Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Was Forced to Lie
Grant Holloway had spent twenty-five years convincing Blackridge that he was loyal.
He was not.
By the time we returned from Blackwater Island, he had vanished.
His mansion was empty.
His offices were cleared.
Bank accounts had been frozen.
But one thing remained.
A note on his desk.
For Amelia.
Nathaniel opened it.
I read over his shoulder.
You were never supposed to survive the gala.
My stomach tightened.
Below it was another sentence.
Daniel was supposed to marry Madeline before sunrise.
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed.
“Before sunrise?”
Daniel looked at the paper.
“Why?”
Madeline answered.
“Because the marriage documents would trigger the transfer.”
“What transfer?” I asked.
She looked at me.
“The company shares.”
Grant had planned to transfer Blackridge Timber through the Cross family.
But the shares weren't the true prize.
The trust was.
The Mercer Trust controlled land, shipping routes, and private infrastructure throughout the region.
My payroll credentials were the last remaining authorization.
Without me, the transfer couldn't be completed.
I looked at Daniel.
“You were never choosing Madeline.”
“No.”
“You were buying time.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you look relieved?”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Because when I saw you standing there, I knew I had failed.”
My voice trembled.
“You could have told me.”
“They were watching you.”
“So you let me think you didn't love me.”
He looked at me.
“Yes.”
The room became silent.
I wanted to hate him.
Part of me still did.
But another part understood the impossible pressure he had been trapped under.
Then Nathaniel spoke.
“Love doesn't excuse cowardice.”
Daniel looked at him.
“I know.”
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“But sacrifice without honesty still hurts the person you're trying to save.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“You're right.”
I looked between them.
For the first time, I realized something.
Nathaniel wasn't jealous.
He was angry because he understood.
He had lost someone to secrets too.
Evan.
His brother.
The man standing across from him.
The man who had been forced to disappear.
Nathaniel and Daniel shared something neither wanted.
They had both been manipulated by family.
But only one of them had chosen to protect me.
I needed time to understand that.
We found Grant two days later.
He had gone to an abandoned logging camp outside Pinehaven.
Nathaniel took me with him.
The place was silent.
Snow covered the trees.
Grant sat inside a cabin.
He didn't resist.
“You found me.”
Nathaniel kept his gun lowered.
“You're lucky.”
Grant laughed.
“Am I?”
“No.”
Grant looked at me.
“You were supposed to disappear.”
“I know.”
He shook his head.
“I didn't expect Nathaniel to claim you publicly.”
“He saved me.”
“He ruined everything.”
I stepped forward.
“Why?”
Grant stared at me.
“Because your mother made a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She trusted the wrong person.”
“Who?”
Grant smiled bitterly.
“Evan.”
Nathaniel's expression darkened.
“You blamed my brother?”
“He found out what Arthur was doing.”
“Then why help Arthur?”
“Because Arthur promised to protect my family.”
“From what?”
Grant's smile vanished.
“From a man worse than Arthur.”
The room became quiet.
“Who?”
Grant hesitated.
Then said, “Madeline's grandfather.”
I frowned.
“Cross?”
“Yes.”
“The old patriarch?”
Grant nodded.
“He built the alliance system.”
“He was retired.”
“No.”
Grant stared at the fire.
“He was never retired.”
According to Grant, Elias Cross had controlled the region for decades.
He had arranged marriages.
Business alliances.
Political appointments.
He had engineered the gala.
He had chosen Daniel for Madeline.
He had arranged my humiliation.
He needed the Mercer Trust.
And Arthur Reeves had been his instrument.
“Why me?” I asked.
Grant looked at me.
“Because your father hid the final key inside your mother's records.”
“My father?”
“Evan Mercer.”
Nathaniel looked shocked.
“What key?”
Grant pointed to me.
“Her memory.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Grant explained.
When I was ten, my father had taught me a strange sequence.
Four numbers.
I had always thought it was a childhood game.
My mother had called it our secret.
I suddenly remembered.
17-06-92-41.
Nathaniel looked at me.
“That isn't random.”
Grant nodded.
“It opens the trust.”
I felt sick.
My entire life had been constructed around secrets I had never understood.
Grant continued.
“Elias Cross has spent seven years trying to recover it.”
“Why didn't he take it from me?”
“Because he never knew you remembered.”
I looked at Nathaniel.
“What do we do now?”
He answered.
“We end it.”
But Grant wasn't finished.
“There is one more problem.”
“What?”
“Elias knows Evan is alive.”
Nathaniel froze.
“How?”
“Because someone told him.”
“Who?”
Grant looked at me.
“Your mother.”
I stared.
“No.”
Grant shook his head.
“She made a deal.”
Nathaniel's face changed.
“What deal?”
Grant whispered.
“She traded herself for Evan.”
The door behind us opened.
A gunshot exploded.
Grant fell.
I screamed.
Nathaniel pulled me down.
Daniel rushed into the cabin behind us.
“Get her out!”
Bullets tore through the walls.
Nathaniel fired toward the trees.
Daniel dragged me toward the back exit.
We ran into the snow.
Behind us, Nathaniel stayed behind.
I tried to turn.
“Leave him!”
“No!”
Daniel grabbed me.
“He knows what he's doing.”
The snow swallowed our footprints.
We reached the vehicle.
I looked back.
Nathaniel wasn't there.
My heart stopped.
“Where is he?”
Daniel's face was pale.
“He told me to get you somewhere safe.”
I shook my head.
“He'll come.”
Daniel looked at me.
“How do you know?”
May you like
“Because he promised.”
And somewhere in the darkness behind us, a gunshot echoed through the trees.
