Chapter 7 – The Brother Who Never Existed
The hallway fell silent.
Even the emergency alarms seemed distant.
Victor Hayes raised his pistol toward the nursery door.
"Show yourself."
The voice on the other side remained calm.
"I didn't come here to hurt anyone."
"You have five seconds."
The man chuckled softly.
"If I wanted the baby dead..."
"...I wouldn't have knocked."
The words sent a chill through the room.
Victor motioned for two security officers to flank the entrance.
Ethan instinctively stepped in front of Emily and the incubator.
No matter who stood outside...
No one was getting near Ava.
The door slowly opened.
A tall man stepped inside.
He looked to be around forty years old.
His dark hair was streaked with silver at the temples, and his tailored navy overcoat was soaked from the rain outside.
He carried no visible weapon.
His hands remained raised.
"My name is Adrian Blackwood."
Silence.
Ethan stared.
"No..."
"That's impossible."
The stranger gave a sad smile.
"I expected that reaction."
Emily looked between the two men.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
The same gray eyes.
The same jawline.
Even the way they stood was eerily similar.
Victor didn't lower his gun.
"Identification."
Adrian calmly removed a leather wallet.
Inside was a Swiss passport.
A birth certificate.
And an old family photograph.
Victor examined each document carefully.
His expression changed.
"They're genuine."
Ethan slowly shook his head.
"My father had one son."
"So I was told."
Adrian sighed.
"Richard Blackwood had two."
No one spoke for several moments.
Finally, Ethan broke the silence.
"Explain."
Adrian looked toward the sleeping newborn inside the incubator.
"I'll explain."
"But first..."
He smiled warmly at Ava.
"...may I see my niece?"
"No."
Ethan answered instantly.
"You stay exactly where you are."
Adrian nodded.
"Fair enough."
He pulled a thick envelope from inside his coat.
"I've carried this for twenty-two years."
He handed it to Ethan.
Written across the front in Richard Blackwood's unmistakable handwriting were the words:
For Both of My Sons.
Ethan slowly opened the envelope.
Inside were two birth certificates.
The first belonged to Ethan.
The second...
Belonged to Adrian.
Both listed the same father.
Richard Blackwood.
Emily whispered,
"Oh my God..."
There was another letter.
Richard had written:
Ethan...
If Adrian is standing before you, then I have already failed.
I wanted to tell you the truth myself.
But your mother would have killed him.
She almost did once.
Ethan looked up.
"My mother knew?"
Adrian nodded.
"She hated me from the day I was born."
"Why?"
"Because my mother wasn't Margaret."
Adrian walked toward the hospital window.
Rain streaked across the glass.
"My mother was Eleanor Pierce."
"The woman your father loved before he married Margaret."
Ethan frowned.
"My father never mentioned her."
"He couldn't."
Adrian looked down.
"Eleanor died in a suspicious house fire when I was three."
Victor immediately looked interested.
"A fire?"
Adrian nodded.
"The official report blamed faulty wiring."
"But Richard never believed it."
"He believed someone set the fire intentionally."
Emily's eyes widened.
"You think Margaret..."
"I know Margaret."
Adrian interrupted quietly.
"She hated anything that threatened her future."
Daniel suddenly spoke.
"If Richard knew you were alive..."
"Why didn't he bring you home?"
Adrian smiled sadly.
"He did."
Everyone looked confused.
"For exactly one day."
He removed another faded photograph.
It showed two little boys.
One was Ethan.
About five years old.
The other...
Adrian.
Seven.
They were laughing together beside Richard in the Blackwood gardens.
Ethan stared at the image.
A faint memory surfaced.
A boy...
Sharing toy airplanes.
Playing hide-and-seek.
Then...
Nothing.
"I remember..."
"You disappeared."
Adrian nodded.
"The next morning."
Richard had taken Adrian away.
Far away.
To Switzerland.
Under a new identity.
Protected by trusted friends.
Hidden from Margaret forever.
Victor suddenly frowned.
"One thing doesn't make sense."
"If Margaret wanted Adrian dead..."
"Why didn't she keep searching?"
Adrian's smile vanished.
"Because Richard made her believe I was dead."
Silence.
"He staged my death."
"A closed-casket funeral."
"A fake grave."
"A fake death certificate."
Emily covered her mouth.
"Your father buried an empty coffin?"
Adrian nodded.
"It was the only way to save me."
Just then...
Victor's phone vibrated.
He answered.
Within seconds...
His face turned pale.
"What?"
"Repeat that."
He ended the call.
Everyone looked at him.
Victor took a slow breath.
"Margaret's helicopter..."
"...never landed where we thought."
Adrian frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The helicopter found in Vermont..."
Victor looked directly at Ethan.
"...was empty."
Daniel blinked.
"What?"
"It was a decoy."
"The pilot was unconscious."
"The flash drive was fake."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"So where is she?"
Victor slowly looked toward Adrian.
Before he could answer—
Adrian's phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen.
Every trace of color disappeared from his face.
"What happened?"
Ethan asked.
Adrian looked up.
His voice barely above a whisper.
"She's found the real vault."
"The one Father told no one about."
Victor's eyes widened.
"The underground archive?"
Adrian nodded.
"If Margaret gets inside..."
"...she won't just destroy the evidence."
He looked at little Ava sleeping peacefully in the incubator.
"She'll erase every legal record proving that Ava Blackwood is the rightful owner of the empire."
May you like
The room fell into stunned silence.
The race for the Blackwood legacy had only just begun.
