Black Knight (Royal Elite 4)

“Hold on.” He pauses, watching me intently. “Did Xander mention any familial ties by any chance?”

I cough on the tea, some droplets splattering on my hands. Dad pats my back, telling me to take it easy.

“How…” I breathe, then clear my throat. “How do you know?”

“I always have.” His brow furrows. “I’m only surprised Xander does. Did he say how or when he figured it out?”

There’s no way I can keep it inside anymore. I tell him everything about that incident seven years ago and what Xander overheard from Mum and Lewis’s conversation.

“Why did she do that, Dad?” My voice is brittle. “Why did she do that to you and me? How can she make Xan my brother? I don’t want him to be my brother. Please tell me he somehow heard it wrong.”

“Unfortunately, it’s all true.” Dad leads me to the sofa and takes the cup from my hand to place it on the table. “You are indeed Lewis’s biological daughter.”

The tears I’ve been holding in since the hospital flow down my cheeks and my chin and soak the hem of my T-shirt.

“Don’t cry, Angel. It breaks my heart when you do.” He plucks tissues and wipes under my eyes.

“How can you care for me this much when you know I’m not your daughter?”

“The moment I saw your beautiful eyes, I decided you were my daughter. I didn’t care what the world says. DNA doesn’t make a family, Angel. Jeanine is a prime example of that.”

It takes everything in me not to throw myself at him in a hug and ruin his cardigan sweater. “You’re the only dad for me, too.”

He clears his throat. “Lewis isn’t bad either.”

“How can you defend him? Mum had an affair with him.”

“Jeanine lied to him, giving proof that Samantha and I had an affair first.”

My lips part. “S-Samantha Knight?”

He nods. “We had a fling before our marriages, but that’s all it was, a fling. It ended before our respective marriages and each of us went on different roads. We became neighbours, but Samantha and I remained platonic. Jeanine made Lewis believe it was a long affair and demanded revenge. They had their own affair, but it only lasted until she discovered she was pregnant with Lewis’s child. After he found out the facts from me, their affair came to an end.”

I squirm in my seat, but I manage to ask, “So everyone knows I’m Lewis’s biological daughter? Aunt Samantha included?”

“Yes.”

How could she be so kind to me, knowing I’m her husband’s daughter out of an affair?

“Everyone also knows Lewis isn’t Xander’s biological father.”

If my jaw could hit the ground, it would. “T-then who is?”

“I am.” He smiles a little. “He’s the result of that fling with Samantha. Lew

is knew about it from the beginning and we made the decision that he and Samantha would raise him as their son. Just like we made the decision that Jeanine and I would raise you as ours.”

My head spins with the amount of information shot in my direction at one go.

Xan is Dad’s son.

I’m Lewis’s daughter.

But we’ve switched fathers. It makes my head hurt.

“Then whose son is Kir?”

He smiles. “Mine and Jeanine’s. There’s nothing in there.”