Chapter 6 — The Letter From Her Mother
Chapter 6 — The Letter From Her Mother
The message remained on Evelyn's phone long after the screen went dark.
YOUR MOTHER IS NOT THE SECOND HEIR.
YOU ARE.
THE SECOND HEIR IS YOUR BROTHER.
She read the words again.
And again.
A brother.
The word felt foreign.
Almost obscene.
For twenty-eight years, Evelyn had believed she was an only child.
Her father had never mentioned a son.
Her mother had never spoken of another child.
There had never been a photograph.
No birth certificate.
No childhood memory.
Nothing.
And yet someone knew enough to tell her that her brother existed.
Evelyn stood alone in her father's old office, staring through the windows at the city.
The Sterling Empire stretched beneath her.
Buildings.
Hotels.
Financial towers.
Construction projects.
Thousands of employees.
Everything Beatrice had claimed belonged to her.
Everything Evelyn had been told she lost.
But suddenly, none of it seemed important.
If she had a brother, then the question wasn't who would inherit the empire.
It was why someone had spent twenty-eight years hiding him.
Her phone rang.
Adrian.
She answered.
“Tell me you know about my brother.”
Silence.
That was enough.
“You knew.”
“Evelyn…”
“You knew.”
“I knew there was another child.”
Her grip tightened around the phone.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know if he was alive.”
“You just told me he was.”
“I said there was another child.”
“You know where he is.”
“No.”
“Then who sent me the messages?”
“I don't know.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Everyone knows something except me.”
Adrian's voice softened.
“Your mother may have left something behind.”
“What?”
“A letter.”
Evelyn's eyes opened.
“What letter?”
“The last one she wrote before she disappeared.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“You're becoming very good at that answer.”
“There is one place we haven't searched.”
“Where?”
“Your mother's old house.”
Evelyn turned toward the door.
“Take me there.”
The house stood outside the city.
It was small compared with the Sterling mansion.
White walls.
Blue shutters.
A garden overgrown with weeds.
Evelyn remembered it.
She had been here as a child.
Before Beatrice.
Before the money.
Before the lies.
Her mother used to bring her here during summers.
Evelyn stepped out of the car.
For a moment, she was eight years old again.
Running barefoot across the grass.
Hearing her mother's laughter.
Smelling roses.
Then the memory vanished.
Adrian unlocked the front door.
The house was dusty.
Untouched.
Evelyn walked inside.
Every room contained a piece of her childhood.
A piano.
An old sewing machine.
A bookshelf.
Photographs.
She stopped in front of one.
Her mother was holding her.
But Evelyn noticed something.
There was another photograph beside it.
It had been turned face down.
She picked it up.
A newborn baby.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
A small silver bracelet around his wrist.
Evelyn's heart stopped.
On the bracelet was one letter.
S.
Adrian stood behind her.
“That was him.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“My brother.”
“Yes.”
“What's his name?”
Adrian shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn turned the photograph over.
On the back was written:
My son.
Nothing else.
She pressed the photograph to her chest.
“Why did they hide him?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Evelyn turned.
“Tell me.”
“Because your father feared the trust would be divided.”
“That doesn't explain anything.”
“It does if the trust had two heirs.”
Evelyn's expression hardened.
“Then why did my father pretend I was an only child?”
Adrian looked away.
“He wasn't pretending.”
“What?”
“He didn't know.”
Evelyn froze.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother gave birth in secret.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was trying to kill your father.”
“And she hid the baby?”
“She believed it was the only way to keep him alive.”
Evelyn stared at the photograph.
“My brother was taken.”
Adrian nodded.
“Shortly after his birth.”
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Beatrice?”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Your mother suspected the Black Serpent Society.”
They searched the house for hours.
Nothing.
No letters.
No records.
No clues.
Then Evelyn entered her mother's bedroom.
The bed remained neatly made.
A small wooden wardrobe stood against the wall.
She opened it.
Empty.
Except for a blue dress.
Evelyn touched the fabric.
A memory returned.
Her mother wearing it.
