Chapter 6 — The Man Behind Reed
Chapter 6 — The Man Behind Reed
Maren stared at her mother.
For several seconds, the words refused to become real.
Reed Whitaker was her brother.
No.
That was impossible.
Her husband could not be the baby her family had spent twenty-seven years searching for.
Her husband could not be the infant whose bracelet she had just found beneath an empty incubator.
Her husband could not be the little boy she had never known existed.
"No," Maren whispered.
Evelyn didn't move.
"Say it again."
Her mother's lips trembled.
"Reed isn't Reed."
"Then who is he?"
Evelyn looked at Marcus.
Marcus finally spoke.
"Gabriel."
Maren shook her head.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I don't expect you to believe anything."
"Then prove it."
Marcus nodded toward the corridor.
"That's why we came here."
Maren looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"Because we weren't certain."
"You just told me he's my brother."
"We believed he was."
"Believed?"
Marcus's expression darkened.
"There's something else."
Maren laughed bitterly.
"Of course there is."
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Reed was raised to believe he was Richard Mercer's son."
Maren's blood ran cold.
"Richard."
"The man in the photograph."
"The man everyone said was dead."
Marcus nodded.
"He wasn't."
Maren looked toward the empty nursery.
"Then what happened to Gabriel?"
"Richard took him."
"Why?"
"To destroy me."
Maren stared.
"How?"
Marcus's jaw tightened.
"He didn't just steal my son."
"He replaced him."
Twenty-seven years earlier.
The Whitaker estate had been surrounded by rain.
Evelyn had been in labor for nineteen hours.
Marcus paced outside the delivery room.
His father had told him twins could complicate everything.
Two heirs.
Two potential targets.
Two lives that could be used against the family.
At 3:12 in the morning, a nurse emerged.
"Mr. Whitaker."
Marcus turned.
"Your daughter is healthy."
His face flooded with relief.
"And the boy?"
The nurse hesitated.
"Your son is being examined."
"Can I see him?"
"Not yet."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
"The doctor requested additional tests."
Something about the nurse's expression bothered him.
"Where is my wife?"
"Resting."
Marcus nodded.
He walked toward the nursery.
Then he heard a scream.
Evelyn.
Marcus ran.
The lights went out.
When they came back on, the nursery door was open.
The infant was gone.
Maren listened without blinking.
"Richard took him?"
Marcus nodded.
"But how?"
"Someone inside the hospital helped him."
"Who?"
"We never found out."
Maren looked at her mother.
"Why didn't you tell me I had a twin?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Because when we found out what Richard had done, he threatened to kill you too."
Maren's voice broke.
"I was a child."
"I know."
"You let me grow up thinking I was alone."
"I thought ignorance would keep you alive."
"It didn't."
Evelyn lowered her head.
"No."
Maren looked again at the file.
There were photographs.
A little boy at age three.
Age seven.
Age twelve.
Age seventeen.
The same face.
The same dark eyes.
The same scar beneath the left eyebrow.
Maren's stomach twisted.
She knew that scar.
She had kissed it once.
When Reed had been drunk.
He had told her he'd gotten it in a childhood accident.
She had believed him.
She had believed everything.
"Why didn't anyone recognize him?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"Because he was given a new identity."
"Reed Whitaker."
"Yes."
"Why Whitaker?"
"Richard wanted to mock me."
Maren's hands tightened.
"He knew one day Gabriel would come back."
"Yes."
"Then why marry me?"
Marcus looked at her.
"That is the question."
They returned to the archive.
Marcus opened a hidden compartment beneath the desk.
Inside was a stack of documents.
Maren read the first page.
PROJECT GABRIEL.
Her heart pounded.
"What is this?"
Marcus sat down.
"Richard's plan."
"To raise my brother?"
"To weaponize him."
Maren looked at the pages.
There were psychological assessments.
Educational records.
Behavioral reports.
Financial projections.
Everything about Gabriel's life had been documented.
