Chapter 10 - The Son of the EnemyAdrian couldn't breathe.
“Lucas Mercer.”
The name repeated inside his head.
Daniel's son.
His brother.
The child taken from his mother.
He looked at Evelyn.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-two years?”
“Yes.”
“You watched me sit beside Daniel.”
“I had no choice.”
Adrian turned away.
His entire childhood suddenly looked different.
The family dinners.
The holidays.
Daniel's visits.
Victoria's presence.
Every conversation now seemed to contain a hidden meaning.
“Does Lucas know?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is he?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Daniel moves him constantly.”
“Why?”
“Because Lucas has the bloodline Daniel needs.”
Adrian frowned.
“For what?”
“To access the original Vale trust.”
Adrian remembered his father mentioning a sealed account.
One account nobody could access.
The trust required the DNA of two siblings.
He had always assumed it was a legal technicality.
Now he understood.
His father had built a vault that could only be opened by both sons.
Daniel had spent twenty-two years searching for the second key.
Lucas.
Adrian whispered:
“Where is Victoria?”
Daniel's voice suddenly came through the speaker again.
“She's with me.”
Adrian looked around.
“Put her on.”
A pause.
Then Victoria's voice.
“Adrian.”
He closed his eyes.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
“I don't know.”
“You were helping me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid you wouldn't believe me.”
Adrian's voice softened.
“I believe you now.”
Silence.
Then Victoria said:
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“I know where Lucas is.”
Adrian's heartbeat jumped.
“Where?”
“Your father's old private school.”
“The one in Blackridge?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he be there?”
“Because that's where Daniel sent him when he was a child.”
Victoria paused.
“Adrian…”
“What?”
“Lucas knows who you are.”
Adrian froze.
“How?”
“He has your father's letters.”
“What letters?”
“The letters your father wrote to him.”
Adrian felt cold.
“What did they say?”
Victoria whispered:
“Your father told Lucas that you killed their mother.”
Adrian's eyes widened.
“What?”
“He told him you were responsible for the fire.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Adrian clenched his fists.
“All these years, Daniel made my brother hate me.”
“Yes.”
“And he raised him to help destroy the Vale family.”
“Yes.”
The call ended.
Adrian turned to Elena.
“We're going to Blackridge.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“I'm going.”
“You don't understand.”
“I've understood enough.”
She grabbed his arm.
“If you meet Lucas, don't tell him you're his brother.”
Adrian stared.
“Why?”
“Because Daniel taught him that anyone carrying the Vale blood is his enemy.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Let him choose.”
That night, Adrian and Evelyn drove toward Blackridge.
Rain poured over the windshield.
Clara slept in the back seat beside Mia.
Adrian's eyes remained fixed on the road.
Halfway there, his phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
You should have asked why Evelyn knew about you before she knew about Lucas.
Adrian frowned.
Another message arrived.
She is still lying.
Then a photograph.
Evelyn standing outside a hospital.
Twenty-three years ago.
Beside a nurse.
Holding a newborn.
But Adrian noticed something strange.
There was another woman standing in the background.
Victoria's mother.
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And beneath the photograph was one sentence:
Lucas was not the only child Evelyn gave away.
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