Chapter 526:More questions.

Chapter 526: 526:More questions.

Ravenna listened without interrupting.

They were sitting inside her dormitory when Silver explained what Shawn had discovered.

He began with the financial records, the original investments, Selena’s research income and the questionable transfers after her death.

She remained quiet throughout until he mentioned the registration discrepancies.

Her expression changed.

"What?"

He looked toward her.

"Shawn found inconsistencies in your birth and guardianship records."

She stared at him, confusion in her gaze.

"What kind of inconsistencies?" She asked.

He hesitated, then answered carefully, "One older document identifies Gideon as your legal guardian rather than your biological father."

For several seconds, Ravenna didn’t move, then she laughed.

It was a strange sound; small and disbelieving.

"That’s ridiculous."

Silver remained silent.

Ravenna looked toward him.

"Silver, that’s ridiculous."

He nodded slowly.

"It might be a mistake."

She stood, then began pacing.

"My father is Gideon Arkland."

Silver watched her.

"That’s what you’ve always been told," he quietly said.

She stopped and turned to him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She defensively asked.

He didn’t answer immediately.

She stared at him, then her expression changed.

"No." She shook her head. "No, Silver. Don’t."

He slowly stood.

"Ravenna..."

"No." Her voice rose. "I spent my entire childhood trying to understand why he hated me. Why Shirley could do whatever she wanted while I was punished for everything. Why Marissa treated me like something she couldn’t wait to get rid of."

Her breathing became uneven.

"And now you’re telling me he might not even be my father?"

Silver approached.

"Ravenna, we don’t know that."

She laughed bitterly.

"Then what do we know?"

He remained quiet.

She continued, "We know my mother had money. We know he took control of it after she died. We know he married someone else and spent years treating me like I was a burden." Her eyes filled with tears. "And now there’s a document saying he was my guardian?"

Silver reached toward her but Ravenna stepped backward.

"Don’t."

He stopped.

She covered her mouth.

For several seconds, she struggled to breathe, then whispered, "Was I ever his daughter?"

His expression softened.

She lowered her head.

"Did he know?" Her asked, her voice trembling. "Did he know I wasn’t his?"

Silver remained silent.

She looked up.

"And my mother..." Her expression crumpled. "Why would she hide something like that?"

Silver approached slowly.

This time, she didn’t move away as he gently took her hands.

"Listen to me."

She stared at him.

"We don’t know whether Gideon is your biological father. We don’t know why those records were changed, and we don’t know what Selena was trying to do."

Ravenna swallowed.

Silver continued, "But whatever the truth is, it doesn’t change who you are."

She shook her head.

"Silver..."

"It doesn’t." His voice became firmer. "You are Ravenna Arkland. You’re one of the strongest students in this academy. You’re stubborn, ridiculously curious, and apparently determined to become a researcher who terrifies her professors."

A broken laugh escaped her.

He smiled faintly.

"And you’re the woman I love," he softly said.

Ravenna froze.

He squeezed her hands.

"None of that changes because of a name on a document."

For several seconds, she stared at him, then tears spilled down her cheeks.

Silver pulled her into his arms.

Ravenna clung to him.

And finally, after years of swallowing every disappointment and pretending she didn’t care, she began crying without any shame.

She cried until her shoulders shook, until she couldn’t form complete sentences, and until the exhaustion of years spent trying to earn affection from people who had never offered it freely became impossible to contain.

Silver held her through it all.

He didn’t tell her to stop, he didn’t promise that everything would be fine, and he didn’t pretend he understood exactly what she was feeling.

He simply stayed close to her.

Eventually, she whispered against his chest, "What if my mother didn’t want me either?"

He closed his eyes, then gently answered, "We don’t know why she hid those records."

Ravenna trembled.

He continued, "But hiding something doesn’t automatically mean she was ashamed of you."

She looked up.

He brushed a tear from her cheek.

"Maybe she was protecting you."

Ravenna stared at him, tears still falling.

He smiled sadly.

"Maybe she was protecting herself. Maybe there was something happening that we don’t understand yet."

She lowered her gaze.

Silver continued, "Whatever the reason, we’ll find out."

Ravenna whispered, "Together?"

He nodded.

"Together."

The financial investigation developed rapidly over the following week.

Silver didn’t personally possess unlimited authority over the Ruddington family’s resources, and Shawn made it clear that using family influence carelessly could create additional problems. Instead, they contacted a licensed financial investigator and an attorney specializing in inheritance disputes, both of whom agreed to examine the publicly available records and identify any legal grounds for challenging the transfers made after Selena’s death.

The results were disturbing.

Several of Selena’s investments had been transferred into Gideon’s control without complete authorization records.

A portion of the money had been used to expand the Arkland family’s business, another portion had funded personal expenses, and several accounts originally associated with Selena’s research income had been closed shortly after her death.

More importantly, an archived estate document suggested that certain assets were supposed to remain reserved for Ravenna until she reached adulthood.

Those assets had never been disclosed to her.

When Ravenna learned that, she didn’t immediately become angry. She simply stared at the documents, then quietly asked, "How much?"

The investigator hesitated.

"Enough to justify a formal recovery claim."

She nodded.

"Then file it."

Silver looked toward her but she didn’t look away from the documents.

"For years, they told me I should be grateful for everything they spent on me." Her voice was calm. "Now I want to know how much of it was mine in the first place."

Shirley’s downfall began with a mistake that would’ve seemed insignificant under ordinary circumstances.

She attempted to access Ravenna’s disciplinary records.

At first, her objective was simple, she wanted information.

Something embarrassing or something she could use to convince her parents that Ravenna was becoming unstable or irresponsible.