Chapter 14 - The Last DucaThe Truth My Father Buried
We found Victor in the basement.
But the man standing before us was not the monster I expected.
He was bleeding.
His gun lay on the floor.
And in his hand was a photograph of my mother.
Harriet.
He looked at me.
“You finally came.”
“You killed her?”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He looked toward Adrian.
Adrian stared back.
“Ask your brother.”
I turned.
Adrian didn't move.
“Tell me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I was there.”
My stomach dropped.
“When she died?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Father confronted her.”
“And?”
“She tried to expose everything.”
“What did you do?”
Adrian looked at the floor.
“I chose the family.”
I struck him.
He didn't resist.
Grace pulled me back.
“Why?”
Adrian wiped blood from his lip.
“Because I believed Father was protecting us.”
“By kidnapping children?”
“I was nineteen.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
My voice broke.
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Since you were sixteen.”
I stared at him.
“You knew I wasn't his biological son.”
“I knew you were Elena's.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Because Father threatened to kill you.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“You still don't understand.”
I looked at him.
“Then explain it.”
He pointed toward a steel cabinet.
Inside were files.
Hundreds.
Every document my father had hidden.
Victor opened one.
A DNA report.
My name.
Elena's.
Match: 99.98%.
Another file.
Daniel's DNA.
No relation to Elena.
I looked at the boy.
Daniel shook his head.
“My entire life was another lie.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at him.
“Then what did you want?”
“The truth.”
“You could have exposed them.”
“I tried.”
“And failed.”
“My mother was killed before I could.”
“By whom?”
Victor stared at Adrian.
“Your brother.”
Adrian shook his head.
“That wasn't me.”
Victor's face tightened.
“Then who?”
Silence.
Caleb spoke.
“I know.”
Everyone turned.
He looked at Grace.
“Tell them.”
Grace started crying.
“No.”
“You deserve the truth.”
“What truth?”
Caleb looked at me.
“Harriet wasn't killed by Adrian.”
I stared.
“Then who killed her?”
He pointed toward Elena.
Elena closed her eyes.
“I did.”
The room went silent.
“What?”
Elena whispered,
“She begged me to.”
My entire body went cold.
“She was dying.”
“No.”
“She was poisoned.”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Elena looked at Victor.
“Your father.”
Victor lowered his head.
“He poisoned Harriet when he learned she had hidden you.”
I stared at the woman who had been missing for twenty-three years.
“What happened?”
Elena's voice trembled.
“Harriet knew she had days left. She asked me to make sure the secret died with her.”
“But it didn't.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“It survived in the walls.”
Then Mia spoke.
“There are more papers.”
Everyone turned.
She pointed at a small wooden drawer in the steel cabinet.
I opened it.
Inside was a final envelope.
My mother's handwriting.
My son,
There is one final thing I could not tell you.
Read the document only after you have found Elena.
I opened it.
It contained one page.
Your father never had three sons.
He had four.
My hands began shaking.
Four.
The first: Victor.
The second: Adrian.
The third: me.
The fourth...
I looked at Adrian.
He was crying.
“The fourth is dead.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
I looked between them.
“Who?”
Adrian whispered,
“Daniel.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“What?”
Adrian looked at him.
“You were never the boy from the foundation.”
Daniel's face went white.
“Then who am I?”
Adrian pointed at the photograph.
The teenage boy we had believed was Daniel.
“He is your brother.”
The room froze.
“Your real name,” Adrian said, “is Elias.”
Victor stared.
Elena covered her mouth.
And suddenly the boy who had spent his life believing he was Daniel wasn't anyone we thought he was.
Then Victor turned toward me.
“There is only one problem.”
“What?”
He smiled.
“Elias isn't the one with the blood on his hands.”
He looked at Adrian.
“It was your fourth brother who ordered the killings.”
Adrian's expression changed.
I felt my stomach drop.
“Who's the fourth brother?”
Victor raised his eyes to the security camera.
And said,
“Your father.”
The screen behind us turned on.
An old recording began.
My father was sitting at the library desk.
Alive.
Speaking directly into the camera.
“If you've reached this point, my son, then you've discovered the wall.”
He smiled.
“You've also discovered my greatest lie.”
The image flickered.
Then he said the words that ended every version of my childhood at once.
“You are not the heir.”
May you like
A pause.
“You are the trap.”
