CHAPTER 98: THE TRUTH

The words rang loud and jagged through the room, cutting the air like glass.

What did he mean by not his brother?

Jake’s expression went blank, shock flickering across his face. Evelyn blinked, unsure she’d heard right. "What... what did you just say?" she whispered.

Raymond’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His lips curled into a bitter smile. "You heard me," he said, his tone eerily calm now. "Stop calling Jake my brother. Because I know he’s not."

A stunned silence followed. Even the ticking clock in the hallway seemed to stop as everyone’s mind spun with questions.

Jake stepped forward slowly, his voice low, controlled, but dangerous. "Raymond, what the hell are you talking about?"

Raymond met his gaze, unflinching. "I just said, you’re not my brother. You’re not a Stone, Jake. Mom and dad has been lying to us, giving you everything leaving me, their son with nothing!"

Evelyn’s hand flew to her mouth, her body trembling. "Raymond, stop. That’s enough."

But he didn’t stop. His voice grew colder, surer. "He’s not one of us. He never was. You two may have raised him, but he’s not a Stone. You know it and don’t want to say the truth. I saw it, mom. The adoption papers. I saw it so you can stop lying to him. I thought I could keep quiet and just enjoy having a big brother but then, you both just had to rip me off everything. What did I ever do?"

Jake’s heart thudded violently against his ribs. This had to be all a joke.

Charles’s voice cracked, "Raymond! That’s enough! You’ve said enough!"

But Raymond just ignored him, staring at Jake. "You want to know why I hate you? Because every time I look at you, I see a stranger pretending to be my brother. To be the perfect son. The flawless heir while making me their son, a nuisance. I tried to accept you because of how much you’ve looked out for me but then, you just had to go and like Bella. You took her attention away from me. I met her first! I knew her first but you just had to steal her away with your charms!" Raymond cried, despite himself. "I hate you, I hate you, Jake."

No matter how much he said, he knew he couldn’t hate him and that was what hurt him the most. Everyone had betrayed him and yet, here he was, still crying over them.

Charles slammed his fist against the table. "Raymond! That’s enough!"

"This... has.... to– all this has to be a lie. No, it can’t be," Jake muttered, as though trying to tell himself everything that has been happening since the day before had all been one cruel joke of nightmare.

But Raymond just laughed — a cold, broken sound that echoed through the mansion like the crack of a whip. "It’s the truth," he said, voice trembling between rage, satisfaction and guilt. "Ask her," he pointed at Evelyn, his tone cruel. "Ask Mother if I’m lying. Even dad knows. You’re the only one in the dark, here."

Evelyn froze, completely still. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Her eyes darted to Charles, then to Jake, wide and wet.

Jake turned to her, disbelief written across his face. "Mom..." His voice was barely above a whisper. "What is he talking about? Was I really adopted? Am I not your child?"

Evelyn’s hands shook. "Jake, please..." she whispered. "Don’t—"

"Mom!" Jake’s voice broke, raw and desperate. "Tell me he’s lying!"

He looked at her and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She didn’t say anything but her silence was louder than any confession.

Jake stood frozen, his world spinning out of control. The marble floor beneath him might as well have been quicksand seeing as it seemed to be swallowing everything he knew, and everything he believed about who he was.

"Adopted."

The word thundered in his skull, over and over, until it no longer felt real. His mother’s silence— the woman he’d loved more than anything, the woman whose warmth had been his anchor all this while— now felt like a knife to his chest.

His breath came uneven. "All this time..." he muttered, staring at her as though seeing her for the first time. "All this time, you both have been lying to me?"

Evelyn pressed a trembling hand to her lips, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. "Jake, please," she whispered, her voice breaking. "We never wanted you to find out this way."

Jake’s heart twisted. He turned sharply, his jaw locking, his voice shaking with fury and disbelief. "Then how was I supposed to find out, Mom? From Raymond? Or from your silence?! Did you even thought of telling me?"

Charles tried to step in, voice firm but heavy. "Jake, son, let’s sit down—"

"Don’t call me that!" Jake’s shout cracked through the room, echoing down the long marble hall. His voice trembled, the weight of betrayal heavy in his chest. "If you considered me your son, you would’ve told me and let me choose to love you as you have me!"

Raymond flinched, not from guilt, but from something else. A deep, ugly ache he couldn’t name. He wanted to feel victorious, to see Jake crumble and finally feel the pain he had carried for years. But instead, all he felt was hollow. Empty.

He’d wanted to destroy Jake’s happiness, yet seeing the man’s face, shattered, raw, and broken, his eyes burning with tears twisted something inside him. A pang of regret crawled up his throat, but his pride held it down.

Jake looked at him, eyes wild, wounded. "You knew," he said quietly. "You’ve known this for years and still... you pretended to love me. You carried a grudge for seven years, while I was here loving and looking at for you as an elder brother. Yet, you’ve always seen me as the outsider? You have the family and just because of a misunderstanding, you destroyed what little I’ve had? Haven’t I been doing my best to be there?"

Raymond’s lips parted, but no words came out. The guilt he’d buried for years was finally rising like bile. He’d wanted to hurt Jake, to make him feel worthless. But now, watching him crumble, he realized, he’d gone too far. All the hate and yet, Jake had done nothing but love him.

Evelyn turned to Charles, voice trembling. "We can’t hide it anymore," she whispered. "He deserves to know everything."

Charles closed his eyes, his jaw tightening. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and hoarse. "Jake... your mother’s right. It’s time you both knew the truth."

Evelyn reached out a shaking hand toward Jake. "Please, sweetheart, sit down," she said softly. "It all started... thirty-three years ago."

[Thirty-three years ago]

The soft hum of machines filled the brand-new StoneTech lobby, polished floors gleaming under the afternoon sun. Evelyn Stone stood beside her husband, Charles, her face glowing with pride as the staff congratulated them on the company’s grand opening. Everything she had ever prayed for— success, a family, a future— was finally coming together. Or so she thought, until the phone rang.

She excused herself, smiling politely as she picked it up thinking it was probably one of those people calling to congratulate her but the moment she heard the trembling voice on the other end, her smile vanished.

"Mrs. Stone—this is St. Luke’s Academy. There’s been... an accident. It’s about your sons."

The phone nearly slipped from her hand. "What?" she whispered, her heart racing. "What did you just say?"

"They were on their way home from school. The car... it lost control."

"Evelyn?" Charles stepped forward, noticing her pale face. "What’s wrong?"

Her voice came out as a whisper. "Charles... the twins. There’s been an accident."

Minutes later, the Stones’ car screeched to a stop in front of the hospital. Evelyn barely felt her heels hit the floor as she rushed through the emergency entrance, her husband close behind.

A doctor met them at the corridor, his face grim. "Mr. and Mrs. Stone... I’m so sorry. We did everything we could, but we lost—"

Evelyn didn’t hear the rest. Her knees buckled, a scream tearing from her throat. "No!"

Charles caught her just before she hit the ground, his own eyes wide and wet. "Please, no," he muttered. "Doctor, please—there must be something you can do!"

But there wasn’t. Their two sons— their long-awaited miracle twins— were gone.

Charles tried to be strong, but even he broke one night, standing by the tiny graves beneath the soft rain. "Why them?" he whispered. "Why not me?"

Days turned to weeks. Evelyn’s eyes were hollow, her voice faint, her heart deadened by grief. Weeks turned into months and then she finally learned there were gone. She’d visit their graves and cry her heart out but they wouldn’t get up.

How was she supposed to get over the grief of her two sons? Her twins. The only people she and her husband and tried to work hard to take care of?