Chapter 7 - BROTHER’S BLOOD
Christopher stood motionless after the call ended.
Nobody around him spoke.
The security chief finally asked whether he was all right.
Christopher didn’t answer.
Rachel’s words repeated inside his head.
Biologically, Adrian.
Christopher had known Rachel was pregnant before they separated for several months.
He had assumed the child was his.
Rachel had said the timing matched.
Christopher never questioned it.
Estelle demanded a DNA test after Emma was born.
Rachel refused.
Christopher thought she was protecting their privacy.
Now another possibility existed.
Christopher walked outside into freezing rain.
Yvette followed.
He stopped beside the stone wall.
“Did you know?”
Yvette looked confused.
“Know what?”
“Adrian.”
Her expression changed.
Christopher saw it.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You reacted.”
“I suspected.”
Christopher stared.
“For how long?”
“Years.”
Rage rose inside him.
“Everyone knew except me.”
“Christopher.”
“Everyone.”
Yvette stepped closer.
“I didn’t know.”
“Why did you suspect?”
Yvette swallowed.
“Rachel once asked Samuel how trusts handled disputed paternity.”
Christopher looked away.
“That proves nothing.”
“No.”
“But there was something else.”
Christopher waited.
“When Emma was born, Adrian came to the house.”
“I remember.”
“He stood outside the nursery for nearly an hour.”
Christopher did remember.
Adrian cried when he first saw Emma.
Christopher thought it was joy.
Maybe it had been guilt.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
Yvette shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Christopher’s phone rang.
His attorney.
The emergency guardianship hearing had been moved forward.
Ten o’clock.
Christopher returned to New York immediately.
He had three hours to prepare.
At the courthouse, reporters already waited.
Someone leaked the story.
Headlines spread across phones.
PIERCE HEIR IN CUSTODY BATTLE.
BILLIONAIRE EXECUTIVE ACCUSED OF VIOLENT BREAKDOWN.
MYSTERY CHILD AT CENTER OF FORTUNE.
Christopher knew exactly who had arranged it.
Estelle.
She wasn’t simply fighting legally.
She was destroying him publicly before the hearing began.
The judge was not Harold Wren.
Wren had recused himself after Christopher’s lawyers submitted evidence of financial ties.
A new judge, Elena Marquez, took the bench.
Estelle appeared by video.
She claimed she was in an undisclosed location because Christopher had threatened her.
Christopher nearly laughed.
His attorney squeezed his arm.
“Stay calm.”
Estelle began speaking.
“My son is grieving.”
She sounded like a concerned mother.
“He recently learned disturbing information.”
“He is not thinking clearly.”
The judge looked at Christopher.
“Mr. Pierce?”
Christopher stood.
“My mother orchestrated a staged incident involving my six-year-old daughter.”
Estelle closed her eyes.
As though wounded.
Christopher continued.
“We have recordings.”
His attorney submitted them.
Estelle’s lawyer objected.
The judge overruled him.
Then Juliette entered the courtroom.
Everyone turned.
She had agreed to testify.
Christopher did not trust her.
But today their interests aligned.
Juliette took the stand.
She admitted pushing Emma.
Gasps filled the room.
Christopher stared at the table.
Hearing it spoken publicly felt worse.
Juliette explained Estelle’s instructions.
The staged accident.
The camera.
The guardianship plan.
The money.
Estelle watched silently.
Then her attorney stood.
“Miss Beaumont, were you engaged to Christopher Pierce?”
“Yes.”
“Did he recently attempt to end your engagement?”
“Yes.”
“Did you fear losing access to his wealth?”
Juliette looked at Christopher.
“Yes.”
The attorney smiled slightly.
“So you have substantial motive to blame Mrs. Pierce.”
Juliette’s expression hardened.
“I have substantial reason to be afraid of her.”
The attorney approached.
“Did Mrs. Pierce tell you to push Emma?”
Juliette hesitated.
