The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 353

Charley asked, "You've been heavily weighed down by something all night. What happened?"

Lavinia fell silent. It was such a massive revelation that she still hadn't figured out how to voice it.

"Nothing happened," she mumbled, trying to brush it off.

"Nothing? You put hot sauce on your salad instead of dressing, and poured coffee into your soup." Charley reached out and ruffled her hair. "It's so obvious, it's a miracle Saul didn't notice."

Lavinia blinked in surprise. So he had noticed. No wonder he insisted on staying over to keep her company.

"What is it, really? If you don't want to talk about it, just tell me—is it something I should be worried about?" he asked gently.

Lavinia shook her head, sat up, and looked at him.

"Today, Judith called me over and showed me two photos." She paused. "One was the last picture taken of her missing youngest daughter, and the other was of my mother."

Charley's eyes flickered with realization.

Lavinia could tell he had already guessed the truth, so she just let it all out. "Judith noticed that my mother had a butterfly birthmark on her neck, identical to the one her missing daughter had. She secretly ran a DNA test. I'm her biological granddaughter."

Charley froze for a fraction of a second before suddenly pulling her into his arms.

"No wonder you've been so distracted. Why didn't you tell me something this huge right away?"

"Because it's just so massive and sudden! I didn't know how to even say the words out loud. Plus, I've been terrified. Terrified that she made a mistake, or that I misunderstood."

Charley rubbed comforting circles on her back. "Someone of Judith's caliber wouldn't make a mistake about something like this. Honestly, I've had a feeling for a while now. She favored you so much, it almost defied conventional logic."

"What do I do? I feel like I'm not worthy of a grandmother this wonderful." She buried her face in his chest, her voice muffled. "The Gilmores are so prominent, and she is so brilliant, while I'm just... so incredibly average."

Charley let out a low chuckle, taking her face gently in both his hands. "I think that's the sickness of our generation. Everyone is obsessively chasing the idea of being 'a better version' of themselves, when in reality, just being who you are takes up all your strength."

He paused. "You don't need to be anxious. You are the family she thought she had lost forever; she's happier than you could possibly imagine. Besides, you're already more than good enough. Otherwise, she wouldn't have trusted you to manage her estate."

"You think so?" Lavinia asked.

"Have you forgotten? Establishing that charity fund was entirely your idea."

Lavinia finally smiled. "Okay. I won't be anxious."

***

Julian was urgently summoned from Marina Island by a late-night phone call from his great-aunt.

The moment he walked into the old Gilmore estate, Judith showed him the two photographs and the DNA report.

After reviewing them, Julian took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and began pacing the study.

"Judith, this is incredible! She's been right in front of us!" He was even more thrilled than she was.

Judith nodded, her eyes rimmed with red. She had shed far too many tears over her lifetime; in this moment, she felt surprisingly at peace.

Julian sat back down. "Judith, the way I see it, your branch of the family finally has a rightful heir."

The Gilmores operated differently from other legacy families. In most households, the eldest son inherited the primary estate. But in the Gilmore family, Judith, the eldest daughter, held the legitimate inheritance rights as the head of the main branch. Julian's grandfather, Geoffrey—the patriarch on Marina Island—was the secondary branch.

Julian began strategizing. "Judith, I've always felt it was so unfair to you. If you passed your massive assets on to me, I wouldn't have been able to accept them in good conscience. But leaving them to Garnett would just be handing a fortune over to the Harpers."

He moved closer and took Judith's hand. "We need to convince Lavinia to take the Gilmore name and be officially added to the family register. Given her generation, she should take her rightful place as Lavinia Gilmore."