Every friendship.
Every romantic relationship.
Every weakness.
Every ambition.
Maren's voice became quieter.
"He studied him."
"He created him."
"How?"
"By teaching him that the Whitakers had stolen his inheritance."
Maren stared.
"His entire childhood was a lie."
"Yes."
"Richard told him I was the enemy."
"Yes."
"He told him our family destroyed his father."
"Yes."
"And then he sent him back."
Marcus nodded.
"Not as Gabriel."
"As Reed."
Maren looked sick.
"To marry me."
"Yes."
"So the whole marriage..."
"Was part of the plan."
She closed her eyes.
Every memory returned.
The first dinner.
The proposal.
Their wedding.
The honeymoon.
The arguments.
The nights Reed held her while she cried.
The promises.
The betrayal.
The pregnancy.
Every moment suddenly looked different.
She whispered:
"Did he ever love me?"
Nobody answered.
"Did he?"
Marcus looked at her.
"I don't know."
A door slammed upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Daniel entered.
"We have movement."
"Where?"
"The eastern wing."
Maren looked at him.
"Reed?"
"No."
"Richard?"
"Maybe."
Marcus stood.
"How many?"
"Three."
Daniel handed him a photograph.
Marcus looked at it.
Then his expression changed.
"That's Adrian."
Maren stared.
"My uncle?"
"Yes."
"But he's supposed to be in custody."
"He escaped."
Maren felt the last piece of certainty disappear.
"Who else?"
Daniel hesitated.
"The third person is Celeste."
Maren's heart dropped.
"She's working with them."
"We don't know."
"Then find out."
Celeste stood inside the underground parking garage.
Her hands were shaking.
A man approached.
"You shouldn't have come."
She looked at him.
"I need to know where he is."
"You were told to stay away."
"I need to know."
The man removed his sunglasses.
Richard Mercer.
Celeste stepped backward.
"You."
He smiled.
"You finally understand."
"Where's Luca?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"Somewhere Maren can't reach."
Celeste's eyes narrowed.
"You promised."
"I promised to keep him alive."
"Not forever."
Richard laughed.
"You still think you have power."
Celeste looked toward the exit.
"What do you want?"
"Your sister."
"No."
"You already gave me everything else."
"I won't help you hurt her."
Richard stepped closer.
"You helped me once."
"I was six."
"You were useful."
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
"And I regret it every day."
"Regret is irrelevant."
He handed her a photograph.
Maren.
Inside the hospital.
Beside the empty incubator.
"Bring her to me."
Celeste stared at the photograph.
"What happens if I refuse?"
Richard smiled.
"You know."
Maren sat alone in her father's study.
She had asked everyone to leave.
She needed silence.
She needed to think.
A locked drawer sat beneath the desk.
She opened it.
Inside was Reed's old wedding ring.
She had removed it weeks earlier.
She stared at it.
Then noticed an inscription inside.
G.W. — 1999.
Maren frowned.
Her brother had been born in 1999.
She grabbed the magnifying glass from the desk.
There was another mark.
Almost invisible.
A tiny number.
0312.
The time Gabriel had been born.
Maren's breath caught.
Reed had worn the ring for years.
But it wasn't his.
It belonged to Gabriel.
Someone had placed it on the baby.
Someone had preserved the evidence.
Someone had always known.
She stood.
"Mom."
No answer.
"Mom!"
Evelyn appeared in the doorway.
Maren held up the ring.
"Who gave this to Reed?"
Evelyn stared at it.
"Where did you find that?"
"In my house."
Evelyn's face turned pale.
"You shouldn't have it."
"Why?"
"Because your father kept it hidden."
"Why?"
Evelyn whispered:
"Because it proves Reed was Gabriel."
Maren's eyes narrowed.
"Then why did Dad never expose him?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Maren stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because your father was afraid."
"Of Richard?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Evelyn looked toward the window.
"Of Gabriel."
