Chapter 5 - My Brother's Prison
Julian Vale had been erased from every family record before I was born.
The files revealed the truth.
My father had been married twice.
My mother knew about the first marriage.
The child from that marriage was Julian.
He had been raised away from the family after an inheritance dispute.
But he had never forgotten.
He wanted what my father had given me.
The empire.
The money.
The name.
The family.
And when my father realized Julian was unstable, he erased him.
But Julian survived.
He built his own network.
Then he returned.
Elena discovered him.
She learned about Daniel.
She learned about Lily.
She learned about Emma.
She tried to expose him.
He kidnapped her.
He staged her death.
Then he manipulated me into destroying the Morettis.
He had used my grief as a weapon.
I wanted to kill him.
But Elena was still alive.
That mattered more.
Julian contacted me again.
“Come alone.”
“No.”
“You'll bring everyone, and Elena dies.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was frightened.
Lily held Isabella.
Emma clung to Sophia.
I couldn't risk them.
So I made a deal.
“I'll come.”
We followed Julian's coordinates to an old psychiatric hospital in the mountains.
The building had been abandoned for years.
Elena was inside.
So were dozens of documents.
When I entered, I found her chained to a bed.
I rushed to her.
She touched my face.
“Adrian.”
I couldn't stop crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
“I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Julian had people everywhere.”
She looked past me.
“Where are the children?”
“Safe.”
“All four?”
“All four.”
She cried.
“I thought I'd lost them.”
“No.”
I took her hand.
“You never did.”
A gunshot echoed.
Julian appeared.
He was smiling.
“You always were sentimental.”
I stood.
“You're finished.”
“No.”
He held a remote.
Every screen in the hospital turned on.
Live feeds showed my mansion.
Explosives had been planted.
“You thought saving Elena ended this.”
“What do you want?”
“Your company.”
“No.”
“Then your children.”
I raised my weapon.
Julian laughed.
“You can't kill me.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm the last person who knows where your father hid the real ledger.”
I froze.
The ledger.
The financial records Elena had tried to expose.
“Where is it?”
“Under your estate.”
I realized why someone had searched the garden.
Why they wanted the silver charm.
Why Emma had been brought to the mansion.
The ledger wasn't in a vault.
It was beneath the dead maple tree.
The same tree where Emma had helped Isabella.
My father had hidden it there because he knew no one would suspect a child's garden.
Julian wanted it.
“Bring it to me.”
“No.”
He raised the remote.
The mansion's lights went out.
Marcus called.
“Boss!”
Static.
Then an explosion.
The estate was under attack.
I turned toward Elena.
“Can you walk?”
She nodded weakly.
“I've been trying.”
I freed her.
Daniel helped.
We moved through the hospital tunnels.
Julian's men chased us.
The children were waiting in an underground safe room.
Emma ran to Elena.
“Mommy!”
Elena dropped to her knees.
“My baby.”
I stood back.
The reunion destroyed me.
Elena held Emma.
Then Isabella.
Then Lily.
Then Daniel.
Four children.
Four lives she'd fought to protect.
She looked at me.
“I told you I'd come back.”
I shook my head.
“You never left.”
We returned to the estate.
The attack had been repelled.
But the maple tree had been dug up.
The ledger was gone.
Julian had it.
And he now controlled enough information to destroy my remaining legitimate businesses.
Marcus placed a phone in front of me.
“Boss.”
Julian appeared.
“Come to the harbor.”
“You have the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“You want the empire.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I want something more.”
“What?”
“You.”
He paused.
“I want you to feel what I felt.”
“What is that?”
“Being erased.”
He hung up.
That night, I sat beside Elena.
We hadn't been together for three years.
There was so much to say.
“I hated you,” I whispered.
She nodded.
“I know.”
“I hated myself.”
“I know.”
“I thought I failed you.”
“You didn't.”
“I should have listened.”
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn't you trust me?”
“I did.”
“Then why?”
“Because Julian told me he would kill all four children if I told you.”
I looked toward the hallway.
The girls were asleep.
Daniel was with Marcus.
I understood.
She had chosen their lives.
I reached for her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
“So am I.”
We sat in silence.
Then she smiled.
“Isabella moved?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“She took one step.”
Elena cried.
“I always knew she could.”
I stared.
“How?”
“When she was little, I noticed the paralysis wasn't complete.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Victor told me the treatment would be risky.”
I looked at her.
“Was he part of this?”
“He was forced.”
“By Julian?”
“No.”
She looked toward the window.
“By someone else.”
“Who?”
“Elena's mother.”
My blood ran cold.
“My mother?”
Elena nodded.
“She knew Julian existed.”
I stared.
“My mother?”
“She helped hide him.”
Before I could respond, the front door opened.
My mother appeared.
Grace Vale.
She was holding a gun.
“You were never supposed to find out.”
Elena went pale.
I raised my weapon.
“Mom.”
Grace smiled.
“Your father wasn't the mastermind.”
I stared.
“Then who was?”
She looked at Elena.
“The woman who started this.”
I understood.
“Was it you?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Sophia.
“It was her mother.”
Sophia froze.
“My mother is dead.”
Grace nodded.
“She died believing the truth would die with her.”
Then Emma whispered,
“Grandma said that woman didn't die.”
Everyone turned.
Emma pointed toward the door.
A woman stood outside.
Old.
Pale.
Smiling.
Sophia screamed.
“Mom?”
The woman stepped into the room.
“I told you not to trust anyone.”
May you like
And Julian's voice came from behind her.
“Now we can finally finish what Elena started.”
