Page 109 of Blindsided
“Why not just tell us about you?” I demand, frustration bubbling up. “Why the elaborate game?”
“Would you have believed him?” she counters, her gaze direct. “After all his lies, all his manipulations? Or would you have assumed I was just another one of his schemes?”
The question hits me like a punch to the gut because I know the answer. I wouldn’t have believed him. I would have dismissed Ella as fiction, just another MacGallan myth designed to control us from beyond the grave.
“Tomas thought the journey was important,” she continued more gently. “That you needed to work together, to form bonds as siblings before meeting me. Before learning about the danger that might come with knowing me.”
“Danger,” Connor repeats flatly. “How dangerous is this Mikhail person?”
“Dangerous enough that Tomas hired security for us,” Ella says, gesturing toward a discreet camera in the corner of the room. “Dangerous enough that he made Malcolm promise to tell you I didn’t exist if anything happened to him before you completed the journey he laid out.”
“Wait,” Wren interrupts, leaning forward. “Are you saying we’re in danger just by being here?”
Ella hesitates, then nods. “It’s possible. Mikhail has resources and connections. If he’s been watching any of you, he might follow the trail here eventually.”
“Great,” Rory mutters. “Another homicidal Russian. Just what we needed.”
I barely register his words, too caught up in staring at the woman across from me— our sister, our blood. All my life, I’ve been alone, and now, suddenly, I’m drowning in family —brothers, sisters, even a niece. It’s too much to process at once.
“Did you know about any of us?” I ask the question that’s been burning inside me since this allbegan.
Her expression softens. “Yes. Tomas told me everything when I was sixteen. About all your mothers. About you, Kane, and how he paid someone to adopt you. About how he only ever acknowledged you, Declan, as his son and rightful clan leader, because your mother was the only woman he was ever married to.”
“Well, you’re older than me, so that just proves what I’ve always said, he was a man whore and a prick,” Declan sighs heavily. “So, what happens now?” he asks, ever practical. “Dad brought us together, but he’s gone. You’re here. What did he expect us to do?”
Ella stands and moves to a sideboard where a wooden box sits. She opens it, removing a thick envelope sealed with wax.
“His final instructions,” she says, returning to hand it to Declan. “To be opened now that we’re all together.”
Declan breaks the seal, unfolding several pages of heavy stationery. His eyes scan the contents, his expression unreadable.
“Well?” Kat prompts impatiently. “What does it say?”
Declan clears his throat and begins to read aloud. “To my children, whom I have wronged in so many ways. If you’re reading this, then you havecompleted the journey I set before you. You’ve found each other, and most importantly, you’ve found Ella and Nora, who need your protection more than you know.”
I feel Kori’s hand squeeze mine as Declan continues.
“‘The property where you now stand is called Wolfcreek Ranch. It spans five thousand acres, including the lake, forests, and grazing land beyond. It is a working ranch with cattle and horses, though the operation has been scaled back during Ella’s residence for security reasons.”
Declan pauses, his eyes meeting mine briefly before returning to the letter.
“‘The ranch belongs to all of you—my children, my legacy. But its operation and management, along with a controlling interest of sixty percent ownership, I leave to Kane.”
The room goes completely silent. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.
“‘Kane,’” Declan continues reading, his voice carefully neutral,“‘whom I wronged most grievously by giving away. I cannot undo that decision, though it has haunted me every day since. In you, I see the best parts of myself—the determination, the independence, the unwillingness to be controlled. You are more worthy of the MacGallan name than I ever was.’”
My throat tightens. I’ve spent my entire life angryat this man I never knew, and now his words from beyond the grave threaten to unravel me.
“‘I know this inheritance may seem like another manipulation, another attempt to control you from the grave. Perhaps it is. But it is also my attempt at atonement. I give you Wolfcreek not as a burden but as a home—something I denied you from birth. A place where you might put down roots if you choose, or simply a safe harbor in the storm.’”
Kori’s arm slips around my waist, anchoring me as the words wash over me.
“‘To my other children,' Declan reads on, 'I leave equal shares of the remaining forty percent, along with my hope that you will support your brother as he comes to terms with his birthright. Wolfcreek is meant to be a sanctuary for all of you, a place where the MacGallan family can heal the fractures I created.’”
I look around at the faces of my siblings—some shocked, others carefully composed. Ella watches me with an expression I can’t quite decipher.
“‘The formal paperwork is with my attorneys in Calgary,”Declan finishes. “Along with individual letters for each of you. The legal transfer will be completed upon your request.” He folds the papers carefully. “It’s signed simply ‘Your father, Tomas.’”
