CHAPTER 306: THE LONG-HIDDEN SECRET REVEALED

’As expected,’ Augustine thought grimly.

Gabriel had stirred up trouble at the mansion. Again.

Keeping his voice calm, he said, "Right now, I’m focused on Anne and her family. Oliver is still recovering in the hospital, and there is a lot to handle here. I’ll speak with him later."

The butler hesitated on the other end, about to say something more, but Augustine cut in before he could continue.

"Just tell Grandpa to stay calm," he said firmly. "I’ll come once things are under control on this side."

He didn’t wait for a reply and ended the call. Slipping the phone into his pocket, he headed back to the bedroom.

Dimitri looked up at the butler with expectation. "What did he say? Is he coming?"

The butler exhaled, shaking his head slowly. "He said not tonight. He is still handling matters with the Granet family."

Dimitri gave a small nod understandingly, the lines on his face deepening with thought. Anne was pregnant, Oliver had barely escaped death, and the whole Granet household was still reeling from chaos. Augustine had every reason to stay close to her side.

Dimitri couldn’t even ask him to bring Anne along. The truth he had buried for decades was far too heavy to be spoken in front of her. This conversation had to happen in private, only with Augustine. It was not something Anne should hear, not yet."

The butler remained silent, waiting for Dimitri to give him the next instruction.

Dimitri, however, remained seated quietly, his gaze distant. Finally, he looked up again and beckoned the butler closer.

The butler leaned in.

"I want to confess," Dimitri murmured. "I’ve kept this secret locked away for far too long. I thought I’d take it to the grave—but I can’t. I can’t carry the weight any longer."

His fingers tightened around the curve of his cane.

"I’ve wronged Gervis deeply. He suffered because of the choices I made. But I won’t let Augustine suffer the same fate. He deserves to know the truth."

A pause.

"He should know he has a brother. A twin. And that twin is none other than Denis. I want to tell him myself before it’s too late."

Jeanne, who had just arrived at the mansion, stopped right outside Dimitri’s room when she heard those words. What she had just overheard struck her like a lightning bolt.

Denis... Augustine’s twin? Gervis’ son?

Her hand flew to her chest. Her mouth parted in disbelief. For a moment, she couldn’t move—just stood there, trembling, as the walls seemed to tilt around her.

All these years... the boy she had raised, nurtured, loved as her own, was never hers. The truth seemed to have sucked the air from her lungs. Her legs weakened beneath her.

If Denis wasn’t her son, where was her real child? What happened to the baby she had given birth to? Why had Gabriel kept this from her?

The questions piled on like a tidal wave, and her eyes stung with tears from the sense of betrayal.

She staggered back a step, then turned sharply and stormed down the corridor, her face pale but burning with anguish and fury. She had to confront Gabriel. Now.

Inside the room...

Dimitri and the butler’s conversation continued, unaware of the fact that Jeanne had overheard them.

"But what about young master Denis?" the butler asked cautiously, his eyes searching Dimitri’s. "Doesn’t he have the right to know, too?"

"He does." Dimitri exhaled deeply, rolling his fingers around the cane. "But Denis is impulsive. Too much like Gabriel—hot-headed. I don’t know if he is ready to hear it. Still, it’s not a truth I can keep from him forever. He deserves to know."

With that, he pushed himself to his feet. "Let’s go to the study. I need to record my confession."

The butler blinked in surprise. "Record it? Why not just sit them down and speak to them directly?"

"I will," Dimitri said firmly. "But this recording is a safeguard. I’m old and weak. I know my body. I don’t know how much time I have left or what might happen tomorrow. If something goes wrong before I speak to them myself, I need them to hear it from me. They need to know they are brothers—twin brothers. I won’t let history repeat itself. I won’t let them hate each other."

Antony’s brows furrowed, a flicker of fear passing through him. "Please don’t speak like that, Master. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. I’m here. I’ll make sure you are taken care of."

"I know, Antony." Dimitri offered a faint smile. "You have never left my side, and I trust you with my life. I want to live to see Anne’s child, too. But this is something I have to prepare for. Just in case."

Antony finally gave a small nod. "Alright. Let’s do this."

He led Dimitri to the study. Once inside, he locked the door behind them. Dimitri lowered himself into the grand leather chair behind the desk.

He placed the phone in front of him and opened the video recorder. As the recording began, he said, "I, Dimitri Beaumont, want to confess..."

~~~~~~~~~

Jeanne returned home, seething. The pain in her heart had transformed into unhinged rage. As she burst into the room, she found Gabriel at the far end of the room, phone pressed to his ear, smiling into the call.

That smile caught her off guard. It was warm. The kind of smile that used to flutter her heart. A smile she had almost forgotten when she had last seen it on his face.

He spoke softly, almost lovingly. "Alright, don’t worry... I’ll come to see you when I am free. I have work to finish."

Jeanne’s chest tightened. He was talking and smiling so calmly while she was in pain. Her patience snapped.

"Gabriel?" she screamed.

He spun around, phone nearly slipping out of his grip. His expression faltered the moment he saw her wide-eyed stance in the doorway.

’Why is she home already?’

He had expected her to stay at the mansion. She had gone there to see Dimitri. Why had she returned so soon?

Gabriel swallowed whatever response he intended. He hid tension under a stern look. Sliding the phone into his pocket, he stepped toward her.

"Why are you yelling? Do you think I’m deaf? You went to the mansion. I thought you were having dinner there. Why come back so soon? What happened?"

"You really want to ask me that?" she spat. "Acting oblivious as if nothing happened?"

Gabriel froze in place, his heart plummeting to the pit of his stomach. For a brief second, he was sure she had discovered his affair with Tania. His gut twisted with unease, but he masked it with cold arrogance.

"What are you going on about?" he shot back, defensive and unwilling to admit anything.

He had no intention of revealing his relationship with Tania, not until she gave birth to his child. Once that happened, he’d decide what to do with Jeanne. If she agreed to raise the baby, he’d keep her around. If not, he’d cut her out of his life and marry Tania.

But Jeanne’s fury only intensified. Her eyes were red, brimming with tears. She stepped forward and grabbed his collar.

"I know everything now," she choked. "You lied to me. You kept secrets... How could you do that?"

Her accusations intensified his doubt, but he kept up the act, refusing to crack. "What the hell are you talking about?" he barked, brushing her hands off him. "Lies? Secrets? What exactly do you think I’ve kept from you?"

But then she dropped the truth like a bomb.

"I heard everything your father said," she hissed. Her face crumpled, rage and sorrow fighting for dominance. "I know Denis isn’t our son. He is Gervis’s child. Augustine’s twin brother."

Gabriel staggered a step back, like her words had struck him to the gut. His heart crashed against his ribs.

She knew.

His mind reeled. This wasn’t what he had expected. He had thought she was accusing him of something else entirely. But the truth was far from what he had thought.

’Dad confessed? Why?’

Before he could recover, she was on him again. "Where is our baby?" she demanded. Her face was a storm of fury and heartbreak as she stepped in, seizing his collar once more. "I remember giving birth before I passed out. What did you do with our child?" She shook him hard, desperation pouring from her in waves.

Gabriel was too shocked to say a word. He kept staring at her, speechless. His mind spun.

’Why would Dad bring this up now? What is he trying to do?’

Jeanne clung to his collar. "Why did you lie to me? Why did you say Denis was our son? What happened to the baby I gave birth to?"

Her cries pierced the room like knives.

Cornered, Gabriel finally snapped. "The baby was already dead," he barked. "You gave birth to a stillborn girl. That’s the truth. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t be able to handle it."