Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The intruder was gone by the time Adrian reached the greenhouse.
Only one thing remained.
A photograph.
The same young man from the old picture.
Evan.
On the back was a sentence:
You should have looked for me sooner.
Adrian stared at it.
Marin stood beside him.
"Could it really be your brother?"
"Yes."
"Then why would he do this?"
Adrian shook his head.
"I don't know."
The next morning, Evan contacted him.
A private meeting.
One person.
Adrian agreed.
Marin insisted on coming.
They met at an abandoned theater.
Evan stepped out of the shadows.
Same eyes.
Older face.
A scar along his jaw.
Adrian stared.
For a moment, he was ten years old again.
He remembered a boy stealing his candy.
Running through the garden.
Laughing at dinner.
Then the memory vanished.
"You died."
Evan smiled sadly.
"That was the story."
"Who told you to disappear?"
"Our father."
Adrian's voice hardened.
"Why?"
"Because he discovered Gabriel."
"Gabriel was our father's lawyer."
"Gabriel was the man controlling the corridor."
Evan explained.
Their father had discovered that Gabriel was using the family network to move stolen goods.
He tried to stop him.
Gabriel staged Evan's death.
Then he manipulated the family into believing Evan was gone.
Evan escaped.
He spent years gathering evidence.
"So why involve Marin?"
"I didn't."
Adrian frowned.
"Her family was used because they held the ownership records."
Evan looked at Marin.
"Gabriel needed them."
"Why?"
"Because the corridor isn't just a shipping route."
Evan handed Adrian a document.
It was a map.
Underground infrastructure.
Ports.
Warehouses.
Private rail.
All connected.
Gabriel intended to seize the network and sell access to international criminal groups.
Marin looked horrified.
"And my family?"
"Your grandfather owned the legal rights."
Adrian understood.
Marin had never been a random target.
She was an inheritance.
Gabriel needed her family.
Bennett had been used to keep her isolated.
Isabella Waverly, Bennett's fiancée, was connected to Gabriel.
The dinner had been a trap.
Everything was beginning to fit.
But Evan had one final revelation.
"Bennett isn't your enemy."
Marin stared.
"What?"
"He was threatened."
Adrian looked at him.
"By Gabriel?"
"Yes."
"He chose Celeste."
"To protect you."
Marin's eyes filled.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
"Because he thought Gabriel would kill you."
She whispered,
"He broke my heart."
Evan looked at her.
"Sometimes cowardice and sacrifice look the same from a distance."
Adrian glanced at Marin.
He knew that sentence would stay with her.
That night, Bennett came to the estate.
He stood outside the gate.
Marin went to him.
"Why?"
"I wanted you alive."
"You could have told me."
"I tried."
"When?"
"The night I ended things."
Marin remembered.
Bennett had looked terrified.
She had thought it was guilt.
"Celeste?"
"She knew the arrangement."
"Are you actually with her?"
"No."
Marin stared.
"I never loved her."
That hurt in a different way.
"Then why?"
"Because Gabriel said he would kill my father."
Marin's eyes closed.
She understood.
But understanding didn't erase the pain.
She walked back inside.
Adrian was waiting.
"Do you still love him?"
She looked at him.
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Adrian nodded.
He didn't ask anything else.
Marin reached for his hand.
"Are you jealous?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"Yes."
She smiled.
Then she kissed him.
Behind them, Evan watched through the window.
The family was finally reconnecting.
But the war wasn't over.
Gabriel had learned Evan was alive.
He had also learned that Adrian and Marin were together.
That made Marin more dangerous.
Because Adrian Cross could control an empire.
But love made him predictable.
Gabriel intended to use that.
The message arrived at midnight.
One line.
Bring Marin to the harbor.
Or your mother dies.
Adrian's face changed.
Marin stared.
"Your mother is alive?"
He nodded.
"Apparently."
May you like
And now the most powerful man in Boston had discovered the one thing he could not command.
Hope.
