, Mason Blake vanished into the crowd. Leaving behind only one horrifying realization. The first poisoning had failed and now someone had just tried to kill Bella again.
