“WHAT WAS YOUR NAME BEFORE MARCUS?” Alexander stood in the center of the study, staring at the man who had protected him for nearly fifteen years.
Marcus had been there through everything.
Hostile business negotiations.
Security threats.
The death of Alexander's grandfather.
Evelyn's stroke.
Even the engagement gala that had exposed Victoria Sterling.
Alexander trusted Marcus with his life.
Now the man was standing before him with tears in his eyes.
Marcus slowly removed his security badge.
“My legal name is Marcus Reed.”
Alexander frowned.
“Then what are you talking about?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Before I was adopted, my name was Daniel Hale.”
Thomas Vance staggered backward.
“No…”
Maria covered her mouth.
Detective Bennett stared at Marcus.
“Are you saying you believe you're Thomas's missing son?”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
Alexander felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
The man who had guarded his family for fifteen years was claiming to be his older half-brother.
Thomas stepped forward.
“Daniel?”
Marcus looked at him.
For a brief moment, the hardened security chief seemed like a frightened child.
“I remember a woman singing to me.”
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
“What song?”
Marcus swallowed.
“An old lullaby about the moon watching over the river.”
Thomas began crying.
“Margaret used to sing that.”
Marcus looked away.
“I didn't know her name until I was eighteen.”
Alexander stared.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Marcus's expression changed.
“Because I wasn't certain.”
“You knew you might be my brother?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Since before I started working for you.”
Alexander stepped backward.
The betrayal hurt more than he expected.
He had trusted Marcus with secrets he had never shared with anyone else.
And Marcus had concealed something that could change the entire family.
“Why?” Alexander whispered.
Marcus looked devastated.
“Because someone told me that if I approached Thomas, people would die.”
Bennett frowned.
“Who told you?”
Marcus looked toward the photograph of Edward.
“Edward Vance.”
Thomas closed his eyes.
Marcus continued.
“When I was eighteen, Edward contacted me. He said he knew who my biological father was.”
Alexander clenched his jaw.
“And you believed him?”
“He showed me documents. Photographs. Letters.”
Thomas stepped closer.
“Why didn't you come to me?”
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Edward told me you had abandoned me.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No…”
“He said you knew where I was and never wanted me.”
Thomas began crying.
“Daniel, that's not true.”
Marcus looked away.
“I know that now.”
Alexander stared.
“Then why stay silent?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Because Edward gave me a job.”
The room went still.
Bennett's expression hardened.
“What kind of job?”
Marcus looked directly at Alexander.
“To protect you.”
Alexander frowned.
“Protect me?”
Marcus nodded.
“Edward said Alexander Vance was in danger. He told me I could make up for the family I never had by keeping you alive.”
Maria felt a chill.
“Edward placed you inside the estate.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
Alexander stepped backward.
“You were working for him?”
Marcus shook his head.
“Not after I realized what he was doing.”
“When was that?”
“Seven years ago.”
Alexander stared.
“Seven years?”
Marcus nodded.
“I discovered Edward was paying Hollowbrook Academy. I found records connected to a boy named Gabriel.”
Bennett leaned forward.
“Why didn't you report it?”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“I tried to investigate on my own. I thought I could find enough evidence to expose Edward without putting Alexander in danger.”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“Another person deciding what I should know.”
Marcus lowered his head.
“I was wrong.”
For a few moments, nobody spoke.
Then Thomas stepped toward Marcus.
“Daniel…”
Marcus looked up.
Thomas's hands were trembling.
“I searched for you.”
Marcus's expression broke.
“I wanted to believe that.”
Thomas began crying.
“I never stopped.”
Marcus looked away.
For thirty-five years, he had imagined meeting his father.
He had imagined anger.
Rejection.
Indifference.
But he had never imagined Thomas standing before him with tears running down his face.
Marcus whispered, “I don't know what to do with this.”
Thomas nodded.
“Neither do I.”
Alexander watched them.
The resemblance was subtle but unmistakable.
The same gray eyes.
The same shape of the jaw.
The same expression when they were frightened.
For the first time, Alexander saw Marcus not as his employee, but as a man who had spent his entire life searching for a family.
Bennett spoke gently.
“We should arrange independent DNA testing before treating the relationship as confirmed.”
Marcus nodded.
“I understand.”
