Chapter 3 - The Secret Beneath the Family FortuneAmara finally told him.
Lyric's father was Elias Vale.
Caspian's half-brother.
The older son his father had erased from the family record.
But the story was more complicated than that.
Elias had not died.
He had disappeared.
At eighteen, he had discovered that his father planned to force Amara into signing away custody.
Elias ran.
Amara followed.
They hid.
They built a life outside the Vale empire.
Then Elias died in an accident when Lyric was only four.
At least, that was what Amara believed.
“But you said he disappeared.”
“He did.”
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know he's dead?”
“I saw the body.”
Caspian felt sick.
“And you believe it was him?”
“I believed it then.”
“But now?”
Amara looked at him.
“Now I don't know.”
That sentence changed everything.
Caspian hired a private investigator.
Not one of his normal corporate investigators.
Someone outside the family network.
Her name was Evelyn Shaw.
She arrived two days later.
She spent one hour with Amara and another with Lyric.
Then she looked at Caspian.
“Someone has been paying your family for information.”
“About Amara?”
“About Lyric.”
“Why?”
“Because someone believes Lyric inherited something.”
“She's ten.”
“Money doesn't care how old you are.”
Evelyn showed him photographs.
Lyric's mother had been followed.
Their abandoned house had been watched.
The diner had been watched.
Even the road Caspian traveled had been monitored.
Someone knew exactly where they were.
“Why didn't they take the girl?”
“They were waiting.”
“For what?”
“Something.”
Caspian's phone rang.
Victor.
“Caspian.”
His uncle's voice was calm.
“Where are you?”
“Blackmir.”
“I heard you stopped at the diner.”
Caspian's stomach tightened.
“How would you know?”
“Small town.”
“What do you want?”
“I heard you met someone.”
“I meet lots of people.”
“Not someone like her.”
Caspian remained silent.
Victor continued.
“Your father had complicated relationships.”
“What do you know about Amara?”
A pause.
Then:
“Enough to tell you she's dangerous.”
“She has a sick daughter.”
“She's manipulating you.”
“You don't know her.”
“I knew her before you were born.”
Caspian stared through the window.
“What are you afraid she'll tell me?”
Victor's voice changed.
“Be careful.”
The call ended.
Evelyn had been listening.
“That wasn't a warning.”
“What was it?”
“A confirmation.”
“Of what?”
“That Victor knows.”
The investigation moved quickly.
Evelyn uncovered bank transfers.
Private medical payments.
A shell company.
A storage facility.
Then she found something extraordinary.
A photograph.
A young man standing beside a little boy.
The young man was Elias.
The little boy was Caspian.
They had never met.
At least not according to the family records.
Caspian stared at the image.
“How old was I?”
“Three.”
“And Elias?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Why would I have met him?”
“Because he was your brother.”
Caspian's voice broke.
“I don't remember.”
“You wouldn't.”
Then Evelyn looked at the back of the photograph.
There was a date.
A hospital.
Blackmir Children's Medical Center.
Caspian felt his stomach drop.
He searched the archive.
The hospital had burned down fifteen years earlier.
Every patient record was supposedly destroyed.
But Evelyn found one.
A partial birth certificate.
Lyric Vale.
Father: Elias Vale.
Mother: Amara Reed.
And one additional name.
Guardian:
Caspian Vale.
Caspian stared.
“What?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father filed this.”
“Why?”
“To make you legally responsible for her if something happened to Elias.”
He sat down.
That meant his father had known.
He had planned something.
And perhaps he had expected Elias to disappear.
Caspian went upstairs.
Lyric was drawing at the kitchen table.
She looked up.
“Can I ask something?”
“Of course.”
“Are you my uncle?”
Caspian stopped.
“What?”
“My mom said you are.”
He crouched beside her.
“Yes.”
Lyric studied him.
“You're rich.”
“Yes.”
“You don't act like it.”
“What do rich people act like?”
“They act like they're better.”
He smiled.
“I'm not better than you.”
She returned to drawing.
“Good.”
“What are you drawing?”
“A house.”
“What's the room?”
“My mom's bedroom.”
“And this?”
“Mine.”
“What about this?”
She pointed to a figure standing outside.
“That's Daddy.”
Caspian's throat tightened.
“You remember him?”
“Sometimes.”
“What did he look like?”
“He had your eyes.”
Caspian looked away.
Lyric continued drawing.
“He said when I got older he'd take me to the ocean.”
“You live near the ocean.”
“He meant somewhere warm.”
Caspian smiled sadly.
“I'll take you.”
Lyric looked up.
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
Then Evelyn appeared in the doorway.
She held an envelope.
“Caspian.”
He stood.
“What?”
“We found Elias.”
The room went silent.
“Where?”
“Alive.”
Caspian's heart stopped.
“What?”
“He's been living under another name.”
“Where?”
Evelyn looked toward Lyric.
May you like
“Twenty miles from here.”
Caspian ran.
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