Chapter 13: The Bloodline Nobody Wanted
The paper slipped from Ethan's hand.
It landed on the hospital floor.
But nobody moved to pick it up.
Because everyone in the room had seen the name.
Victor Carter.
The man who had controlled the Carter family.
The man who had supposedly destroyed Anna's life.
The man who had spent decades hiding in the shadows.
Could he really be Ethan's biological father?
"No."
Richard's voice broke the silence.
It wasn't anger.
It wasn't denial.
It was something much worse.
Fear.
Ethan slowly looked at him.
"You knew."
Richard looked away.
That small movement answered everything.
"You knew."
Ethan repeated the words.
Richard closed his eyes.
"Ethan..."
"No."
Ethan stepped backward.
"Don't say my name like you know me."
The sentence hurt.
Everyone saw it.
Richard Carter, the man who had survived decades of enemies and betrayal...
Looked wounded by one sentence from the son he raised.
"I didn't know the entire truth."
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Of course."
He pointed around the room.
"Nobody knows the entire truth."
His eyes moved from Richard to Margaret.
"Everyone has a secret."
Then to Daniel.
"Everyone has a reason."
Finally, he looked at the DNA test.
"And I'm the only person who was never allowed to know anything."
The room went silent.
Richard picked up the document.
He stared at the handwriting beneath the result.
His hands trembled.
"Victor wrote this."
Ethan looked at him.
"You recognize his handwriting?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
"Then explain."
Richard looked exhausted.
"Your grandfather..."
He stopped.
Ethan immediately corrected him.
"Your father?"
The words hit Richard harder than expected.
Richard looked down.
"I don't know."
That answer made Ethan angry.
"You don't know?"
Richard looked at him.
"For twenty-six years, I believed you were my son."
A pause.
"And maybe..."
His voice weakened.
"Maybe believing that was the only thing that kept me alive."
Ethan said nothing.
Because he didn't know what to feel anymore.
Anger?
Pain?
Confusion?
All of it had become one impossible storm inside him.
Margaret slowly stood.
"There is something you need to understand."
Ethan looked at her.
"What?"
She took a deep breath.
"Victor Carter was not just a powerful man."
"He was obsessed with legacy."
"With blood."
"With the Carter name."
Ethan frowned.
"Why?"
"Because he believed greatness was inherited."
Margaret looked at the DNA test.
"He believed only his bloodline could continue his empire."
A cold feeling entered Ethan's chest.
"So if I was his son..."
"Then you were the heir he always wanted."
The room became silent.
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"That doesn't make sense."
Everyone looked at him.
"If Victor wanted Ethan as his heir, why would he hide him?"
Margaret answered:
"Because Anna refused."
Ethan looked at her.
"Refused what?"
"She refused to let Victor turn her child into another version of himself."
Those words stayed in Ethan's mind.
Another version of himself.
He thought about Richard.
A man who had spent his life fighting his own family.
A man who had loved him.
A man who might not have been his biological father...
But had still been his father.
Suddenly, Richard's phone rang.
Everyone looked at him.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Nobody spoke.
Richard answered.
"Hello?"
A distorted voice came through.
Everyone could hear it.
"Richard."
His face changed.
Because he recognized the voice.
"Jonathan."
Ethan froze.
The voice laughed softly.
"So."
A pause.
"The little boy finally knows."
Richard tightened his grip on the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Still protecting him?"
Jonathan laughed.
"You always were weak."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Let me talk to him."
Richard hesitated.
Then handed over the phone.
"Ethan..."
The voice became quiet.
Then:
"So this is the boy who destroyed my family's future."
Ethan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Jonathan laughed.
"You think this is about your mother?"
Silence.
"You think this is about Richard?"
Another pause.
"No."
His voice became colder.
"This is about you."
Ethan felt a chill.
"What does that mean?"
Jonathan continued:
"Your mother didn't run from Victor."
"She didn't run from me."
"She ran because she discovered what you were."
Ethan's heart pounded.
"What am I?"
Jonathan answered:
"The reason the Carter family almost collapsed."
Nobody moved.
"Your birth was never an accident."
Ethan's breathing became heavier.
"Explain."
Jonathan laughed.
"Ask Richard why he lied about the night you were born."
Ethan looked at Richard.
Richard's face was pale.
Jonathan continued:
"Ask him why Anna begged him to take you away."
"Ask him why she called you..."
A pause.
"The child who would end the Carter empire."
The call ended.
Nobody spoke.
The silence was unbearable.
Ethan looked at Richard.
"What did he mean?"
Richard didn't answer.
"What did he mean?"
Richard sat down slowly.
For the first time, he looked defeated.
"Your mother discovered something before you were born."
"What?"
Richard looked at him.
"She discovered a prediction."
Ethan frowned.
"A prediction?"
Richard nodded.
"Your grandfather believed in one thing."
"What?"
Richard whispered:
"That one person would destroy everything he built."
The room became colder.
"And he believed that person was you."
Ethan stared.
"So he tried to erase me?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
"But why?"
Richard looked at him.
"Because Victor believed his own son would become his greatest enemy."
Ethan looked confused.
"His own son?"
Richard didn't answer.
The answer was already obvious.
Victor Carter wasn't afraid of an outsider.
He was afraid of his own blood.
Later that night, Ethan sat alone in the hospital garden.
The world felt unreal.
A gardener watered plants nearby.
A couple laughed in the distance.
Life continued normally.
But Ethan's life had become something else.
He looked at the necklace his mother left him.
The one Richard had kept hidden.
For the first time, he noticed something.
A small symbol engraved on the back.
A symbol he had never seen before.
A circle.
A line.
And three letters.
A.C.V.
He searched his phone.
The result appeared instantly.
His face changed.
Because the symbol belonged to an organization that had disappeared twenty-six years ago.
An organization created by people who wanted to destroy the Carter empire.
And the founder...
Was Anna Carter.
His mother.
Ethan stared at the screen.
His mother wasn't just a victim.
She had been fighting.
She had built something.
Something powerful enough to scare the Carter family.
Then his phone received a message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
"If you want the truth about your mother, come alone."
A location appeared.
An abandoned building outside the city.
Ethan stared at it.
He knew it was a trap.
He knew someone wanted him there.
But he also knew one thing.
For twenty-six years...
Everyone had been deciding his fate.
Now it was his turn.
He stood up.
Put the necklace around his neck.
And walked into the darkness.
Not knowing that someone had been waiting for him.
Someone who knew the truth about Anna Carter.
May you like
Someone who knew why Ethan was born.
And someone who had been protecting him from the very beginning.
