Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEADNobody moved.

The rain continued pounding against the glass.

The man on the staircase smiled.

“Hello, little brother.”

Josiah's gun remained perfectly steady.

But his hand was shaking.

Willow saw it.

So did Mia.

The man looked exactly like someone who had died twelve years ago.

Same sharp jaw.

Same black hair.

Same gray eyes.

Same scar beside his mouth.

Josiah's brother.

Adrian.

Killed in an explosion that destroyed an entire warehouse.

Josiah had buried him.

He had watched his coffin lowered into the ground.

He had carried the guilt ever since.

“You're dead,” Josiah whispered.

Adrian smiled.

“That's what you were told.”

Three guards raised their weapons.

Adrian didn't move.

“You think shooting me changes anything?”

Josiah stepped forward.

“Who sent you?”

Adrian chuckled.

“No one.”

His eyes shifted toward Mia.

“I came for what belongs to me.”

Mia grabbed Willow's hand.

Willow felt her fingers turn cold.

Adrian's expression softened.

“Mia.”

The girl shook violently.

“Don't say my name.”

Adrian smiled.

“You've gotten bigger.”

Josiah's face darkened.

“Stay away from my daughter.”

Adrian looked at him.

“Your daughter?”

He laughed.

“That is where you're still confused.”

The restaurant erupted in silence.

Willow's eyes widened.

Josiah's voice dropped.

“What did you say?”

Adrian slowly walked down the final step.

“Mia was never supposed to be yours.”

Josiah's gun clicked.

“I buried the truth years ago.”

Adrian nodded.

“And your wife buried more.”

At the mention of Mia's mother, Josiah's expression shattered.

His wife had died eight years ago.

The official report said complications during childbirth.

Josiah had never questioned it.

Not publicly.

Because he had loved her.

Because believing she died giving birth to Mia had been easier than believing the alternative.

Adrian reached inside his coat.

Every weapon in the room rose.

He slowly pulled out an envelope.

Then dropped it onto the floor.

“Read it.”

Josiah didn't move.

Adrian smiled.

“You spent eight years blaming yourself for her death.”

His voice became colder.

“You should have blamed the people standing beside you.”

Josiah looked at his security team.

Suspicion passed through the room.

One man stepped backward.

Josiah noticed.

“Lock him down.”

Two guards seized the man.

“Sir, wait!”

Josiah's attention snapped toward him.

The guard's face had gone pale.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

Adrian laughed.

“That's what they all say.”

He looked at Willow.

“And she knows.”

Willow frowned.

“Knows what?”

Adrian stared at her.

“You.”

She stiffened.

“How do you know me?”

Adrian smiled.

“Your mother used to work for my family.”

Willow's blood ran cold.

“My mother?”

Before she could ask anything else, a gunshot exploded.

The lights went out.

People screamed.

Willow instinctively grabbed Mia.

A bullet struck the wall.

Josiah fired toward the muzzle flash.

Another shot.

Then another.

Security shouted.

Someone hit the emergency lights.

Red illumination flooded the dining room.

Willow was on the floor with Mia beneath her.

“Stay down!”

She felt the child shaking.

“Willow…”

“I'm here.”

“I know him.”

Willow stared at Mia.

“Who?”

“The man who looks like Daddy.”

“What about him?”

Mia swallowed.

“He came to my room before.”

Willow's breath stopped.

“When?”

“While Daddy was sleeping.”

“How did he get inside?”

Mia's eyes filled with tears.

“He knows the secret door.”

Josiah heard.

“What secret door?”

Mia looked at him.

Then pointed toward the wine cellar.

“There.”

Security rushed toward it.

Josiah opened the hidden door behind the shelves.

A narrow staircase descended into darkness.

His face became grim.

Nobody knew about that passage.

Nobody except family.

He turned slowly toward Adrian.

But Adrian was gone.

Only blood remained on the staircase.

Willow stared at the stain.

Then she noticed the envelope Adrian had left.

She picked it up.

Inside was a photograph.

A woman.

Holding a baby.

Willow recognized the woman immediately.

It was Mia's mother.

But the baby wasn't Mia.

On the back of the photograph was a handwritten message.

THE GIRL YOU CALL YOUR DAUGHTER WAS SWITCHED AT BIRTH.

Willow's fingers went numb.

She looked at Josiah.

He read the message.

His face went completely white.

Then Mia whispered:

“Daddy... I'm not your daughter?”

Josiah looked at his little girl.

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