Alexander looked toward him.
“And until then?”
Marcus met his eyes.
“I'll cooperate with whatever you decide.”
Alexander stared at the security badge lying on the desk.
He could dismiss Marcus.
He could demand that he leave the estate.
He could punish him for the years of silence.
But he remembered the night Marcus had pulled him away from a collapsing balcony during a security incident.
The time Marcus had stayed awake for forty-eight hours after Evelyn's stroke.
The countless moments when he had quietly protected the family.
Alexander exhaled.
“I'm angry with you.”
Marcus nodded.
“I know.”
“Very angry.”
“I understand.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“But if Edward placed you here to protect me, why is he trying to replace me now?”
Marcus looked grim.
“Because the original plan changed.”
Bennett leaned forward.
“How?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Edward never intended Gabriel to become Alexander permanently.”
Maria frowned.
“Then why train him?”
Marcus looked toward the Blue Trust documents.
“Because Edward needed someone who could activate the continuity agreement.”
Alexander stared.
“Gabriel.”
Marcus nodded.
“Once the agreement was activated, Edward planned to transfer control of the trust to a private custodian.”
Bennett frowned.
“Who?”
Marcus looked away.
“I don't know.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“Marcus.”
The security chief's voice trembled.
“I know Edward intended to remove Gabriel afterward.”
Maria covered her mouth.
“Remove him?”
Marcus nodded.
“Not necessarily kill him. But erase his identity again. Send him somewhere nobody could find him.”
Alexander felt sick.
Gabriel had spent his childhood learning to become someone else.
And once he served his purpose, Edward intended to erase him again.
Bennett looked toward Marcus.
“Why are you telling us now?”
Marcus stared at the photograph of Daniel Hale.
“Because Edward knows I've stopped obeying him.”
Alexander frowned.
“What makes you think that?”
Marcus slowly reached into his pocket.
He removed a small black envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Marcus standing beside Alexander at a charity gala.
Across the image, someone had written:
THE FIRST SON MUST CHOOSE.
Maria felt cold.
“Choose what?”
Marcus turned the photograph over.
On the back were three words.
BROTHER OR BLOOD.
Alexander stared.
“Edward wants you to betray me.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“He's trying to turn my sons against each other.”
Bennett looked toward the envelope.
“When did you receive this?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Yesterday.”
Alexander stared.
“And you didn't tell anyone?”
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“I thought I could handle it.”
Alexander shook his head.
“That's the problem with everyone in this family. You all think secrets are a form of protection.”
Marcus looked devastated.
Alexander continued.
“But secrets are what Edward uses to control us.”
Silence fell over the room.
Then Bennett's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
“Blackwater?”
She listened.
Then turned to face Marcus.
“Investigators found another room.”
Marcus looked up.
“What kind of room?”
Bennett hesitated.
“A medical observation room.”
Maria's heart pounded.
“Gabriel?”
Bennett shook her head.
“No one was inside.”
Alexander clenched his jaw.
“Then what did they find?”
Bennett looked toward Thomas.
“A recording system.”
Thomas went pale.
Bennett continued.
“The room contained archived video footage going back decades.”
Marcus stared.
“What was on the footage?”
Bennett swallowed.
“A child being interviewed.”
Alexander frowned.
“Gabriel?”
“No.”
The detective looked directly at Marcus.
“The recording is dated thirty-five years ago.”
Marcus stopped breathing.
Bennett continued.
“The child identifies himself as Daniel Hale.”
Thomas began trembling.
Marcus stared.
“What does he say?”
Bennett's voice became quiet.
“He says his mother is missing.”
Marcus covered his mouth.
Bennett continued.
“And he says a man promised to help him find her.”
Alexander felt cold.
“Edward?”
Bennett nodded.
“That's what we believe.”
Marcus's eyes filled with tears.
Then Bennett looked down at her phone.
“There's one more thing.”
Alexander stepped closer.
“What?”
Bennett swallowed.
“At the end of the recording, the child is asked what he wants most.”
Marcus whispered, “What did I say?”
Bennett looked directly at him.
“YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO GO HOME.”
Marcus began crying.
Then Bennett added:
“AND THE MAN BEHIND THE CAMERA TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD—IF YOU PROMISED TO KILL YOUR LITTLE BROTHER ONE DAY.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
