Chapter 6 - THE BROTHER WHO NEVER KNEW HIS NAME
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The room disappeared.
Nathaniel looked nothing like the baby in the photograph.
He looked about thirty.
He wore a simple black jacket.
No expensive watch.
No bodyguards.
He looked ordinary.
And somehow that made everything worse.
“How long have you known?”
Victor smiled.
“He learned today.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“You told me my parents died in a fire.”
“They did.”
“My mother?”
“Dead.”
“My father?”
“Also dead.”
I looked at Victor.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because he belongs to the trust.”
Nathaniel looked confused.
“What trust?”
I stepped toward him.
“The Sterling inheritance.”
His face changed.
“I don't want money.”
“Neither did I.”
Victor laughed.
“You say that now.”
Dominic approached Nathaniel.
“I don't know you.”
Nathaniel looked back.
“You're my brother.”
Dominic stopped.
“By blood,” Victor said.
“By everything that matters.”
Nathaniel stared at Dominic.
Then at me.
“You're Sophia.”
I nodded.
“My sister.”
“Yes.”
He looked down.
“I've heard stories about you.”
“Good ones?”
He smiled faintly.
“Mostly stories about a dead girl.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“I'm sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
For a moment, the room felt almost peaceful.
Then Cassandra stepped forward.
“Enough.”
She handed Victor a folder.
“The trust documents.”
Victor opened them.
His smile disappeared.
“What?”
Cassandra's face went pale.
“The signatures don't match.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
Victor looked at her.
“What are you saying?”
She turned toward us.
“He isn't the mastermind.”
Silence.
“Who is?”
Cassandra swallowed.
“My mother.”
I froze.
“Your mother?”
“My mother is alive.”
“Where?”
“Behind all of this.”
Victor's face hardened.
“You said she died.”
“So did everyone.”
Cassandra looked at me.
“She is the reason your mother was hunted.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted the trust.”
I looked at Nathaniel.
“And she used Victor?”
“Yes.”
Victor suddenly raised his weapon toward Cassandra.
“You lied to me.”
Cassandra laughed bitterly.
“You were never in control.”
A gunshot exploded.
Victor stumbled.
He hadn't been shot by Cassandra.
He looked down.
Blood spread across his jacket.
A woman appeared in the doorway.
Elegant.
White hair.
Silver cane.
Her expression was cold.
Dominic whispered:
“Mother?”
My blood ran cold.
But she wasn't his mother.
She looked at me.
“I have waited twenty-eight years to meet my granddaughter.”
I recognized her from the portrait.
My grandmother.
The one who supposedly died years ago.
She smiled.
“Welcome home, Sophia.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
“The family returned to me.”
Nathaniel looked confused.
“And me?”
“You were always mine.”
I felt sick.
“You took him.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“I saved him from your mother.”
Then she looked at Cassandra.
“And I used her father.”
Cassandra's face twisted.
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
Victor collapsed.
The grandmother turned toward me.
“The trust requires three living heirs.”
She pointed at me.
“Dominic.”
Then Nathaniel.
“And you.”
Nathaniel whispered:
“What happens if we refuse?”
She smiled.
“Then Boston burns.”
Alarms began screaming.
Outside the manor, explosions erupted.
Dominic grabbed my hand.
“Stay close.”
May you like
My grandmother looked at the burning city beyond the windows.
“Tonight, the Sterling family returns.”
