Chapter 7 - DanielDaniel didn't run.
That frightened Roman more than anything.
He stood in the middle of the corridor as alarms screamed around them.
“I thought you were dead,” Roman said.
Daniel smiled.
“I was.”
Sophia tightened her grip on Gabriel.
Daniel looked at the baby.
“My son.”
Roman stepped in front of her.
“You don't come near him.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Blood.”
Roman stared.
Daniel pulled out a photograph.
It showed Roman and Vincent as children.
Then he showed another.
Roman stared at it.
It was a hospital photograph.
A newborn.
His birth date.
Roman's birth date.
He looked at Daniel.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel whispered:
“Your parents weren't raising two brothers.”
Roman's heart pounded.
“They were raising twins.”
The hallway seemed to disappear.
Sophia looked between them.
“Twins?”
Daniel nodded.
“Vincent wasn't your younger brother.”
Roman's face went blank.
“He was your identical twin.”
Roman shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel held up a second document.
DNA analysis.
Roman and Vincent.
The probability was nearly one hundred percent.
Roman stared.
“Why would my parents tell me he was younger?”
“Because one child was supposed to disappear.”
Daniel's gaze moved toward Gabriel.
“And they chose Vincent.”
Roman felt something crack inside him.
Memories flooded back.
Vincent always looked slightly younger.
Vincent always had a scar above his eyebrow.
Roman had always been told he was the stronger brother.
The heir.
The one meant to inherit everything.
Vincent had been the mistake.
The hidden child.
The child whose existence could expose the family.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Your father didn't kill Vincent.”
Roman's voice shook.
“Then who did?”
Daniel smiled without humor.
“Your mother.”
Sophia gasped.
Roman shook his head.
“She loved him.”
“She loved you.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Your mother was forced to choose.”
Roman's eyes hardened.
“What happened?”
Daniel looked toward the elevator.
“Ask her.”
The elevator doors opened.
Elena stepped out.
Roman stared.
She looked exhausted.
“You wanted answers,” she said.
“I want the truth.”
Elena looked at Gabriel.
Then she said:
“Your father planned to sell Vincent's identity.”
Roman frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Vincent was the biological heir.”
Roman suddenly understood.
“If Vincent was the heir…”
Elena nodded.
“You weren't supposed to inherit anything.”
Roman's stomach dropped.
The empire.
The buildings.
The money.
Everything.
It had belonged to Vincent.
And someone had erased him.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“I chose you because your father threatened to kill both of you.”
Roman stared.
“You let me live under a lie.”
“I saved your life.”
“You destroyed his.”
Elena didn't answer.
A gunshot echoed.
Daniel collapsed.
Sophia screamed.
Roman caught him.
Daniel looked up.
Blood spread across his shirt.
He smiled weakly.
“Now…”
He coughed.
“Now you know why they need the baby.”
Roman held him.
“Why?”
Daniel whispered:
“Because Gabriel is the only legal heir they can't erase.”
His eyes closed.
Roman looked toward the dark corridor.
May you like
Someone had fired from a distance.
And whoever pulled the trigger had just silenced the only person who knew the whole truth.