Christopher’s heart sank.
“No.”
The courtroom shifted.
The lawyer smiled.
“She did not?”
“No.”
“Then whose decision was it?”
Juliette began crying.
“Mine.”
Christopher stared at her.
The attorney turned toward the judge.
“No further questions.”
Christopher’s lawyer whispered.
“She just destroyed half our case.”
Christopher watched Juliette leave the stand.
She refused to meet his eyes.
During the recess, Christopher confronted her in the hallway.
“You said Estelle told you.”
“She did.”
“Then why did you change it?”
Juliette looked terrified.
“Because she sent me something.”
She showed him her phone.
A photograph.
Juliette’s younger sister stood outside a school in Paris.
A man watched her from across the street.
Christopher’s anger became ice.
“Threat?”
Juliette nodded.
“Five minutes before I testified.”
Christopher looked toward Estelle’s legal team.
“She still has people inside the courthouse.”
“Everywhere.”
Christopher handed the phone to his security chief.
“Find her sister.”
Juliette grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
“She already knows you’re frightened.”
“She’ll hurt her.”
“Not if we get there first.”
Christopher walked back into court.
Judge Marquez returned.
She reviewed the recordings.
The ledger.
The medical records.
Then she asked the question everyone had avoided.
“Where is Emma Pierce now?”
Christopher stood.
“I don’t know.”
The judge looked disturbed.
“Mrs. Pierce?”
Estelle replied.
“The child is safe.”
“Where?”
“My counsel has advised me not to disclose the location publicly.”
The judge’s expression hardened.
“I am the judge.”
Estelle paused.
“My husband is caring for her.”
The courtroom erupted.
Reporters began typing.
Christopher stared at the screen.
Judge Marquez looked stunned.
“Your husband is deceased.”
Estelle smiled faintly.
“That has become more complicated than expected.”
The judge leaned forward.
“I am ordering Emma returned to this jurisdiction immediately.”
Estelle’s face became cold.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
Judge Marquez stared.
“Mrs. Pierce.”
“I cannot comply.”
“You are currently under a court order.”
“I understand.”
“Failure to comply may result in a warrant.”
Estelle looked directly into the camera.
“Then issue one.”
The feed disconnected.
The courtroom exploded.
Judge Marquez issued the warrant.
Federal authorities became involved.
The Pierce scandal went national within an hour.
Christopher walked outside surrounded by reporters.
Questions hit him from every direction.
“Is Malcolm Pierce alive?”
“Is Emma your biological child?”
“Did your mother order Rachel Monroe killed?”
Christopher said nothing.
Then one reporter shouted.
“Mr. Pierce, did your brother father Emma?”
Christopher stopped.
The question had not been public.
Nobody outside the family knew.
He turned.
The reporter raised her phone.
“An anonymous laboratory report was sent to every major newsroom.”
Christopher’s blood went cold.
The headline already existed.
SECRET DNA TEST REVEALS ADRIAN PIERCE AS FATHER OF FORTUNE HEIRESS.
Christopher took the phone.
A laboratory report appeared.
Adrian Pierce.
99.98 percent probability.
Emma Monroe.
Christopher stared.
His attorney whispered.
“This could be fabricated.”
Christopher knew.
But the timing mattered.
Estelle wanted the world questioning paternity.
She wanted the trust frozen.
Christopher’s phone rang.
Adrian.
Christopher answered immediately.
“You owe me the truth.”
Adrian breathed heavily.
“Where are you?”
“Answer me.”
“Christopher.”
“Is Emma your daughter?”
Silence.
Christopher closed his eyes.
“Say it.”
Adrian whispered.
“I don’t know.”
Christopher’s anger flared.
“You don’t know?”
“Rachel and I were together once.”
Christopher felt sick.
“When?”
“During the summer you separated.”
“One time?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love her?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
Christopher looked away.
“Did she love you?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“We were drunk.”