Holding her.
Crying.
Evelyn had been too young to understand.
Now she wondered.
Had her mother been crying because she knew her son was gone?
She checked the pockets.
Nothing.
Then she felt something beneath the floorboard.
A loose plank.
She pulled it up.
A metal box was hidden underneath.
Adrian rushed forward.
“Don't touch it.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Why?”
“Your mother was careful.”
“That doesn't mean it's dangerous.”
She opened it.
Inside was a letter.
And a small cassette tape.
Evelyn picked up the letter.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Her mother's.
She unfolded it.
My dearest Evelyn,
If you have found this letter, then I am either dead or finally free.
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
I wish I could have told you everything when you were a child.
But I was afraid.
Not for myself.
For you.
She continued reading.
Your father loved you more than anything in this world.
But there is something you must know.
Evelyn's hands trembled.
You were never his only child.
She closed her eyes.
The words she had feared were now real.
You have a brother.
His name is Sebastian.
Evelyn whispered the name.
“Sebastian.”
The letter continued.
He was born three years after you.
Your father did not know I was pregnant until the day he was born.
Evelyn stared at the page.
I hid the pregnancy because I had discovered someone inside the company was selling information.
People knew where your father traveled.
They knew where you went to school.
They knew everything.
Evelyn's breathing became shallow.
Then I discovered the truth.
The person selling information was not an employee.
It was someone close to us.
Evelyn looked at Adrian.
He stared at the floor.
She continued.
I trusted this person.
That was my mistake.
A tear fell onto the page.
When Sebastian was born, I knew I had to hide him.
I arranged for him to be taken somewhere safe.
Only three people knew where he was.
Evelyn's heart pounded.
Your father.
Me.
And the third name had been torn away.
Evelyn froze.
A piece of the letter had been deliberately removed.
She looked at Adrian.
“Who was the third person?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
She looked back at the letter.
If anything happens to me, find the third person.
They will know where Sebastian is.
Then:
And Evelyn...
Never trust Beatrice.
The final sentence made Evelyn stop breathing.
She knows Sebastian is alive.
The cassette tape sat beside the letter.
Evelyn found an old player in the living room.
She inserted the tape.
Static filled the room.
Then her mother's voice.
“Thomas, if you're hearing this, something has happened.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Her mother sounded frightened.
“I found the account.”
A man's voice answered.
Her father.
“What account?”
“The payments.”
“To whom?”
“I don't know yet.”
Static.
Then her mother continued.
“Someone has been paying Beatrice.”
Thomas went silent.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“What do they want?”
Her mother hesitated.
“The trust.”
Thomas whispered:
“God.”
Then another voice appeared.
A woman's voice.
Evelyn recognized it immediately.
Beatrice.
“Thomas.”
The recording became chaotic.
A door slammed.
Her father shouted.
Then Beatrice said:
“Give me the trust.”
Thomas answered:
“Never.”
A crash.
Her mother's scream.
Then the recording stopped.
Evelyn stared at the machine.
Adrian's face had gone pale.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother's house.”
He shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because that recording was destroyed.”
“By whom?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“By you?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He looked at the floor.
“Your father.”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“Why would he destroy evidence?”
“Because the recording wasn't complete.”
“What was missing?”
Adrian looked at her.
“The voice of the person who entered the room after Beatrice.”
Evelyn froze.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You heard it?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me.”
Adrian's expression became grim.
“It was a man.”
“Who?”
“He said one sentence.”
“What?”
Adrian swallowed.
“He said…”
“The boy is already ours.”
Evelyn stepped backward.
“Sebastian.”
Adrian nodded.
“That was the night your brother disappeared.”
The room felt suddenly cold.
“My mother was there.”
“Yes.”
“My father was there.”
“Yes.”
“Beatrice was there.”
“Yes.”
“And another man.”
“Yes.”
“The man who took my brother.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Possibly.”
Evelyn stared at the cassette.
“Then why did my mother survive?”
“We don't know.”
“And why was she taken years later?”
“We don't know.”