Maren froze.
"Why would Dad fear his own son?"
"Because Gabriel knew the truth."
"What truth?"
Evelyn's voice broke.
"That your father didn't abandon him."
Maren waited.
"He sold him."
Silence.
"What?"
"Marcus made a deal with Richard."
Maren stared at her mother.
"No."
"To save you."
"You mean Dad gave away his own son?"
"Yes."
Maren backed away.
"Why?"
"Because Richard had a gun."
"That's not enough."
"He was going to kill you."
"So Dad chose me."
Evelyn nodded.
Maren's eyes filled with tears.
"That's why Gabriel hates me."
"Yes."
"He thinks I was chosen over him."
"Yes."
Maren covered her mouth.
"All these years..."
Evelyn whispered:
"He believed you stole his life."
The lights flickered.
Then the television turned on by itself.
A video appeared.
Reed.
He was sitting in a dark room.
Older.
Tired.
His face expressionless.
Maren stared.
"Reed."
He looked directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this, then my father failed."
Maren stepped closer.
"I know what my mother told you."
He smiled faintly.
"She calls me Gabriel."
Maren's heart broke.
"But she never told you the most important part."
The screen went black.
Then Reed's voice continued.
"I remember everything."
A photograph appeared.
Two babies.
One boy.
One girl.
Maren.
Gabriel.
Then another photograph.
A young Marcus.
Holding Maren.
And a second image.
Marcus handing baby Gabriel to a stranger.
Maren's breath stopped.
Reed's voice continued.
"Your father didn't lose me."
"He gave me away."
Maren stared at the screen.
"He chose you."
The video paused.
Then Reed appeared again.
"And I spent twenty-seven years learning to hate you."
Maren's knees weakened.
She grabbed the desk.
"Why marry me?"
Reed answered as if he could hear her.
"Because Richard wanted you destroyed."
The screen changed.
A final message appeared.
BUT I DIDN'T FOLLOW HIS PLAN.
Maren froze.
"What?"
Reed continued:
"I was supposed to kill you."
Maren's blood ran cold.
"But I couldn't."
The room went silent.
"I loved you."
Tears filled Maren's eyes.
"I hated you."
A pause.
"I loved you."
Another pause.
"And that was the one betrayal Richard could never forgive."
The video ended.
Maren stood motionless.
Then the door behind her opened.
Celeste walked in.
Her face was pale.
She was holding a gun.
Maren turned slowly.
"Celeste."
Her sister's hand trembled.
"I'm sorry."
Maren stared at the weapon.
"What are you doing?"
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
"They have Luca."
Maren's heart stopped.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because Richard gave me a choice."
Celeste raised the gun.
"Bring you to him."
Maren stared at her.
"You've already betrayed me."
"I know."
"You betrayed me when we were children."
"I know."
"You betrayed me with Reed."
"I know."
"You helped poison me."
Celeste began crying.
"I know."
Maren's voice softened.
"Then don't do it again."
Celeste's finger tightened around the trigger.
"I can't."
"You can."
"They'll kill Luca."
Maren took one slow breath.
"Then we'll save him."
Celeste shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"They aren't trying to kill Luca."
Maren stared.
"Then what do they want?"
Celeste lowered the gun slightly.
"They want him to sign something."
"What?"
Celeste whispered:
"The inheritance."
Maren's eyes widened.
"But Luca is a baby."
"Exactly."
"How can a baby sign?"
"He can't."
"Then who can?"
Celeste looked toward the hallway.
"The person who has been pretending to be him."
Maren's blood ran cold.
"Who?"
Celeste whispered:
"Your father."
Behind them, the study door slammed shut.
And a man's voice came from the darkness.
"Now you finally understand."
Maren turned.
Marcus stood there.
But the gun in his hand was pointed at Celeste.
His face was filled with something Maren had never seen before.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
"Nobody moves."
May you like
The lights went out.
A single gunshot echoed through the house.
