Chapter 5 - Victor Returned With My Brother—And Revealed The Truth About Why Emily Was Chosen
Victor called at 2:06 a.m.
I answered.
His voice sounded almost cheerful.
“Miss me?”
“Where's Ethan?”
“Straight to business.”
“What do you want?”
“What I've always wanted.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“Emily's trust?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He laughed.
“You.”
I stared at the phone.
“You're working with Michael.”
“Not anymore.”
“What happened?”
“He tried to kill me.”
That caught me off guard.
“Why?”
“Because I discovered the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That he planned to eliminate everyone.”
I looked toward Emily.
Victor continued.
“He doesn't want your empire, Daniel.”
“What does he want?”
“He wants the Mercer bloodline gone.”
I said nothing.
“Your father had a secret.”
“I know about Ethan.”
Victor's laughter stopped.
“You don't know enough.”
“Tell me.”
“Meet me alone.”
“No.”
“Then Ethan dies.”
I hated him for using that name.
“Where?”
“Old Harbor Station.”
The call ended.
Cole immediately objected.
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
“I have to.”
Emily grabbed my coat.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“I'm his sister too.”
I looked at her bruised face.
“You've been through enough.”
She shook her head.
“That is exactly why I'm going.”
At 3:00 a.m., we arrived.
Victor stood near an abandoned rail platform.
Ethan was beside him.
Alive.
Bound.
Bruised.
But conscious.
When he looked at me, something strange happened.
He stared.
I stared back.
“You're Daniel,” he whispered.
“Yes.”
“I don't know why…”
Victor interrupted.
“Save the family reunion.”
Emily stepped forward.
“Let him go.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“Why did you marry me?” Emily asked.
Victor looked at her.
For a moment, something like regret crossed his face.
“Because I was ordered to.”
“By Michael.”
“Yes.”
“And the beatings?”
His expression darkened.
“I became trapped.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“You enjoyed it.”
“I did.”
The honesty was worse than an excuse.
He looked at me.
“I was supposed to control you through her.”
“You failed.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I learned something.”
“What?”
“Michael was afraid of your father.”
Victor pulled out a small envelope.
Inside was a letter.
From our father.
It contained instructions regarding Ethan.
But one line shocked me.
“If Daniel survives, he must never know.”
I looked at Victor.
“Know what?”
“That Ethan wasn't your only hidden brother.”
Silence.
Emily stared at him.
Victor smiled.
“There were three.”
The world seemed to stop.
Another child.
Another secret.
Another person erased.
Victor told us that our father had been involved in a witness-protection arrangement.
Three sons.
Three identities.
One had become Daniel.
One Ethan.
The third had been sent overseas.
His name was Gabriel.
I couldn't believe it.
Victor continued.
“Michael spent twenty years trying to locate all of you.”
“Why?”
“Because your father left control of the original Mercer trust to all three sons.”
I looked at Emily.
“So the trust isn't hers?”
“It is.”
Victor nodded.
“But the controlling authority requires agreement from a Mercer male heir.”
That explained everything.
Michael needed me.
Ethan.
Gabriel.
He needed us legally.
He wanted to control us or eliminate us.
Emily looked at Ethan.
“What happened to your family?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I was raised by people who told me I was abandoned.”
I stepped toward him.
“I didn't know.”
He looked at me.
“Neither did I.”
Victor lowered the gun.
“I don't want this anymore.”
I looked at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
He handed me the key to Ethan's restraints.
“I expect you to understand that Michael will kill all of us.”
Before I could respond, gunfire erupted.
Victor shoved Emily down.
Ethan rolled behind a concrete barrier.
Cole's team returned fire.
Victor grabbed his chest.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He fell.
I caught him.
“Victor!”
He looked at me.
“Find Gabriel.”
“Where?”
He whispered one word.
“Boston.”
Then he died.
The platform fell silent.
I stared at him.
Emily came toward me.
“He saved me.”
I nodded.
Ethan looked at Victor's body.
“He saved us.”
Cole searched the platform.
“We need to move.”
As we left, Ethan walked beside me.
We didn't speak.
Then he finally said:
“Do you hate me?”
I looked at him.
“I just found out you exist.”
He smiled faintly.
“Fair.”
“Give me time.”
“I will.”
For the first time in twenty-five years, I wasn't the only Mercer.
And somewhere in Boston, another brother was waiting.
But Michael knew too.
Because before dawn, my phone received one final message.
THREE BROTHERS ENTER.
ONLY ONE LEAVES.
I looked at Ethan.
Then at Emily.
And I made a decision.
May you like
“No one dies.”
Not this time.
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