Chapter 11 - THE LAST LETTERBrianna felt her knees weaken.
Ariana screamed.
"No!"
She collapsed into Ethan's arms.
Damian stood motionless.
His mother was dead.
The woman who had protected Brianna.
The woman who had hidden the truth.
The woman who had tried to stop Victor.
Gone.
The officer explained that they had found her in an abandoned warehouse.
There were no signs of a struggle.
She had been killed hours earlier.
Brianna couldn't stop crying.
That evening, they returned to Damian's mansion.
The house felt different.
Empty.
Like a place that had forgotten how to breathe.
A detective delivered a sealed envelope.
"It was found with your mother."
Brianna opened it.
The letter was addressed to her.
My dearest Brianna,
If you are reading this, then I failed to protect you.
Brianna cried as she continued.
I need you to know that every terrible thing I did was meant to keep you alive.
I lied about your father.
I lied about Damian.
I lied about the wedding.
But there was one truth I could never say aloud.
Brianna paused.
Damian leaned closer.
She read the next line.
Victor Hale is not the man you should fear most.
Her hands shook.
The greatest danger has always been inside our own family.
Ariana's face turned pale.
Brianna continued.
There is someone who has been controlling Victor for years.
Someone who benefits from the destruction of both families.
Someone who knew exactly where every piece on the board was.
Then came the final line.
You have met this person before.
Brianna stared at the page.
"Who?"
There was no answer.
Then something slipped from the envelope.
A tiny photograph.
It showed three people.
Their mother.
Victor Hale.
And Damian's father.
Standing beside them was another man.
Brianna recognized him immediately.
Her breath stopped.
"No."
Damian took the photograph.
His face turned pale.
Ariana whispered,
"That's..."
Ethan answered.
"Our uncle."
The brother of Damian's father.
A man who had disappeared years earlier.
A man everyone believed had died.
Damian clenched the photograph.
"He isn't dead."
Ethan shook his head.
"No."
"Where is he?"
Nobody knew.
Then Marcus entered the room.
"We found something."
He handed Damian his phone.
A bank account had been accessed that morning.
The account belonged to the missing man.
The transaction location was only thirty miles away.
Damian looked at Brianna.
"We're going."
Ariana stood.
"I'm coming."
Ethan followed.
But Marcus stopped them.
"There's one more thing."
"What?"
Marcus showed them a security recording.
The video showed a man entering a private hospital.
Damian stared.
"That's him."
Brianna looked closer.
Then she noticed the person walking behind him.
Her eyes widened.
"It can't be."
"Who?" Damian asked.
Brianna pointed at the screen.
A woman was walking beside the missing man.
Her face was partly hidden.
But Brianna knew that face.
She had seen it many times.
The woman turned slightly toward the camera.
It was their mother.
Damian froze.
"But she was dead."
Marcus whispered,
"The hospital records say she was admitted yesterday."
Ariana stepped backward.
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"Then whose body did they find?"
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