Chapter 5: The Brother Who Came Back from the Dead
For ten years, I had imagined the moment I found my family.
I imagined my mother’s arms around me.
I imagined my father telling me everything would be okay.
I imagined my brother Ethan standing beside me, older but still the same person who used to carry me home when I scraped my knees.
I never imagined him standing in a dark warehouse with a cruel smile on his face.
I never imagined being afraid of him.
“Ethan,” I whispered.
The name felt foreign coming out of my mouth.
He tilted his head.
“Still surprised?””
I couldn’t move.
Every memory I had of him crashed against the reality standing in front of me.
The boy who gave me his favorite jacket when I was cold.
The teenager who promised he would protect me.
The brother who vanished the night our family died.
Adrian stepped forward.
“Stay away from her.””
Ethan laughed.
A quiet, almost amused sound.
“You always were dramatic, Adrian.””
“You should be dead,” Adrian said.
Ethan smiled.
“So should she.””
The words hit me like ice.
I looked at Adrian.
“What is he talking about?””
Neither man answered.
That was when I knew.
They both had pieces of the truth.
Pieces they had kept from me.
I grabbed the flash drive from the table.
“Someone is going to explain everything right now.””
Ethan looked entertained.
“You always had that fire, Lily.””
“Don’t call me that.””
His smile faded slightly.
“You don’t even remember why you changed your name.””
“Because someone wanted me to forget.””
“Yes.””
His answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
I stepped closer.
“Was it you?””
For a moment, something moved across his face.
Pain.
Then it disappeared.
“You think this is simple?””
“I think my family was murdered.””
“My family too.””
I froze.
“What?””
Ethan walked closer.
“My parents died that night.””
“My parents were your parents.””
“No.””
His voice became colder.
“They were yours.””
Silence filled the warehouse.
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?””
Ethan looked at Adrian.
“Didn’t he tell you?””
Adrian’s expression tightened.
“Ethan.””
“No, let her hear it.””
Ethan looked back at me.
“You weren’t born a Vale.””
My hands went numb.
“What?””
“You were adopted.””
The world seemed to tilt.
“No.””
My voice came out smaller than I expected.
“No, my mother—”
“She loved you.””
Ethan interrupted.
“That part was real.””
He walked around the room slowly.
“My parents adopted you when you were three. They never treated you differently. To them, you were their daughter.””
“Then why hide it?””
“Because your biological family was dangerous.””
I laughed.
A broken sound.
“You expect me to believe that?””
Ethan pulled a folder from his coat.
He threw it onto the table.
Inside were old records.
Hospital documents.
Adoption papers.
DNA results.
I stared at the pages.
Every line felt like another piece of my identity being ripped away.
“My real family…”
Ethan looked at me.
“Was the person who started this entire war.””
Adrian’s voice cut through.
“Enough.””
Ethan turned.
“You’re afraid she’ll remember.””
“Because you know what happens when she does.””
My head started pounding.
A memory surfaced.
A woman.
A different house.
A different voice.
“Lillian, you cannot trust anyone wearing the Vale ring.””
I grabbed my head.
The pain was sharp.
Adrian caught my shoulder.
“What did you see?””
I looked at him.
A terrifying thought entered my mind.
“You knew.””
He didn’t deny it.
“You knew I wasn’t a Vale.””
“Yes.””
The betrayal burned.
“Then why let me believe I was?””
“Because the truth was more dangerous.””
Ethan smiled.
“There he is.””
I looked between them.
“What are you two hiding?””
Nobody answered.
Then Ethan pulled out his phone.
He pressed a button.
A video appeared.
A younger Adrian.
Standing outside the Vale mansion.
The night of the fire.
My breath stopped.
Because Adrian wasn’t trying to rescue us.
He was meeting someone.
Someone standing beside the burning house.
Someone I couldn’t see clearly.
The video zoomed in.
The person turned.
And my blood froze.
Because it was a face I knew.
A face I had seen in every newspaper.
A face everyone thought was dead.
Ethan looked at me.
“That’s why Adrian spent ten years searching for you.””
The video paused.
On the screen was my biological mother.
Alive.
May you like
Ethan whispered:
“Because she’s the one who ordered your family’s death.””
