Chapter 5 - THE BROTHER WHO WAS NEVER DEAD
Ethan couldn't breathe.
“My brother?”
His father nodded.
“Daniel.”
“Daniel died when he was twenty-two.”
“No.”
“You buried him.”
“A body was buried.”
Ethan stared.
“Whose?”
His father smiled.
“Someone else's.”
Lena whispered:
“Daniel survived.”
Ethan turned toward her.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“And our daughter…”
“Is his.”
The room seemed to spin.
Ethan stepped backward.
“You married me while carrying his child?”
Lena's face crumpled.
“I didn't know.”
“When did you find out?”
“After you died.”
His father interrupted.
“After we made you disappear.”
Ethan turned on him.
“You lied to everyone.”
“I protected the family.”
“You destroyed it.”
His father looked toward the child.
“Daniel wanted the trust.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Lena shook her head.
“No.”
His father smiled.
“You've been lied to too.”
He pressed another button.
A security screen appeared.
A man walked through a warehouse.
Older.
Bearded.
But unmistakable.
Daniel.
Ethan stared.
“That's him.”
Lena covered her mouth.
The little girl ran toward the screen.
“Who is that?”
Ethan couldn't answer.
His father said:
“Your brother.”
The child smiled.
“He looks like me.”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
She did.
The same eyes.
The same smile.
The same slight tilt of the head.
His father continued.
“Daniel disappeared because he discovered the trust's real purpose.”
“What?”
“It wasn't created to hold money.”
Ethan looked at the documents.
“It was created to hide assets.”
“From whom?”
“From the government.”
Lena shook her head.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
His father smiled.
“It was designed to fund operations the government could never officially acknowledge.”
Ethan stared.
“So my family has been financing covert operations for generations.”
“Yes.”
“And my daughter inherited control.”
“Yes.”
“That's why you wanted her.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at the little girl.
She was coloring again.
Completely innocent.
He felt something inside him break.
“You're not getting her.”
His father looked at him.
“I already did.”
“What?”
A phone rang.
Lena answered.
Her face changed.
“Where is she?”
She looked around.
The child was gone.
Ethan spun around.
The room was empty.
“Lena?”
“She was right there.”
Security alarms erupted.
Ethan ran upstairs.
The front door was open.
Outside, a black SUV disappeared down the road.
His father's smile remained.
“You see?”
Ethan grabbed him.
“Where is my daughter?”
May you like
His father whispered:
“Ask your brother.”
