Julian produced the DNA test results between Grace and Richard.
The sight of it brought Richard to tears once more.
"When I was young, I devoted myself entirely to the family business and neglected my wife in her youth. I left her waiting and waiting, alone, until she fell gravely ill and passed away. I believe she must have hated me to the core, which is why she resolutely sent our young daughter away before her death. I didn't even know your mother existed until more than twenty years ago, when an old acquaintance came to me and told me the truth. By then, regret was already useless, and yet I continued making mistake after mistake."
Only later did Lydia learn that Richard had begun searching for his daughter more than twenty years ago. But with his status growing ever more prominent, and age making him increasingly suspicious and volatile, nothing was simple.
All of it had been carried out in secrecy, yet schemers took advantage of the situation. Every person brought before him came with ulterior motives.
Richard pointed toward Julian. "He's my adopted grandson and calls me Grandpa as well. From now on, he'll do everything in his power to take care of you and support you. Everything I leave behind will be handed over to you."
Lydia looked at Julian in surprise.
He showed no emotion on his face, only a faint smile as he looked back at her.
In the days that followed, Lydia stayed almost constantly in the small white building.
She kept Richard company, occasionally describing her mother's appearance and habits to him.
Richard always looked at her with affection, a smile of unfathomable depth in his eyes. "You resemble her very much."
He gently traced the only photograph he had of his daughter, the one Lydia had reluctantly given him.
In the photo, Grace looked serene and graceful, faint dimples on her cheeks as she held a still-young Lydia in her arms.
Thinking of what Julian had told him earlier with such a grave expression, Richard couldn't help but look up at his granddaughter.
She was bent over, studying the intricate medical equipment, her brow tightly furrowed. The oversized shirt hung loosely on her slender frame.
He frowned. "That man thinks you're dead?"
Lydia froze for a moment. Without turning around, she gave a soft hum in response.
"That's fine then. Consider it a brand-new beginning."
Lydia soon understood what Richard meant by a "new beginning."
Her identity and all related records were completely replaced.
When she received the new identification documents, Lydia looked up at Richard in a daze. "I… I have to change my name?"
"Of course."
Richard forced himself to sit upright, solemnly signing his name across a thick stack of documents.
The two men who had just entered the room were said to be Richard's private attorneys.
"From now on, your name will be Elena Sterling. I know this isn't how it's usually done, but you're the only blood family I have left. I want you to take my name."
As he said this, Richard's expression darkened.
"That so-called biological father of yours doesn't deserve a daughter like you."
He told Lydia that he had already revised his will and completed all notarization procedures.
"Elena, come with me downstairs to sit in the sun."
Outside, the sunlight was perfect, not a single breeze stirring.
Richard sat in his wheelchair. It was the best he had looked in over a year.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, savoring the warmth as it soothed his body.
"Elena."
He called her several times before Lydia finally came over, her face faintly flushed, and crouched down beside him.
"I'm still not used to this name."
"That's alright. You'll get used to it soon."
Richard reached out and gently patted his granddaughter's head. The hollow that had expanded in his heart over decades seemed to be healing, little by little.
He spoke softly. "If time could be turned back, perhaps I should have gone to find my daughter myself. I made the wrong choices in many things. So the regret and pain I feel now are what I deserve. As for the business world, Julian will teach you well. What I can give you may only be these few lessons about life. Don't trust anyone easily. And never forgive those who have betrayed you. But don't let hatred trap you either."
It had been a very long time since Lydia had felt care from family.
Even though there was still distance in her heart, and she couldn't truly forgive the harm Richard had brought upon her mother, at this moment in a foreign land, she chose a temporary reconciliation.
She rested her head against Richard's knee.
She murmured softly, "Are you really going to give everything to me? What if I don't do well? What if all I want is to punish Damien severely? I really hate him, Grandpa. I loved him so much back then, and now it feels like I hate him twice as much."
Richard gently stroked her hair, a trace of a smile in his voice.
"Then punish him. Let him taste a pain that pierces the heart. If everything I leave you can help you easily strike back at those who hurt you, then it's all worth it. If your grandmother had been given such a chance back then, perhaps she wouldn't have given up everything she cherished in such despair."
Under the sunlight that day, Richard spoke at great length.
He said he could finally rest easy now, having handed everything over to his granddaughter, and go without distraction to seek forgiveness from his wife and daughter.
"I just don't know if they'll still be willing to give me that chance now."
His voice gradually slowed, becoming like a drifting feather, rising and falling in the evening breeze that had just begun.
At last, that aged hand slowly fell limp…
Just past midnight that night, two explosive pieces of news left business circles around the world unable to sleep.
First, the world's richest man, Richard Sterling, had passed away due to illness. His funeral would be held privately, with only close friends and family in attendance.
Second, according to Richard's will, all assets would be inherited by his only granddaughter, Elena Sterling.
Social networks both at home and abroad nearly collapsed as everyone fixated on one question.
Who was Elena Sterling?
