Chapter 14 - The First SonNobody spoke.
The man stepped forward.
Adrian stared.
It was impossible.
The man looked exactly like Daniel.
Except older.
Scarred.
Thin.
His eyes were cold.
Daniel backed away.
“You.”
The older man smiled.
“You've been hiding behind my name for twenty years.”
Adrian looked between them.
“Who are you?”
The man answered:
“Damian Mercer.”
Daniel whispered:
“My brother.”
Adrian's chest tightened.
“You were there.”
Damian smiled.
“Of course.”
“The fire.”
“Yes.”
“Jonah.”
Damian's expression changed.
“You finally remembered him.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
Damian laughed.
“You still think this is about Jonah.”
“Then what is it about?”
“The children.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
Damian tossed a key onto the floor.
“The clinic created seven subjects.”
“What happened to them?”
“I found them.”
“And?”
“Daniel sold their identities.”
Adrian stared.
“Sold them to whom?”
“To families who needed heirs.”
Lucas's fists tightened.
“So I was sold.”
“Yes.”
“And the others?”
“Sold too.”
Adrian looked at Clara.
“What about my daughter?”
Damian shook his head.
“Clara was never part of the program.”
“Then why did Daniel want her?”
“Because she is proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Damian smiled.
“That natural heirs can exist outside the program.”
Adrian understood.
Clara's existence proved the clinic wasn't necessary.
Mia proved something even more dangerous.
A natural Vale descendant could still inherit the entire fortune.
Daniel's plans had depended on eliminating that possibility.
Adrian turned to Elena.
“Who is Jonah?”
Elena was crying.
“He was the boy your father thought he created.”
“But?”
Evelyn answered:
“He wasn't created.”
Adrian stared.
“Then whose child was he?”
Damian's smile vanished.
“Mine.”
Silence.
Everyone looked at him.
“I had a son,” Damian said.
“Your father discovered the child carried the Vale markers.”
Adrian frowned.
“You're a Mercer.”
“My mother was a Vale.”
Adrian's heart stopped.
“The family tree was altered.”
Damian nodded.
“Your grandfather had a daughter no one knew about.”
Adrian couldn't process it.
“The clinic wasn't creating Vale heirs.”
“It was hiding them.”
Lucas whispered:
“Then the seven children…”
“Were descendants of the same family.”
Damian looked at Adrian.
“And your father killed anyone who could prove it.”
Adrian felt sick.
“Jonah?”
Damian's eyes softened.
“Jonah survived.”
Adrian almost collapsed.
“Where?”
Damian handed him a photograph.
A man in his twenties stood beside a hospital window.
Same gray-green eyes.
Same birthmark.
Adrian stared.
“That's him.”
Damian nodded.
“He's been searching for you.”
“Where is he?”
Damian smiled.
“You already met him.”
Adrian looked around.
“No.”
Damian shook his head.
“Yes.”
He pointed toward Lucas.
Adrian froze.
Lucas looked confused.
Damian spoke:
“Lucas is Jonah.”
Silence.
Lucas staggered backward.
“No.”
Damian continued.
“Daniel renamed him.”
“No.”
“You've spent twenty-eight years looking for your brother.”
Adrian stared at Lucas.
Lucas's eyes filled with tears.
“That's not my name.”
Adrian slowly stepped toward him.
“Lucas…”
The young man shook his head.
“My name is Jonah?”
Damian nodded.
Then Daniel suddenly pulled out a gun.
He pointed it at Clara.
“Enough.”
Adrian moved.
“Don't.”
Daniel's finger tightened on the trigger.
“Give me Mia.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Take me instead.”
Daniel smiled.
“I don't want you.”
His eyes moved toward the baby.
“I want the girl.”
Then a gunshot exploded.
Daniel dropped the weapon.
Victoria stood behind him.
Her hands were shaking.
Adrian turned.
She whispered:
“Run.”
May you like
But behind her, another dozen men entered the room.
And all of them were wearing the Vale family crest.
