Chapter 4 - The Missing Brother
The police officers were not there to arrest Adrian.
They were there because Walter had called them after receiving an anonymous threat.
But Adrian barely listened.
His attention remained fixed on the blue envelope.
"Get out," Adrian told Walter.
Walter stared at him.
"Adrian—"
"You lied to me."
"I was protecting your family."
"No. You were protecting someone."
Walter's jaw tightened.
The older attorney looked exhausted.
Finally, he said, "Your father isn't the worst person in this story."
Adrian froze.
"Then who is?"
Walter glanced at Marissa.
"Not here."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Tell me."
Walter looked toward the officers.
Then lowered his voice.
"Your mother had another child."
Adrian stared at him.
"What?"
"Your father never wanted anyone to know."
Adrian remembered the photograph.
The baby.
The hospital bracelet.
Whitmore.
"Where is he?"
Walter closed his eyes.
"We don't know."
Adrian's voice became sharp.
"Who was the baby?"
Walter hesitated.
"Daniel's son."
Silence.
Marissa stepped backward.
"What?"
Walter looked at her.
"Daniel believed the child was yours."
Marissa's face went white.
"I don't understand."
Walter looked at Adrian.
"Four years ago, Daniel discovered financial fraud within Whitmore Infrastructure. He also discovered something much more dangerous."
"What?"
"Your father had been hiding a family secret."
Adrian's hands curled into fists.
Walter continued.
"Your mother had a son shortly after Adrian was born."
Adrian's mind raced.
"I had a brother?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't I know?"
"Because the child disappeared."
"How?"
Walter looked toward the floor.
"Your father arranged for the baby to be placed with another family."
Adrian felt dizzy.
"Why?"
"Because the child wasn't your father's."
Marissa whispered, "Daniel."
Walter nodded.
"Daniel was the boy's biological father."
Adrian stared at him.
The photograph suddenly made sense.
His mother.
Daniel.
The baby.
The Whitmore name.
But another question remained.
"Why did my mother lie?"
Walter looked away.
"She didn't."
Adrian froze.
"She didn't?"
"Your mother wanted to keep the child."
"Then why did she die?"
Walter's expression changed.
"She didn't die from cancer."
The room became completely silent.
Adrian could barely breathe.
"What did you just say?"
Walter spoke slowly.
"Your mother was killed."
Adrian's knees nearly buckled.
For twenty-four years, he'd believed his mother had died in a hospital bed.
He remembered holding her hand.
Remembered the smell of antiseptic.
Remembered his father crying beside him.
All of it had been a lie.
"Who killed her?"
Walter said nothing.
Adrian grabbed his arm.
"Who?"
Walter looked directly at him.
"We never proved it."
"Never?"
"Because the evidence disappeared."
Adrian released him.
"Daniel knew."
"Yes."
"And that's why he disappeared."
"Yes."
Marissa was crying silently.
"My husband knew your mother?"
Walter nodded.
"He was trying to find her before she died."
Marissa looked at Adrian.
"Daniel told me your family had destroyed his life."
Adrian swallowed.
"Apparently he was right."
That evening, Adrian and Marissa watched the contents of the USB on his secure computer.
There were hundreds of files.
Bank transfers.
Emails.
Scanned contracts.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
The deeper they went, the darker it became.
Millions had been transferred from Whitmore Infrastructure into shell companies.
The transfers had begun nearly a decade earlier.
Adrian recognized the signatures.
His father's.
And someone else's.
Adrian stared.
"No."
Marissa looked at him.
"What?"
He pointed to the screen.
The second signature belonged to Caroline.
His sister.
Marissa whispered, "Your sister?"
Adrian couldn't speak.
Caroline had always been the quiet one.
The daughter who stayed away from business.
The woman who had warned him to stop digging.
Now Adrian understood why.
She wasn't necessarily guilty.
She could have been manipulated.
But the documents made one thing clear.
Caroline had signed.
Then another file appeared.
A photograph.
A man leaving a hospital.
Adrian zoomed in.
It was his father.
The date was twenty-four years ago.
The hospital was the same one where Adrian's mother had supposedly died.
Adrian stared.
Then he noticed someone standing beside his father.
Daniel.
And in Daniel's arms was a baby.
Adrian whispered:
"My brother."
Marissa leaned closer.
At the bottom of the file was a name.
Evan Keane.
Daniel's son.
Adrian's half-brother.
The missing child.
Then a new email appeared.
Sent four years ago.
From Daniel.
To Adrian.
It had never been delivered.
The subject line read:
If you ever discover what happened to Evan, find the blue house.
Adrian looked at Marissa.
"What blue house?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then the computer screen flickered.
A message appeared.
STOP SEARCHING.
Seconds later, the entire system shut down.
Adrian stood.
May you like
Someone had hacked into his network.
And whoever it was knew exactly what they were looking for.
