Victoria looked at him in confusion, wiping the damp tears from her face with a napkin.
Victoria: What truth, sir?
Julian: My father didn't just leave this estate to me when he passed away six months ago.
Victoria blinked, her chest rising and falling as her heart slowed down.
Victoria: He left it to you because you're his son.
Julian: He left fifty percent of the Montgomery estate to you, Victoria.
Victoria froze, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at him.
Victoria: What... what are you talking about? That's impossible!
Julian: It's in his confidential legal will. I found it in his private safe last night.
Victoria: Why would your father leave half his wealth to a girl who cleans his floors?
Julian took a deep breath, pulling a folded piece of paper from his inner jacket pocket.
Julian: Because you aren't just a girl who cleans floors. You are my half-sister.
Victoria's hands dropped to her lap, her mouth opening in silent shock.
Victoria: No... no, that can't be real. My mother told me my father was a poor mechanic who left before I was born!
Julian: Your mother lied to protect you from my family's lawyers, Victoria. My father paid her off twenty years ago to keep you hidden.
Victoria shook her head in disbelief, tears overflowing her eyes once again.
Victoria: My mother raised me in a tiny two-bedroom apartment! She worked three jobs until she died last year!
Julian: I know. And my father lived in guilt every single day of his life because of it.
Victoria: If he felt guilty, why didn't he help us when we were starving?! Why did he let me apply for a maid job in his own house?!
Julian: Because my stepmother, Richard's wife, threatened to destroy the family company if he ever brought you into the light.
Julian handed her the paper. It was a certified copy of a birth certificate bearing the Montgomery family seal.
Julian: But he changed his will two weeks before he died in the hospital. He made sure you were protected.
Victoria held the paper with trembling fingers, reading her own name listed next to Arthur Montgomery's name as her biological father.
Victoria: All this time... I was cleaning the house of the man who abandoned us...
Julian: He was a coward, Victoria. But I am not going to be a coward like him.
Julian sat on the edge of the small coffee table in front of her, looking directly into her eyes.
Julian: From this second on, you stop wearing that grey uniform. You are a Montgomery.
Victoria: But what about the child I'm carrying? What about the guests who saw what happened today?
Julian: Your child is going to grow up with everything they could ever need. A safe home, a grand inheritance, and a uncle who will protect them with his life.
Victoria looked down at her baby bump, a tiny ray of hope piercing through her overwhelming sorrow.
Victoria: I don't care about the money, Julian. I just wanted a family.
Julian: You have one now. I promise you, you have one now.
A sudden noise echoed from the far end of the long hallway.
Heavy footsteps were approaching fast, accompanied by the stern, angry voice of an older woman.
Victoria: Oh no... that's your stepmother, Eleanor.
Julian: Let her come. It's time to clean this house out for good.