Chapter 4 - The Secret Child My Brother Left Behind
I brought Rosalie to my estate.
I refused to leave her at the hospital alone.
My security team secured the property.
Rosie remained under medical care.
For the first time in years, my house was full of people for a reason other than business.
Rosalie occupied the guest room.
She liked pancakes.
Hated thunder.
Liked drawing.
And had a habit of checking the hallway three times before sleeping.
That told me more than any interrogation could.
Children don't develop survival habits without a reason.
I sat with her that evening.
"Tell me about Daniel."
She smiled.
"He used to visit us."
"How often?"
"Sometimes."
"Did he know you were his daughter?"
She nodded.
"Mommy said he loved me."
"Did he ever bring anything?"
"A little red car."
I froze.
Daniel gave me the same car when I was ten.
He had painted a tiny wolf on its hood.
"Where is it?"
"At home."
"Which home?"
Rosalie looked confused.
"The one we lived in before Derek."
That could be anywhere.
I called Marcus.
"Find every residence Lena used over the past seven years."
He nodded.
Then Rosalie said something.
"The red car is hiding something."
I looked at her.
"What?"
"Mama said Daddy hid a secret inside it."
My pulse quickened.
"Do you know where it is?"
She nodded.
"In my suitcase."
Her suitcase was still at the hospital.
I sent someone.
Twenty minutes later, the suitcase arrived.
Inside were clothes.
A stuffed rabbit.
A small notebook.
And the red car.
I turned it over.
The battery compartment was sealed.
Too sealed.
I opened it.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Daniel had always loved simple hiding places.
I inserted it into a secure computer.
A video appeared.
Daniel.
He looked younger.
Alive.
Healthy.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Ethan."
My throat tightened.
"If you're watching this, then things went wrong."
He paused.
"You're probably angry."
I almost laughed.
He continued.
"I'm sorry."
The video showed Lena.
She was pregnant.
"Her name is Rosalie."
Daniel looked toward the camera.
"She is my daughter."
I looked at the little girl sitting beside me.
Tears filled her eyes.
Daniel continued.
"I couldn't tell you because the people I was investigating knew about you."
He paused.
"They were using the Cole family as leverage."
A new image appeared.
Martin Vale.
Then Derek.
Then a third man.
A businessman I'd seen a hundred times in newspapers.
Victor Harlan.
One of the city's most respected developers.
A man who had once invited me to dinner.
Daniel's voice continued.
"They're operating through construction companies, warehouses, and port contracts."
I stared.
The very industries I had entered after his death.
My entire business empire had been built inside the same system my brother had been investigating.
He had been trying to dismantle it.
I had unknowingly inherited part of it.
"Do not trust anyone who says they want to help you," Daniel said.
"Especially Martin."
The screen changed.
Daniel handed Lena an envelope.
"If I die, Lena will know where the final ledger is."
Then the video ended.
Silence.
Rosalie whispered:
"That's Daddy."
I nodded.
"Yes."
She touched the screen.
"I miss him."
I looked at her.
"So do I."
For the first time, I let myself say it.
"I miss him every day."
Rosalie looked at me.
"Then we can miss him together."
The words broke something inside me.
Later that night, Lena called.
I answered immediately.
"Ethan."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Rosalie is safe."
Silence.
"Thank you."
"Why didn't you tell me she was Daniel's daughter?"
"Because if you knew, they would have used you."
"Who?"
"Victor."
The name confirmed it.
"What does Victor want?"
"The ledger."
"Where is it?"
"You have it."
I frowned.
"No."
"You have had it for eleven years."
I thought about my empire.
My properties.
My father's company.
Daniel's office.
Nothing.
Then she said:
"Your first building."
I froze.
The first property I purchased after Daniel died.
An old warehouse near the Mississippi.
It had been empty for years.
Lena continued.
"Daniel put the ledger inside a wall before he died."
"How do you know?"
"I was there."
"You and Daniel..."
"I loved him."
The words were soft.
"So did I."
I closed my eyes.
"Why did you marry Derek?"
"Because Victor found out I had his child."
She began crying.
"He threatened Rosalie."
My jaw tightened.
"He told me if I didn't marry Derek, he would kill her."
"So you stayed."
"Yes."
"For seven years."
"Yes."
"Where is Derek now?"
"I don't know."
"I do."
She became silent.
"What?"
"Derek escaped."
A long pause.
"He'll come for Rosie."
"I won't let him."
"Ethan."
Her voice broke.
"Don't trust Martin."
"I won't."
"And don't trust your father."
I froze.
"What does my father have to do with this?"
She didn't answer.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"Your father knew Daniel was alive the night he died."
The call ended.
I stood motionless.
My father had always told me Daniel died instantly.
What else had he lied about?
I searched the old records.
The original death report.
The hospital.
The police.
There was a gap.
Daniel had been alive for forty-three minutes after the explosion.
Forty-three minutes.
Someone had talked to him.
Someone had let him die.
And my father had known.
The next morning, I went to see my father.
He lived in a private care facility outside the city.
When I walked into his room, he looked at me.
He knew immediately.
"You found her."
"Who?"
"Lena."
My blood ran cold.
"How do you know?"
He closed his eyes.
"Because I was the one who helped her disappear."
I stared.
"Why?"
"Because your brother asked me to."
"Then why did you tell me he died immediately?"
"Because the men who killed him believed he was dead."
I stepped closer.
"He wasn't."
"No."
"Did you know he had a daughter?"
My father looked at me.
"Yes."
"Did you ever meet her?"
He nodded.
"Once."
"When?"
"The night Daniel died."
My hands curled into fists.
"Where is the ledger?"
He whispered:
"Where your brother told me it would be."
"Where?"
May you like
He looked at me.
"Under the old family chapel."
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