Chapter 10 - The Brother She Never KnewEmergency lights flickered on.
Adrian stood at the end of the hallway.
He looked nothing like the ruthless man Isabella had imagined.
He looked tired.
Almost grieving.
He held no weapon.
“I didn't come to hurt you.”
Marcus still aimed at him.
“Stop moving.”
Adrian stopped.
“I need five minutes.”
“Why?”
“Because after tonight, I may not get another chance.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“Why did you call yourself my brother?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because I am.”
Isabella shook her head.
“My mother only had one daughter.”
“No.”
Adrian glanced at Eleanor.
“Tell her.”
Eleanor lowered her head.
“When your mother was young, she had another child.”
Isabella's eyes widened.
“That's impossible.”
“She was seventeen.”
“Her family forced her to give him up.”
Adrian smiled bitterly.
“They gave me to the Blackwoods.”
Isabella couldn't speak.
Adrian continued.
“I grew up believing your father was my enemy.”
“Your mother believed I'd been killed.”
“She was wrong.”
“I survived.”
Then everything became clear.
Nathan's father had raised Adrian.
Trained him.
Used him.
But Adrian had eventually discovered his origin.
He found Isabella.
He watched her.
And three years ago, when she collapsed, he intervened.
“I erased part of your hospital record,” Adrian said.
“Why?”
“Because they were looking for you.”
“They wanted to test your blood.”
“Your pregnancy changed the calculations.”
Isabella touched her stomach.
“You knew about my baby before I did.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because the Blackwoods had already begun monitoring you.”
Adrian looked toward Nathan.
“He was supposed to report everything.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“I stopped.”
Adrian nodded.
“Eventually.”
Isabella's anger returned.
“Everyone keeps telling me they protected me.”
“Yet I ended up surrounded by people who wanted me destroyed.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're right.”
He handed her a small key.
“This opens the ledger vault.”
Isabella stared.
“Where?”
“Under Saint Eleanor Hospital.”
Marcus frowned.
“That's a functioning hospital.”
“That's why nobody suspects it.”
Adrian explained that Eclipse had used the basement beneath the hospital for years.
It contained private records.
Financial ledgers.
Blackmail material.
And the original evidence from Isabella's father's investigation.
“What about my mother?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“She was there.”
“She's alive?”
“No.”
Isabella's heart dropped.
“She died in that basement.”
Adrian swallowed.
“She gave me the ledger before she died.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Voss was searching for you.”
Adrian looked toward Nathan.
“And because Nathan was still inside the Blackwood network.”
Nathan answered,
“I was trying to dismantle it.”
“You were trying to control it.”
“Maybe both.”
Adrian looked at Isabella.
“Your husband has been lying to you.”
Isabella stared at Nathan.
“What else don't I know?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Adrian smiled bitterly.
“That silence is your answer.”
Nathan finally spoke.
“There is one thing.”
Isabella waited.
“When you were sixteen, your father asked me to protect you.”
“And I agreed.”
“But Voss found out.”
“So your father created a contingency.”
“What contingency?”
Nathan looked at her stomach.
“The baby.”
Isabella's heartbeat quickened.
“The baby was designed to expose Eclipse.”
“How?”
“The genetic marker.”
“It interacts with a biometric vault your father built.”
“It can unlock the original ledger.”
Adrian nodded.
“That's why they want the child.”
Isabella suddenly understood.
The birth was not simply a family event.
It was a countdown.
“When is the vault accessible?”
Adrian answered,
“Only during the final month of pregnancy.”
She stared at him.
“How long?”
“Ten days.”
Silence.
Ten days.
That meant Eclipse had ten days to find her.
Ten days to control the trust.
Ten days to steal the ledger.
Then the doors burst open.
Security officers rushed in.
Marcus shouted,
“Down!”
Gunfire exploded.
Adrian tackled Isabella to the floor.
Nathan shielded her.
Victoria screamed.
The lights shattered.
Someone grabbed Isabella from behind.
She fought.
Then felt a needle enter her arm.
Her vision blurred.
“NO!”
Nathan screamed.
He tried to reach her.
But three men pulled him back.
Isabella's last sight was Adrian standing over her.
Blood on his face.
Then darkness.
She woke in a white room.
Her wrists were strapped to a hospital bed.
A monitor showed her baby's heartbeat.
And a man in a white coat stood beside her.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
Not her brother.
Not the man from the basement.
The other Adrian.
The doctor.
He smiled.
“You finally remembered me.”
Isabella stared at him.
The doctor leaned closer.
“You've been carrying my secret for three years.”
“What secret?”
He placed a folder beside her.
“Ask your husband.”
Then he pressed a button.
The monitor changed.
A second heartbeat appeared.
Isabella stared in horror.
May you like
The doctor smiled.
“Your baby isn't alone.”
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