?Chapter 139:


    Staring at Darin’s syrupy grin, Elliana shed a smile. “We’re family, right? It’s no biggie.”


    Darin let out a breath and eagerly topped off Elliana’s champagne ss. Suddenly, this pricey dinner felt like money well spent.


    Elliana lifted the ss, took a dainty sip, and sidestepped any talk of sinking cash into the Jones Group. Instead, she threw a curveball. “Where’s my mom from?”


    Darin froze, caught off guard. What he wanted was to finalize the investment in the Jones Group, not go into Rita’s past. But with Elliana holding the cards as Rosa, he couldn’t afford to tick her off. He had to y along.


    “Honestly, I don’t know where your mom’s from,” Darin admitted.


    Elliana’s brows shot up. “You were married to her. How do you not know where she’s from?”


    Darin pursed his lips like he was wrestling with a secret too heavy to tell. “She never told me. I had to pull some strings and pay a guy to set up her identity in Ublento.”


    Elliana’s mind reeled. So now her mom’s identity was a fake? That didn’t add up. “Then how did you two even meet?” she questioned.


    Darin’s frown deepened. “Elliana, why’re you suddenly so curious about this?”


    “Everyone else gets to hear their parents’ mushy love story. Why shouldn’t I know mine?” she shot back, cool as a cucumber.


    Darin gave a small nod, like he couldn’t argue with that.


    “Where’d Mom learn her medical chops? Why’d shee to Ublento? And why’d she pick you to marry?” Elliana rattled off questions like a machine gun.


    Darin’s face grew even more troubled, and after a long pause, he mumbled, “Believe it or not, your mom was the one chasing me.”


    Elliana’s eyes narrowed. Was he serious? Rita chasing Darin? That sounded like a bad punchline. To her, Darin was as average as they came—nothing special in medicine or business. No way he was in her mom’s league.


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    “Mr. Jones, you banking on Mom not showing up to call you out on this?” Elliana quipped, her tone dripping with sarcasm.


    Darin’s face darkened. “Elliana, get it—you think I wasn’t good enough for her. But it’s the truth. She was the one who pursued me.”


    “Why?” Elliana pressed. “What did she see in you?”


    “I don’t know.”


    “Do you love her?”


    “More than anything.”


    “Then why did you cheat on her and even have children with Kiara?”


    “Elliana, that’s between me and your mom. I’m not getting into it, so drop it,” Darin said, his voice firm as steel. “All I’ll say is this: your mom showed up in Ublento alone, no identity, no past. I got her the Rita Marsh name. She married me and helped me build my pharma business. That’s all you’re getting.”


    Elliana frowned but didn’t press further. So, her mom was a walking enigma. No identity, no backstory, just raw talent. She’d rolled into Ublento, chosen Darin of all people, had a kid, and then poof—vanished into thin air. Who was she, really? Elliana’s thoughts drifted, lost in the mystery.


    “Elliana, how much can you pump into the Jones Group?” Darin’s voice yanked her back to reality.


    After a beat, she said, “Sure, I can sell a painting for a billion, but I’ve got a whole Rosa brand team to keep afloat. Haven’t saved much. If you’re strapped, I can give you a hundred grand.”


    “A hundred grand?” Darin was furious. That wouldn’t even cover the tab for this swanky private dining room. The room alone ran a hundred grand an hour, and they’d been here for three hours! Elliana didn’t bat an eye at his meltdown. She stood and left.


    Only after she was gone did Darin realize he’d been yed like a fiddle. Fury surged, and he grabbed the ss on the table, ready to chuck it. But mid-swing, he stopped. The Ublento Hotel’s tableware was fancy, handpicked, and stupidly expensive. Smashing that ss would cost him a fortune.


    After a second, he set it down, his chest heaving with rage he couldn’t unleash.


    Elliana left the Ublento Hotel and headed back to the Evans family estate.


    On the drive, her phone buzzed. The production team for “The Heiress’ Graduation Trip” was on the line. They informed her that the show was canceled. In other words, there would be no more filming. The show was officially dead.


    Elliana hung up and let out a dryugh.


    She’d nned to use the show to clear her name from those arson rumors. Who’d have thought her first move would be so brutal that it’d kill the whole program?


    In showbiz, one needed a bulletproof public image. Paige’s scandal of cheating in the Starry Oil Painting Competition had been buried for now, but it could resurface if her rivals decided to stir the pot. That was why Paige had ditched her dreams of stardom.


    Crushing Paige’s Hollywood hopes felt good, but it left Elliana with a twinge of remorse about Hailee. Hailee had been banking on the show’s cash to cover her boyfriend’s medical bills. After a quiet moment, Elliana dialed Hailee’s number.


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