Chapter 12: The Brother Who Stole Another Man's Life
The cane hit the hospital floor.
A sharp sound.
Small.
But in that moment, it felt louder than thunder.
Everyone turned toward Margaret.
The elderly woman who had faced insults, threats, and decades of secrets without breaking...
Was now trembling.
Her eyes were fixed on Richard.
"Jonathan..."
She whispered the name like it belonged to a nightmare.
Ethan looked between them.
"Who is Jonathan Carter?"
Nobody answered.
And that terrified him more than anything.
Because every time someone refused to answer, it meant there was another piece of his life hidden somewhere.
Richard slowly walked toward the window.
"Jonathan was my older brother."
Ethan stared.
"You never told me you had a brother."
Richard gave a bitter smile.
"Because I wanted everyone to forget he existed."
"Why?"
Richard looked at his reflection in the glass.
"Because Jonathan was the person who taught me that family could become a weapon."
The room became silent.
Michael tried to sit up.
Daniel immediately helped him.
"You knew about Jonathan?"
Michael nodded weakly.
"Everyone close to Anna knew."
Ethan looked at him.
"Then why didn't anyone tell me?"
Michael looked away.
"Because Anna made us promise."
"What promise?"
Michael swallowed.
"That we would protect you from the Carter family."
Ethan laughed quietly.
"The Carter family."
He repeated the words.
A family name that had given him everything.
And taken everything.
Richard continued.
"Jonathan was born first."
"He was brilliant."
"Charming."
"Everyone admired him."
Ethan looked at him.
"And you?"
Richard smiled sadly.
"I was the disappointment."
The answer surprised him.
"Your grandfather Victor believed Jonathan was the future of the family."
"He trained him."
"He shaped him."
"He turned him into someone who believed power was more important than people."
Richard looked down.
"But Jonathan wasn't satisfied."
"What did he want?"
Richard's voice became colder.
"Everything."
Twenty-six years earlier.
A younger Richard stood in a dark office.
Victor Carter sat behind a large desk.
Jonathan stood beside him.
Two brothers.
Two different paths.
Anna stood across from them.
Holding documents.
Her face was determined.
"You can't hide this anymore."
Victor smiled.
"You still don't understand how the world works."
Anna looked at Richard.
"Richard knows the truth."
Jonathan laughed.
"Richard knows what we allow him to know."
That sentence stayed in Richard's memory forever.
Because that was when he realized.
He wasn't a son.
He was a tool.
A piece on a chessboard.
Anna looked at him.
"Richard, help me."
And for the first time in his life...
Someone believed he could choose.
Back in the hospital, Ethan listened silently.
"So what happened that night?"
Richard's face became painful.
"Jonathan found out Anna had copied the documents."
"He knew she was going to expose Victor."
"And he knew I would help her."
Ethan frowned.
"Then why didn't you stop him?"
Richard looked at him.
"Because I tried."
A pause.
"And I failed."
The words were heavy.
"Jonathan followed Anna."
"He found her."
"He took the evidence."
"And then..."
Richard stopped.
Ethan waited.
"What happened?"
Richard looked at Michael.
Michael closed his eyes.
"Jonathan shot her."
The room froze.
Ethan looked at Michael.
"But you said you saw Richard."
Michael's face filled with regret.
"I did."
He looked at Richard.
"Because Jonathan was wearing Richard's jacket."
Silence.
"He wanted everyone to believe Richard did it."
Ethan felt sick.
"So he framed his own brother?"
Richard nodded.
"Jonathan knew something."
"What?"
"He knew if Anna died, I would never recover."
Richard looked at Ethan.
"And he was right."
A sudden sound interrupted them.
The hospital elevator opened.
Security guards rushed through the hallway.
One of them approached Daniel.
"Mr. Hayes."
Daniel turned.
"What happened?"
The guard looked nervous.
"We found someone."
Everyone became alert.
"Who?"
The guard looked at Ethan.
"Someone who entered through the emergency exit."
Richard immediately stepped forward.
"Where is he?"
The guard hesitated.
"He escaped."
Daniel frowned.
"Then why are you telling us?"
The guard slowly pulled out a small object.
A photograph.
"We found this on him."
Richard took it.
The moment he saw it...
His face changed.
Ethan noticed.
"What is it?"
Richard didn't answer.
He handed the photo to Ethan.
Ethan looked down.
And his heart stopped.
It was a picture of a young woman.
Anna.
Standing outside a house.
Holding a baby.
But beside her...
Was another person.
Someone Ethan had never seen before.
A man.
With the same face as Richard.
Jonathan.
But that wasn't what shocked him.
It was the writing on the back.
A message.
Written by Anna.
"If Ethan ever finds this, tell him the truth."
Ethan turned the photo over.
There was another line.
"His father is not Richard Carter."
The room became completely silent.
Ethan looked up.
"What?"
Richard went pale.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at the picture.
Because they all understood the meaning.
Twenty-six years of secrets.
Twenty-six years of lies.
And now the biggest question had finally appeared.
If Richard wasn't Ethan's real father...
Then who was?
Ethan looked at Richard.
"Tell me."
Richard said nothing.
"Who is my father?"
The door to the room suddenly opened.
A nurse stood there.
Her face was terrified.
"Mr. Carter..."
Everyone turned.
She held a document in her hand.
"We found another record."
Ethan stepped forward.
"What record?"
The nurse looked at the paper.
"A DNA test."
Silence.
"From twenty-six years ago."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"Whose DNA?"
The nurse looked at him.
"Yours."
A pause.
"And another man's."
Ethan took the paper.
His hands shook.
The name at the bottom was visible.
A name nobody expected.
A name that connected him to an enemy nobody knew existed.
The test result had one sentence.
"Father: Unknown."
But beneath it...
Someone had written by hand.
A single name.
Victor Carter.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Because the man who destroyed his family...
May you like
Might not have been his grandfather.
He might have been his father.
