Badass in Disguise Chapter 142

Frank's roar still echoed in the small living room as silence descended. Jade watched him with mild interest, noting how the veins in his neck stood out like cords. His face had turned an alarming shade of red, but there was something in his eyes she'd rarely seen before—determination.

"You." Frank pointed at Archer Sullivan, his finger trembling slightly. "The child is mine. I found her, I raised her, and I don't want anything from you or your family."

Archer looked taken aback by the sudden display of backbone. "Mr. Morgan, I understand your attachment, but legally—"

"I don't care about legally." Frank's voice was quieter now but no less firm. "Jade is my daughter in every way that matters. These past eighteen years, I've been the one who checked her temperature when she was sick. I taught her to ride a bike. I helped her with homework until she got too smart for me to keep up."

Frank reached for the divorce papers on the coffee table and pulled a pen from his pocket. "I'm signing these," he said, scribbling his signature across the bottom line. "This house? You can have it, Linda. I'll be out tonight."

Linda's mouth fell open. "You... what? Just like that?"

"Just like that," Frank confirmed, capping the pen with a decisive click.

He turned back to Archer. "I don't need your money. If Jade wants to go with you, to learn about her biological family, that's her choice. Take her."

Then his eyes hardened, and he stepped closer to Archer. "But if you or anyone in your family ever hurts her, ever makes her feel unwelcome or less than what she is, I swear to God, I will find you. I may not be rich or powerful, but I'm her father, and I will never stop fighting for her. Do you understand me?"

Archer stared at Frank for a long moment before nodding slowly. "I understand perfectly, Mr. Morgan."

Linda gave a short, bitter laugh. "Listen to you! Acting all tough now. Where was this backbone all these years when I needed it? You've been a doormat our entire marriage, and now you're suddenly Mr. Decisive?"

Frank didn't even look at her. "Sign the papers, Linda."

"And why should I let you off the hook so easily?" Linda crossed her arms. "Why aren't you asking for money from these rich people? Fifty thousand isn't nearly enough. We raised their precious heir for eighteen years. We deserve millions!"

Jade stepped forward, her patience wearing thin. "You deserve nothing."

"You ungrateful little—"

"It seems you're not going to sign," Jade interrupted coolly. "That's fine. I anticipated that. The police will be very interested in that case. Going to prison or getting divorced—either way, you're out of our lives."

"Wait!" Linda grabbed the papers, her hands shaking. "Fine. You want a divorce? I'll give you a divorce." She scrawled her signature with such force she nearly tore the paper.

"You're both dead to me," she spat, throwing the pen across the room. "All these years I've sacrificed, and this is how you repay me? Frank, you were nothing when I met you. Nothing! I made you a family. I gave you children!"

"My life was supposed to be better than this," she whispered, her voice cracking. "I wasn't supposed to end up in this shithole, married to a loser, raising someone else's kid."

Jade picked up the signed divorce papers and folded them carefully, tucking them into her bag. "You made your choices, Linda. Every single day, you chose cruelty over kindness. You chose bitterness over gratitude. Don't blame others for the life you built."

She turned to Frank and handed him a business card. "This is Chris Jensen's number. If she tries to cause trouble for you after this, call him. He'll handle everything."

Frank took the card, his fingers brushing against hers. For a moment, Jade saw the weight of years lift from his shoulders. "Thank you, Jade."

She nodded once, then faced Archer Sullivan. "As for you, Mr. Sullivan. I appreciate your... concern. But I have no interest in becoming part of your family drama. Please don't interfere with my life again."

She walked to the door, pausing only to look back at Frank. He seemed to have aged a decade in just these few minutes, his shoulders slumped, his eyes tired.

Jade pulled out her phone as she left the house, sending a quick text to Felix Huxley. She needed him to arrange housing for Frank.

---

Max's urgent knocking echoed through Jade's apartment that evening. When Ethan opened the door, Max nearly fell into the room, breathing hard as if he'd run all the way there.

"Did you—" Max gasped, looking from Ethan to Jade. "Did you go with them to do a DNA test? Are you really moving in with the Sullivans?"

Jade was sitting on the couch, a glass of expensive bourbon in her hand—a gift from Ethan earlier that evening. "Hello to you too, Max. Want a drink?"

"What? No! Jade, this is serious!" Max walked over to the couch, his face flushed with exertion. "Dad called me. He said some rich guy named Sullivan came by, claiming you're his brother's daughter!"

Ethan looked between them, confusion evident on his face. "I feel like I'm missing something important here."

Jade sighed, taking another sip of bourbon. "Apparently, I'm the long-lost daughter of Conrad Sullivan and Hazel Reed. Archer Sullivan—Conrad's brother—showed up at the house today to claim me for the Sullivan family. The usual soap opera stuff."

"And... are you?" Ethan asked carefully.

"Am I what?"

"Conrad Sullivan's daughter."

Jade shrugged. "Maybe. Probably. The timing fits, and apparently I look like my birth mother." She glanced at Max, who had collapsed onto the couch beside her. "But it doesn't matter. I didn't agree to any DNA test, and I'm not going to."

Max's shoulders sagged with relief. "So you're not leaving us for the Sullivans?"

"Yes. The Sullivan family means nothing to me," she continued. "The only scenario in which I'd ever set foot in the Sullivan house would be to confront that old witch Blair Sullivan and make her pay for what she did to my birth parents."

She turned to face Max directly. "But you should know this: whether I'm a Morgan or a Sullivan by blood, you're my brother. The only family member I truly care about."

Max's eyes welled with tears, and he looked down at his hands. "I thought... when Dad told me you weren't really my sister..."

"Blood doesn't make family, Max," Jade said firmly. "If it did, Linda would be a mother instead of just an egg donor."

Max nodded, wiping at his eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Jade asked, standing up. "I've got some leftovers in the fridge."

"A little," Max admitted.

Jade headed for the kitchen, leaving Max and Ethan in the living room. When she returned with a plate of food, Max was gone.

"Where'd he go?" she asked, setting the plate down.

"He said he needed some air," Ethan replied, picking up a small rectangular object from the coffee table. "He left this."

It was Max's bank card—the one Jade had given him.

"I'll go talk to him," Ethan said, heading for the door. "He can't have gone far."

---

Ethan found Max sitting on a bench outside the apartment building, staring at the ground. He sat down beside him, holding out the bank card.

"You forgot this," Ethan said.

Max glanced up, then away. "I didn't forget it. I just... I don't know if I should keep it anymore."

"Why not?"

Max sighed heavily. "She's not really my sister. And if she's a Sullivan, she doesn't need to take care of me anymore. I should stand on my own."

Ethan was quiet for a moment. "You know, from what I've seen, your sister is a pretty remarkable judge of character. She doesn't waste time or resources on people she doesn't value."

Max looked up at him.

"She's also someone who values loyalty above almost anything else," Ethan continued. "Think about it—the accident of birth versus eighteen years of shared history. Which do you think matters more to someone like her?"

"But—"

"Your sister is a practical person, Max. If she didn't want you in her life, she would have cut ties long ago. The fact that she's given you this," he tapped the card, "tells me she considers you family, regardless of blood."

Max took the card back slowly.

"You know," Ethan said, "I think your sister would be hurt if you pushed her away now. Not that she'd ever admit it, of course. She's too proud for that. But she'd feel it all the same."

Max considered this. "I guess you're right."

"Look," Ethan said gently, "your sister is quick to speak her mind. She's not one for sentimental speeches. But she made it very clear that you're the only family member she truly cares about. Don't throw that away because of something as trivial as DNA."

A small smile formed on Max's face. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Haxton."