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CHAPTER 2
"Because you aren't Star Ryker's daughter." Raven's heart skipped a beat as the familiar coquettish voice reached her ears. "You wish to ruin the company and finish us."
She snapped her head to the side to see her father's mistress, Belle Adams, walking in with her step-sister, Scarlet.
"Come on, this is all a lie, a set-up."
"You think we wouldn't know that it is all part of your scheme to steal from us."
"What's the meaning of all this nonsense?" Raven asked, shifting her gaze between Belle and her father. "Dad you can't believe her. She may be your mistress but she is only trying to drive a wedge between us."
"Not when we have evidence against you."
"Belle." Raven gritted, her eyes locking in on the envelope she was holding.
Her father scoffed. "Do you think that I am that much of a fool?"
Raven's brows knitted. "Dad."
"Honestly, I didn't want to believe it at first when Belle came to me with the proof."
"What proof is that?"
"The documents you signed. The plan you made with those investors to drain Ryker Glamour dry." Shock flashed in Raven's eyes.
The accusation from her father was just…
She quickly composed herself. "You of all people know how much I loved Mother. I am her daughter and I will…"
"Will what?" Ethan interjected.
"I'm her daughter."
"That's what we all thought until a DNA test was done. So, why wouldn't you ruin us when you are not her daughter?"
Confusion swirled in Raven's eyes as she took a step back. "W-What are you saying, Dad?"
Her lips quivered. The words were on the tip of her tongue but none came out.
Ethan shook his head. "Bring her in."
Belle nodded and snapped her fingers. Instantly, two burly men walked in, dragging in a lady with them.
Raven stole a glance at the dishevelled woman and then returned her stare to her father's mistress waiting for an explanation.
"She is living proof of your fake claim as heiress to the Ryker fortune. You are not a Ryker."
Raven's eyes furrowed as she stared at the woman being wheeled in. "Am I supposed to know her?"
"Stop the pretence," Scarlet spoke for the first time, walking into the centre of the room. "Dad, I found it in Aunt Star's room."
"You went through my mother's things?" Raven scoffed, her lips hanging low in disbelief.
"Once again, Raven, not your mother." He darted his gaze to Scarlet. "Show it to me," Ethan demanded.
Scarlet walked over to where Ethan was, handing him a photo. He took it and glanced at it before showing it to Raven. "Look at her. Still have the guts to lie?"
The lady shook her head when Raven glanced at her. "I do not know her." Raven pointed at the lady. "Besides, this could be photoshopped."
"It is not photoshopped and you know her or have you forgotten how you were swapped at five?"
Raven ignored Belle. "Dad, she may be your mistress but you know I am a Ryker. I am mother's one and only daughter and I…"
"And yet you killed her," Ethan dropped the bomb on Raven, making her stagger back.
"What?!"
"You think we wouldn't know. We got your chats with this woman. We interrogated her. She swapped you with the real Raven Ryker when you were five during the kidnapping. Their major goal was to implant their child, kill Mrs Ryker and have you steal the Ryker's fortune which you did."
All Belle said sounded like gibberish to Raven. There was no way they would say she was fake and would kill her mother.
Fresh tears bubbled to the surface, glistening in Raven's eyes at the thought of her mother's death.
"Oh, the classic crocodile tears." Raven whipped her head in Scarlet's direction. The beautiful strawberry blonde had a smirk on her lips.
Raven clenched her fist at her side. This was Scarlet, her step-sister—Ethan's daughter before he married her mother when Scarlet was a year old but to the outside world, she was a Ryker because Star let it be so for the child's sake.
She glanced at the lady, fresh tears trickled down her cheek but Raven couldn't be bothered until something caught her eyes and the memory came flooding in.
She recognized the woman who had saved her when she was kidnapped years ago. Back then the lady lost her 5-year-old daughter to cancer and when she found Raven, she decided to take her in to replace her loss.
However, Raven saw her mother on the news and pointed it out. With many cries and pleas, the lady agreed to take her back after taking a picture with her — that picture.
That was the last time she saw her but now she claimed Raven was what?
"It's a set-up," Raven blurted out.
When she thought about it properly, beginning from when Scarlet's secretary informed her of the new business deal that made the company lose money, the fake investors that set her up and the one-night stand with the mysterious man who marked her thus leading to a terrible scandal and now this — a fake heiress claim, she knew it was a ploy.
"Shut up! Enough of your lies. The DNA test proves it. You are this woman's daughter, not Star's. The real Raven is dead."
"Admit it Raven," Scarlet chimed, "you are a fake heiress."
"I wanted to overlook it because I took you as my child but I will not let you ruin this company any longer."
"B-but dad—"
"You are disowned."
Raven's world crumbled with that word. Her chest rose and fell with every second that ticked by. No. It was a set-up and she could not let them do this to her—her mother.
She clenched her fists tightly till her knuckles turned white. "You can't."
"I can. You, whatever your name is, you cease to be a Ryker and all benefits that come with that name and your position in the company have been stripped, effective immediately."
Raven's eyes narrowed as she scoffed. "Then who's going to take over Mother's company huh? You aren't a Ryker too."
Scarlet stepped forward. "Have you forgotten you are not the only daughter of this family?"
Anger flared in Raven's eyes. Her mother's good nature had come back to bite her.
"You are not my mother's daughter."
Scarlet folded her arms across her chest. "The world doesn't see it that way and…" Ethan lifted his hand to stop Scarlet.
"You think you can run your mouth, Raven. You seem to have forgotten I was legally married to your late mother, Star Ryker, making me her sole heir unlike you. Ryker Glamour and all its ventures belong to me, Ethan Harrison Ryker."
The more Ethan spoke, the harder the realisation dawned on Raven. "You wouldn't dare. You cannot do this to me and strip me of my right. I am Ryker's heiress and…"
Ethan ignored Raven and turned to face the security men. "Throw her out."
"No."
"Oh, and all your assets and bank accounts are frozen."
Raven tried to speak but the two men hurried in front of her, blocking her path. "Get out of my way," she gritted.
Rather than heed her warning, they grabbed her out of the house and living room while Raven kicked and struggled.
Just before she left, she heard Ethan talking on the phone. "I'll make a public statement and have the press know Raven Ryker is the fake heiress of Ryker Glamour."