Christopher laughed bitterly.
“How convenient.”
“I hated myself.”
“So you kept quiet.”
“Rachel believed Emma was yours.”
“Believed?”
“She calculated the dates.”
Christopher clenched his jaw.
“Did you ever test?”
“No.”
“Then where did Estelle get a result?”
Adrian went silent.
Christopher understood.
“She took Emma’s DNA.”
“Probably.”
“And yours.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Christopher closed his eyes.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Adrian sounded desperate.
“Chris, listen.”
“Where is Emma?”
“With Dad.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where is Rachel?”
Adrian hesitated.
Christopher’s voice sharpened.
“Where?”
“With me.”
Christopher stopped.
“You lied.”
“No.”
“You called from somewhere else.”
“I had to.”
“Put Rachel on.”
Adrian spoke quietly.
“She won’t.”
Christopher felt anger and grief twisting together.
“Then tell her I’m coming.”
“You can’t.”
“Watch me.”
“Chris.”
“What?”
Adrian’s next words changed everything again.
“That DNA report is real.”
Christopher closed his eyes.
Adrian continued.
“I found the original test in Dad’s files.”
Christopher couldn’t speak.
“I am Emma’s biological father.”
The street noise vanished around him.
Christopher looked toward the courthouse steps.
“And you let me raise her.”
Adrian began crying.
“I didn’t know.”
“You know now.”
“Yes.”
“What do you want?”
“Nothing.”
“Everyone wants something.”
“I want Emma alive.”
Christopher almost shouted.
“She is my daughter.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Christopher’s voice broke.
“You don’t get to say you know.”
Adrian remained silent.
Christopher steadied himself.
“Where is Dad taking her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then find out.”
“I’m trying.”
Christopher heard Rachel in the background.
She said something.
Adrian answered.
Then the line became quiet.
“What?”
Adrian whispered.
“Rachel remembered where Dad is going.”
Christopher waited.
“Where?”
Adrian answered.
“Blackwater Island.”
Christopher froze.
The Pierce family owned several private properties.
Blackwater Island was the one nobody visited.
Christopher had not been there since childhood.
His father kept the property closed.
“Why?”
Adrian’s voice changed.
“Because that’s where the original Pierce archive is buried.”
Christopher looked at Samuel’s ledger.
“When?”
“Dad believes he can destroy it before Emma’s birthday.”
Christopher’s face hardened.
“Why would he?”
“Because if the archive releases, thousands of names become public.”
Christopher replied.
“Good.”
Adrian whispered.
“Not all of them are criminals.”
Christopher frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Some are witnesses.”
“Informants.”
“People in protective programs.”
“Names that could get innocent families killed.”
Christopher stopped.
The archive was not simply evidence.
It was a bomb.
“Why would Samuel build something like that?”
“He didn’t.”
Adrian paused.
“Estelle did.”
Christopher stared.
Adrian continued.
“Samuel stole a copy.”
“Rachel hid the key.”
“And Dad has spent years keeping everyone from activating it.”
Christopher looked toward the sky.
“So who wants Emma to turn seven?”
Adrian answered.
“That’s the problem.”
“Estelle wants control of the archive.”
“Dad wants it destroyed.”
“Rachel wants it exposed selectively.”
“And there’s a fourth group that wants every name released at once.”
Christopher felt dread.
“Who?”
Adrian whispered.
“I don’t know.”
A gunshot sounded through the phone.
Christopher froze.
“Adrian?”
Another gunshot.
Rachel screamed.
Then the call disconnected.
Christopher stared at the screen.
He called back.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived from Rachel’s number.
A photograph showed Adrian lying on the floor.
Rachel knelt beside him.
A masked figure stood behind them.
The caption contained one sentence.
BRING SAMUEL SLOAN’S LEDGER TO BLACKWATER ISLAND.
COME BEFORE SUNSET.
May you like
OR EMMA LOSES BOTH FATHERS.
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