She let out a deep breath because she felt suffocated. The connections between their family and the others were still unclear. Caden was still not sure if everything was planned by his fake grandfather.
"Benjamin's grudge against your family, when did it start? I don't think he just wanted to mess up our lives. And do you know what my mother saw and what she did to get kidnapped by the mafia?" She continued to ask.
Caden looked at Brie because he knew she knows everything. Brie looked doubtful and hesitant at first, but when she saw Alira's confused face, she let out a sigh. How could a crown princess of a foreign country know nothing? She thought inwardly.
"I heard my parents talking to your parents when Uncle Jayden surrendered to Benjamin. They receive a phone call from a man. He didn't tell them who he was but he told them about the Trekker Clan's connection to the royal family." Brie paused and bit her lip for a moment.
Then she looked at the photos and took one from the files. It was a photo of a woman with blonde hair and black eyes wearing a maid's uniform.
"Amelia Trekker. She was a servant of the royal palace when she was around eighteen years old. Then she became the king's mistress, a ninth rank, the lowest of all the concubines. But after giving birth to a son, she became first."
Then Brie took another photo. It was a young man dressed in a royal robe with another man seated in a chair.
"Henry Trekker. Amelia's son and this one is Aunt Peggy's grandfather. He was the king of Flousia before Uncle Kyle took the throne. Henry died during a trip with the former king. It was ruled as an accident but Amelia couldn't accept it. She believed her son was killed by the former king because he was afraid that Henry would steal the crown from him." Brie continued.
"So, everything was just because of a grudge and personal loss?" She frowned.
Caden stared at Alira and her heart pounded as he looked at those cold silver eyes.
"Do not underestimate a person's love and grief in losing her only family. In a place where you don't know anything or anyone, being accepted because of someone you had would make a difference. Amelia had nothing. She had no family so when Henry was born, she felt like it was the beginning of her new life in the palace."
She wanted to apologize because what she said was offensive to Caden. He lost his sister and he also wanted revenge because of it. His grudge and grief were deeper than she could ever imagine.
Brie felt a sudden tension between the two. So she took another photo and tapped it on the table.
"Amelia believed that Henry was the rightful heir to the throne because he was born first. He was the eldest, but wasn't chosen because Amelia was just a mistress. We don't really know what happened on the day Henry died, but for a mother who lost her only son, she felt betrayed and abandoned by the royal family. Because after that incident, she was sent to Germany and from there she gained allies. That was the start of the Trekker Clan."
Brie showed her the photo of Amelia with the Trekker Clan. Beside her was a young boy and it looked like Benjamin Miller.
"This is your grandfather." She whispered pointing at the photo of the young boy.
Caden nodded. "Yes. He was born in Germany. He's Henry Trekker's half-brother, Jonathan Trekker."
She stared at the woman and the young boy who orchestrated everything. But what she noticed was Amelia's eyes. They were empty. As if she was staring at a person without a heart. Her gaze was full of sadness and longing and instead of hating the woman, she suddenly felt lonely.
"Is she still alive?" She asked.
Brie nodded. "I think so. I can't find anything about her death no matter how many times I tried."
"H-How about my family? I need answers." She stuttered.
Caden stood up and walked toward one of the men on the chair. Her eyes widened and her heart pounded when he started punching the man's face.
"Caden!" She called.
She gulped when Caden looked at her with his cold gaze. She suddenly felt goosebumps all over her body. He looked like a different person in her eyes.
Then he chuckled. "What? This man took photos of you. And do you know what he wanted to do with you?"
He threw a voice recorder on the table. Her hands were trembling while slowly reaching out the device. But before she could reach it, Brie took the courage to press the replay button.
"I took another photo of the girl. I've been doing this for years and I think I want her for myself. How about taking her? She's loaded, man. And I bet she's worth millions if we sell her. But let us have a taste of her first. I've been dying to play with her body for years."
She felt like her heart would burst from her chest. She was too naive and powerless not to feel that someone was stalking her.
"My fake grandfather was tracking you. It took me some time to catch these guys. That was the reason I didn't contact you for three days. I had to catch them before they could harm you."
Her lips tremble and couldn't say a word. Caden was protecting her and risking his life for her, but all she could do was complain and rant. She even asked him to break up.
She was about to apologize but Caden cut her off.
"There are people who wanted to harm you because you're now a part of the royal family. But the grudge of the Santelmo Clan against your family was a different matter. Alora Eleanor Wilson, your mother, was injected with a serum to forget what she saw and what she did. As far as I know, your parents, Uncle Percy and Aunt Sophie already knew about it. Your mom would sometimes remember what happened in the past if she's Camila. We need to know what it was." Caden coldly said.
Camila was one of her mother's alters. From what she knew, Camila was the first identity. No one really told her and Lucas about their mother's illness. They never talked about it, and they didn't ask them either. She never imagined that it was caused by something deep and that her mom's memory was erased to forget something.
"Alira, do you think you could find out about your mother's lost memory?" Caden asked.