Part 2: The Buried Truth**
# The Portrait Reveals Family Secrets
## Part 2: The Buried Truth
Emily followed Richard out of the ballroom under the curious gaze of hundreds of guests. The doors of the banquet hall closed, but the whispers still echoed behind them.
Richard led her to his private office on the upper floor of the hotel. The spacious room featured oak bookshelves, antique paintings, and windows overlooking the entire city. He poured Emily a glass of warm water and gently said:
"Don't be afraid. I just want to ask a few things."
Emily was still hesitant.
"Yes, sir."
Richard placed the photograph on the table.
"Did your mother... ever talk about the man in this photograph?"
Emily shook her head.
"She only said that he was a good man, but that you two were separated by a great misunderstanding."
"Before she died, my mother told me not to resent anyone. If I ever met that man, I should just say that she had forgiven me."
Richard closed his eyes. He remembered vividly the day Anna disappeared forty years ago.
They had loved each other deeply. Richard's family objected because Anna came from a poor background, but he still decided to marry her. Just three days before the wedding, Anna suddenly vanished, leaving behind a short letter:
"Please don't look for me. I don't have the courage to enter your life."
Richard couldn't believe Anna would give up love so easily. He searched everywhere, but all traces had vanished.
A knock on the door interrupted his reverie.
A middle-aged man entered.
"Mr. Beaumont, you called for me?"
It was Daniel Brooks, the family's private lawyer for over twenty years.
Richard pointed at Emily.
"Daniel, I want you to help me verify this girl's identity."
Daniel was slightly surprised but nodded.
"I'll start right away."
---
Meanwhile, in the main hall, Margaret tried to maintain her composure, but her hands trembled slightly.
Her son, Edward Beaumont, approached.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Margaret forced a smile.
"Nothing."
Edward looked in the direction Richard had just left.
"Father has never reacted like this before."
Margaret replied quickly:
"Just a girl who looks like an old acquaintance."
But inside, she felt a burning fire.
Forty years ago, she was the one who had sought out Anna before the wedding.
Margaret was in love with Richard then. Even knowing he didn't reciprocate her feelings, she couldn't accept it.
She lied to Anna, telling her that Richard only saw her as a plaything, that the Beaumont family would never accept her, and that if she bore a child, the child would only live in shame.
Margaret even offered Anna money and pressured her to leave the city.
Anna refused the money.
But she still left.
Afterward, Margaret hired someone to erase all traces so Richard couldn't find her.
No one knew Anna was pregnant at the time.
Not even Margaret.
If Emily really was Richard's daughter...
Everything she had today could crumble.
---
The next morning, Daniel brought an old file.
"Sir."
Richard opened it.
It was Anna's hospital record from twenty-three years ago.
The first page read:
Patient Name: Anna Collins.
Status: A baby girl.
There was no father's name.
Richard clutched the file tightly.
"Anything else?"
Daniel took out another old envelope.
"This is Anna's rental agreement."
Inside were a job application, some electricity bills, and a small notebook.
On the last page of the notebook, Anna had written:
"If my daughter ever meets her father, please don't blame him. He's not the one to blame."
Richard couldn't hold back his tears.
For all these years, Anna had always believed in him.
She had never thought he would abandon her and her daughter.
It's just that they never had the chance to meet again.
---
Meanwhile, Emily sat in the small café near the hospital where she worked part-time every morning.
She was still in shock.
Her best friend, Sarah, asked:
"Are you okay?"
Emily forced a smile.
"I don't know."
"They say I might be the daughter of a billionaire."
Sarah chuckled.
"Sounds like something out of a movie."
Emily looked out the window.
"I just wish my mother were still alive."
"If she were here, things would be so much easier."
Just then, her phone rang.
It was Daniel.
"Miss Emily, Mr. Richard wants to see you."
---
That afternoon, Emily arrived at the Beaumont mansion.
The enormous iron gate slowly opened.
This was the first time in her life she had ever stepped into such a luxurious place.
Richard was waiting.
He invited her to sit down and took out an old wooden box.
"I want to show you something."
Inside were dozens of photographs.
All of them were pictures of Anna when she was young.
Emily fell silent.
"Mother..."
Richard took out another photograph.
In the photo, Anna is smiling brightly next to a young man.
That's Richard.
Emily smiled through her tears.
"I've never seen Mom smile like that."
Richard said softly,
"That was the day I proposed to her."
Emily looked at the silver-haired man before her.
For the first time, she sensed loneliness in his eyes.
Perhaps he, too, had lost someone he loved, just like her mother.
---
Daniel entered with a serious expression.
"Sir, I have prepared everything."
He placed two sets of documents on the table.
"All the documents show a perfect match in terms of timing."
Richard looked at Emily.
"There's only one way left to know the truth."
Emily understood immediately.
"A DNA test?"
Richard nodded.
"If you agree."
Emily was silent for a long time.
Finally, she softly replied:
"If that can help clear my mother's name..."
"...I agree."
Richard clasped her hand tightly.
"Thank you."
But neither of them knew that behind the slightly ajar door, Margaret had heard the entire conversation.
She quietly pulled out her phone and called a mysterious man.
Her voice trembled but was cold:
"At all costs... we must stop that test."
The man on the other end of the line only replied:
"I understand."
Margaret hung up, looking towards the room where Richard and Emily were sitting.
For the first time in forty years, she truly felt afraid.
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Because if the truth were revealed, she wouldn't just lose her status. The Beaumont family member may also have to face the guilt he has concealed for nearly half a century.
And in the shadows, a new conspiracy has begun, with a single goal: to ensure the DNA results never reach Richard Beaumont.
