Chapter 5 - The Bargain Their Fathers Made
Thomas was transferred secretly to a secure medical facility the next morning.
When Emilia entered his room, she did not hug him.
She placed her phone on the table.
Then said:
—Tell me about the fire.
Her father closed his eyes.
That told her everything.
—You were there.
—Yes.
—Why?
—Jonathan called me.
Daniel stood near the door.
No prosthetic.
Thomas stared at his real face for several seconds.
—You look like your mother.
Daniel stiffened.
Thomas continued.
“Jonathan had decided to destroy the evidence. He said the investigation was compromised and Adrian would kill everyone connected to it.”
—So he set the fire?
Thomas shook his head.
“He planned to burn the archive building after removing the evidence.”
—That is not what happened.
—No.
Thomas explained that when he arrived, Adrian was already arguing with Jonathan.
Another man was present.
Marcus Reed.
Jonathan’s head of corporate security.
The same man who later became Daniel’s protector.
Daniel whispered:
—Marcus saved me.
Thomas looked at him.
“No.”
Silence.
—What?
—Marcus arranged the fire.
Daniel stepped closer.
“That’s impossible.”
“He was working with Adrian?”
“No.”
Thomas shook his head.
“He was working for himself.”
Marcus discovered the criminal network and realized both Jonathan and Adrian possessed enough evidence to destroy him as well.
He planned to kill both.
Instead Daniel arrived unexpectedly.
The explosion began early.
Thomas escaped.
Adrian escaped.
Jonathan did not.
Marcus found Daniel injured behind the property.
—He saved me.
Thomas’s eyes filled with pity.
“He needed you alive.”
—Why?
“Because a surviving Beaumont heir allowed the company to continue operating.”
Daniel sat slowly.
Every foundation of his life was shifting.
The man he trusted most.
The man who convinced him to fake the scars.
The man who had managed his security for twelve years.
Marcus.
—Where is he now? Emilia asked.
Daniel looked up.
“At my mansion.”
Emilia’s blood ran cold.
Marcus controlled the security systems.
The guards.
Daniel’s movements.
Perhaps even the investigation of Adrian.
—Then he knows everything.
Daniel reached for his phone.
No signal.
Evelyn tried hers.
Nothing.
The medical facility’s communications suddenly failed.
A second later, emergency lights turned red.
Daniel stood.
—Everyone away from the windows.
A voice came through the hallway speakers.
Calm.
Familiar.
Marcus.
“Daniel.”
Daniel froze.
“I’m disappointed.”
Emilia grabbed her father’s hand.
Marcus continued.
“Twelve years of keeping you alive, and this is how you repay me?”
Daniel looked toward the locked door.
—What do you want?
The speaker crackled.
“The same thing I wanted twelve years ago.”
—The evidence.
“Yes.”
—Adrian has the key.
A laugh.
“No.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Marcus continued.
“Adrian has a decoy.”
Emilia looked at her father.
Thomas suddenly understood.
—The music box.
Marcus said:
“Empty.”
Emilia’s heart pounded.
—Then where is the key?
Marcus answered.
“Ask Emilia.”
She stared at the speaker.
—I don’t know anything.
“Oh, but you do.”
Thomas began crying.
Emilia looked at him.
—Dad?
He shook his head.
“I’m sorry.”
—For what?
Thomas reached toward her necklace.
A small silver pendant Emilia had worn since childhood.
It had belonged to her mother.
Thomas touched it.
—Your mother told me no one would ever search something that never left your body.
Emilia stepped backward.
“No.”
Daniel stared at the pendant.
Inside it was not a photograph.
Not a lock of hair.
A microscopic storage wafer had been hidden behind the silver backing.
For eighteen years.
Emilia felt betrayed all over again.
Her father.
Daniel.
Their families.
Everyone had hidden decisions inside her life.
The speaker came alive.
Marcus said:
“Bring me the pendant, Daniel.”
—And if I refuse?
“Then this facility loses more than electricity.”
Daniel looked toward Emilia.
She immediately shook her head.
—Don’t.
Marcus laughed.
“You see? Marriage already suits you.”
Daniel ignored him.
Then something unexpected happened.
Another voice came through the speaker.
Adrian.
“Marcus.”
Silence.
Marcus’s tone changed.
“How did you access this channel?”
Adrian laughed.
“You taught me.”
Daniel stared upward.
Adrian continued:
“Daniel, if you want to survive, listen carefully.”
—Why would I trust you?
“You shouldn’t.”
A pause.
“But for the next ten minutes, Marcus wants all three of us dead.”
Emilia realized what was happening.
The two brothers who had spent twelve years believing the other was the enemy had finally discovered the same truth.
May you like
Marcus had built his power by keeping them divided.
And the only way out was to work together.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(1048x378:1050x380)/Jenna-Bush-Hager-100223-c94955eb572d47ea815a340c18c6e771.jpg)