Evelyn slammed her hand against the table.
“I am tired of not knowing!”
Her voice broke.
Twenty-eight years of silence.
Ten years of lies.
And now a brother she had never known.
A mother who had disappeared.
A father who had died.
A woman who had stolen her life.
And an invisible organization controlling everything from the shadows.
Evelyn wiped her tears.
“I want answers.”
Adrian nodded.
“You'll get them.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“Now.”
They returned to the city after midnight.
Evelyn barely spoke.
She held the photograph of Sebastian in her hand.
The baby looked peaceful.
Unaware that his existence would one day shake an empire.
When they arrived at the estate, the lights were on.
Evelyn stopped.
“I turned them off.”
Adrian reached for his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
They entered.
The mansion was empty.
But something had changed.
The front hall was covered with photographs.
Dozens of them.
Pictures of Evelyn.
At five.
At ten.
At seventeen.
At twenty.
At twenty-five.
Pictures taken without her knowledge.
Evelyn stared.
Someone had been watching her.
For years.
Adrian whispered:
“They've been tracking you.”
Evelyn walked forward.
One photograph was different.
It showed her mother.
Standing beside a young boy.
The boy was about twelve.
On the back was a name.
SEBASTIAN.
Evelyn's heart stopped.
“He grew up.”
Adrian took the photograph.
“Where was this taken?”
Evelyn pointed.
“The building.”
She recognized it.
An old Sterling property.
A boarding school.
But the photograph was dated only six years earlier.
Evelyn stared.
“My brother was here.”
She turned toward Adrian.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
He didn't answer.
Then a phone began ringing.
Not Evelyn's.
Adrian's.
He answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Tell Evelyn to stop looking.”
Adrian's face changed.
“Who is this?”
The caller laughed.
“You already know.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Victor.”
The line went silent.
Then:
“Her brother is alive.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Put him on speaker.”
Adrian did.
Victor continued.
“Tell her if she wants Sebastian alive, she must give us the trust.”
Evelyn's blood turned cold.
“Where is he?”
“Safe.”
“Let me speak to him.”
“No.”
“Then how do I know he's alive?”
A pause.
Then a recording played.
A young man's voice.
“Evelyn?”
Her heart stopped.
She couldn't breathe.
The voice continued.
“I don't know who you are.”
A pause.
“But they told me you're my sister.”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“Sebastian…”
The line disconnected.
She stared at the phone.
Then looked at Adrian.
“They have him.”
Adrian nodded.
“And now they know you know.”
Evelyn looked down at the letter from her mother.
For the first time, the meaning of its final words became clear.
The woman Beatrice tried to erase was not just me.
She tried to erase our entire family.
Evelyn folded the letter carefully.
Her tears had stopped.
Her fear had disappeared.
Only determination remained.
“Then we'll bring him home.”
Adrian looked at her.
“And how will you do that?”
Evelyn looked toward the Sterling crest above the fireplace.
“By giving them exactly what they think they want.”
Adrian frowned.
“The trust?”
Evelyn smiled.
“No.”
She held up the letter.
“Hope.”
Then she turned toward the stairs.
“Because they made one mistake.”
“What?”
“They showed me my brother is alive.”
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
“Now I know exactly what I'm fighting for.”
Outside, a black car waited across the street.
Inside it, a man watched the mansion.
He lifted his phone.
“She's found out about the boy.”
A voice answered:
“Then proceed to the next phase.”
The man smiled.
“And Beatrice?”
A pause.
“She is no longer useful.”
He looked toward the mansion.
“Should we eliminate her?”
The voice answered:
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Evelyn still believes Beatrice is the enemy.”
A quiet laugh.
“Let her.”
Inside the mansion, Evelyn held her mother's letter against her chest.
She believed she had finally uncovered the truth.
She was wrong.
The letter had not merely revealed the existence of her brother.
May you like
It had revealed the first crack in a conspiracy that had begun before Evelyn was born.
And somewhere in the darkness, the person who had ordered Sebastian's kidnapping was already preparing to make his next move.
