After the whirlwind of truths and the emotional tidal wave that had swept through the dining table like a storm, the silence that lingered was almost unbearable.
Tension still clung to the corners of the room, refusing to leave entirely despite the softened expressions now resting on most faces.
And then, like the first gentle breeze after a storm, Jessica spoke.
Her voice was soft, yet it rang clearly. "Can we toast to this new beginning?"
She raised her glass—not just in celebration, but in hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, something good could finally grow from all this chaos.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Elliot Raven was the first to lift his glass, followed by Davis. One by one, each person followed, glasses held high, as they toasted to their heart felt wishes.
"To new beginnings," Jessica said again, firmer this time, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "To family," Bella whispered beside her. "To peace," Elliot added with a heavy nod.
Clinks echoed around the table as glasses touched.
The atmosphere, which had earlier been thick with shock, finally began to lift. Conversations resumed with light, cautious chatter, but sincere.
The air loosened, and quiet laughter slowly made its way into the corners of the room.
Even Ethan had started to smile again though it came with a side of resigned heartbreak as he kept stealing glances at Bella, as if mourning what could never be.
Amid the subtle chatter, Davis turned slightly in his wheelchair, his eyes locking on Richard with a knowing look. "How did it go?" he asked under his breath, barely loud enough for others to catch.
Richard, who had just taken a sip from his glass, nodded and leaned slightly closer.
"It was positive," he said, keeping his voice low. "He signed."
A small sigh of relief escaped Davis’s lips.
Richard continued, "As things are, there’s calm returning to the Allen Group. The pressure is easing. But..." He paused.
The room, sensing the shift in his voice, fell into silence once again.Richard looked around the waiting faces, then dropped the next sentence like a sledgehammer.
"But he will soon declare you dead."
The words crashed down like thunder.
Jessica froze, her fingers tightening around the stem of her glass.
Bella’s head snapped toward Davis, her expression etched in confusion. Even Elliot seemed momentarily stunned.
Richard pressed on, "Seeing the signature... he recognized it immediately and suspected you might be the one." He said with a playful smile tugging his lips in recollection of Desmond frightened and contemplative face.
"Then, how did you manage to get him down?" Davis asked with a guess already forming in his mind.
" I only convinced him. Because the document was already prepared with your other name Dave Ravensdale he believed it."
" I am surprised he didn’t know you by that name when he is your uncle." Richard smirked.
"Dave Ravensdale" Jessica murmured quietly. Davis leaned back slowly, closing his eyes for a second as memories stirred from deep within him. His expression softened with nostalgia, pain... longing.
"I didn’t just pick that name out of nowhere," he said, opening his eyes again. "It was a name my mother gave me... long ago. I was only seven." Everyone listened silently as he recounted its origin.
"She told me," Davis continued, "that if I ever found myself in danger... life-threatening danger... I was to abandon the Allen name. I was to call myself Dave Ravensdale instead." He paused, staring down at the table, lost in memory.
"At that time, I was just a kid. I didn’t understand why she said that. I even asked her why she didn’t just say ’David’ and who are the Ravensdale?
And she just smiled and said... ’Dave is a name one would never align with any family and Ravensdale name can grant you temporary protection until you get to safe place. It’s safer. It’s freer.’"
"I think I am.beginning to understand it better, she never connected herself to the Ravensdale in public and had just given me to search for my alternative root, be protected by them." He smiled lightly.
"She really prepared well for eventuality." Jessica murmured to herself, proud of the woman who she never met.
But then, her heart clenched as she imagined little Davis, just seven years old, being handed a name like a lifeline in a sea of dangers he couldn’t yet understand.
"She made me memorize it. Drill it into my head. And when the accident happened, when everything went wrong... it was the only name I could remember that didn’t carry weight. That didn’t carry blood."
Richard looked at him with quiet understanding. "That’s why I told him you were Dave Ravensdale. He believed me—well, enough to move forward. But he’s still suspicious. We’ve bought some time, but... when he makes that announcement... it won’t be the same."
"Let him make the announcement, I already accepted that fate the very time I was declared missing." Davis said simply.
Everyone turned toward him again trying to understand what he is up to.
"There’s no returning to the Allen Group now," he continued. "Not as Davis Allen, anyway. Not yet. But as Dave Ravensdale... I can move freely. Strategically though wouldn’t make a public appearance" he concluded.
Jessica looked at him in awe. It wasn’t the name that impressed her—it was the calm with which he embraced such a dangerous path. The clarity in his eyes. The refusal to be a victim of circumstance.
"Do you know the implications of switching your identity?" she whispered. He glanced at her, the edge of his lips tugging into the faintest of smirks. "Yes," he said. "But you’ve already taken the first step preparing the document with that name besides I can still merge the names later. No biggie."
Elliot cleared his throat. "It’s dangerous," he said gruffly. "Going along with this game, letting the world believe you’re dead. Do you understand the weight of that?"
"I do," Davis answered without hesitation. "But sometimes... you have to lose everything in plain sight just to win it back in silence."
Bella blinked, clearly overwhelmed. "So you... you’re going to let the world think you’re gone?"
Davis turned to her, his voice softer. "Not gone. Besides not my choice. Just an adaptative measure of survival. Just... hidden. For a little while."
Jessica couldn’t explain the rush of emotion that rose inside her. Pride for him gradually returning to the man he was, Fear for the unknown path he is taking and challenge ahead and pain due to heartache of what he will pass through for that plot to hold.
All these emotions tangled into one mess that she could barely bear it. She had known Davis was strong.
But now she was beginning to understand just how deeply his strength ran. Richard leaned back, analyzing the situation silently.
"If you have made this decision then all things are now easier as you finally traced your maternal home. Let your name be added to the family register immediately and from there we take it step by step. He suggested.
"Because once he makes that declaration, there’s no turning back." He concluded.
Elliot nodded slowly. "Then let’s make sure that when Davis Allen returns... the entire world will have no choice but to take a knee."
~At the Allen Family Residence~
Desmond returned home, a satisfied smile playing on his lips, confidence brimming in his stride, with the certificate of auditing and certification of tax payment in his hand, his curled up.
He hadn’t expected to emerge unscathed from the storm that had raged through the Allen group threatening it downfall as it hung by a single thread of hope, but somehow, he had.
The young man had delivered grudgingly, but the fact that he had fulfilled the request is worth it. Though it had cost Desmond a figurative pound of flesh, the outcome was worth every bit of it and he is proud of that.
With both certificates in hand, he is sure nothing can stop him from advancing further and taking over his rightful position as the CEO. He dares the shareholders and board members who will defy his authority—he will take care of them.
For a long time, Desmond had been unable to reach the mysterious man he once aligned with, often times he wondered if he was dead because he had gone to quiet to believe him alive.
But dead or alive, his loyalty had shifted. After all, it was the new player who had proven reliable when it mattered most, when the world was waiting for his downfall.
And in Desmond’s eyes, only a friend in need was truly a friend indeed. And for the friends that had turned his back on him when the law clamped down on him, he promised to pay back in folds.
With measured gait and a heart full of conviction, he made his way toward Elder Allen’s study to present the certificate as