Chapter 12 — The Betrayal Inside the Family
Chapter 12 — The Betrayal Inside the Family
The words were still wet.
THE WEDDING IS TOMORROW, SON.
For several seconds, I could hear nothing except my own breathing.
Celeste stood beside me.
Her hand was still wrapped around my wrist.
Behind us, footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
They were getting closer.
"Connor."
I looked at her.
"We have to move."
I didn't.
"Who wrote that?"
She looked at the red letters.
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do."
Her eyes shifted.
"Celeste."
She finally whispered:
"Anthony."
The name hit me harder than the footsteps.
Anthony.
The man who had manipulated Ewan.
The man who had built the false funeral.
The man who had spent years moving my family around like pieces on a chessboard.
And apparently...
the man who knew exactly where we were.
"How?"
Celeste swallowed.
"Because there are no secrets inside this family."
She looked at me.
"Not anymore."
The Door That Wasn't on the Map
We ran.
At the end of the tunnel was a steel door.
Celeste pulled a key from her pocket.
I stared at it.
"You had that the entire time?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you use it before?"
"Because I didn't know whether I could trust you."
I almost laughed.
"After everything?"
"I've spent my whole life not knowing who to trust."
She inserted the key.
The door opened.
Cold air rushed toward us.
We stepped into a parking garage.
Three black cars waited below.
One belonged to me.
One belonged to Victor.
The third...
I didn't recognize.
Celeste stopped.
"Don't get into any of them."
"Why?"
She pointed.
The driver's seat of my car was occupied.
A man was sitting behind the wheel.
Waiting.
I reached for my weapon.
Then the man stepped out.
Ewan.
I lowered my hand.
"What are you doing here?"
He looked at Celeste.
"She called me."
I looked at Celeste.
"You said you didn't trust him."
"I don't."
Ewan frowned.
"Good."
I stared at both of them.
"What is happening?"
Ewan held up a phone.
"Family meeting."
The Call
The phone rang.
Ewan answered.
Victor's voice came through.
"Connor, listen carefully."
"Where are you?"
"Not important."
"It is to me."
A pause.
Then:
"You can't trust the people around you."
I looked at Celeste.
"I know."
"No."
Victor's voice became sharper.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
"Someone inside our family has been feeding information to Nathaniel for years."
Ewan looked at me.
"Who?"
Victor didn't answer.
"Father."
"Who?"
Silence.
Then Victor said:
"Your mother."
I stared at Elena's photograph.
"Which one?"
Victor went quiet.
That was when I understood.
There wasn't just one woman using the name Elena.
There were two.
Maybe more.
And someone had spent decades making sure we never knew which was which.
The Family Meeting
We reached the hotel shortly before dawn.
The Solmere stood above the city like a fortress of glass.
Victor had told me to come here.
He was waiting in the private dining room.
Ewan entered first.
I followed.
Then Celeste.
Victor looked at her.
"She shouldn't be here."
I stepped between them.
"She's staying."
Victor stared at me.
"Why?"
"Because she's the only person who has told me the truth."
Victor's expression changed.
"That's a dangerous thing to believe."
Celeste looked away.
"I've lied too."
Victor nodded.
"Exactly."
I sat down.
"Enough."
They stopped.
I looked around the table.
"My family has lied to me for twenty-seven years."
Nobody spoke.
"So tonight, everyone tells the truth."
Victor leaned back.
"You may regret that."
"I already do."
The First Betrayal
Victor placed a folder on the table.
"Ewan didn't disappear because of Anthony."
I looked at my brother.
"Then why?"
Victor opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
Ewan standing beside Rebecca.
Six years ago.
The night before the fire.
My brother looked at the photograph.
"I don't remember that."
Victor pointed to the date.
"You met her three days before Pier 44."
Ewan's face hardened.
"I don't remember."
"You were drugged."
"By Rebecca?"
"No."
Victor looked at me.
"By someone in this room."
Silence.
I looked at Celeste.
She shook her head.
"Not me."
Ewan stood.
"Who?"
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he pushed another photograph across the table.
It showed Elena.
Standing beside Ewan.
Her hand rested on his shoulder.
Behind them was Pier 44.
The timestamp was only thirty minutes before the fire.
I stared.
"Mom?"
Ewan looked at the photograph.
"I don't remember seeing her."
Victor said quietly:
"Because she wasn't there."
I frowned.
"Then who is that?"
He pointed to the woman.
"Rebecca."
I looked again.
The resemblance was terrifying.
Same hair.
Same face.
Same posture.
But the eyes were different.
One looked tired.
The other looked cold.
"They were twins," Victor said.
I felt my stomach drop.
"Elena had a twin?"
"Yes."
"Rebecca."
Victor nodded.
"And one of them betrayed the family."
The Twin
Celeste whispered:
"Which one?"
Victor looked at her.
"That's the problem."
I stared.
"They switched identities."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Twenty-three years ago."
"Why?"
"Money."
Victor's voice became bitter.
"Power."
"And my mother?"
"She disappeared."
"What about Rebecca?"
"She became Elena."
I looked at the photograph.
"Then who raised me?"
Victor said nothing.
Ewan whispered:
"The wrong woman."
The Woman I Called Mother
I remembered childhood.
A woman brushing my hair.
A hand on my forehead when I had a fever.
A voice telling me not to be afraid during thunderstorms.
I remembered being carried downstairs after falling asleep.
I remembered her singing.
If Rebecca had raised me...
then those memories belonged to the woman who had betrayed us.
Or perhaps they belonged to Elena.
I couldn't tell anymore.
I looked at Victor.
"Which woman raised me?"
He stared at me for a long time.
Then he said:
"Both."
I froze.
"Both?"
"They switched every few months."
My chest tightened.
"Why?"
"To confuse anyone watching."
"Who was watching?"
"Anthony."
"Why would Anthony care about a child?"
Victor looked at me.
"Because you weren't supposed to survive."
The Secret in My Blood
Victor opened another folder.
Inside was a medical report.
My name.
My DNA.
And another name.
Gabriel Mercer.
I stared.
"He's my father."
"Yes."
"Then why did you tell me he was dead?"
"Because Anthony believed he was dead."
"Was he?"
Victor hesitated.
"No."
My hands went cold.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"You said he was dead."
"I said that's what they wanted you to believe."
"Father!"
Victor finally raised his voice.
"He disappeared because he discovered the truth about your birth."
"What truth?"
"You weren't conceived naturally."
I stared at him.
Celeste's face went pale.
Ewan looked confused.
Victor continued.
"Your blood was needed to activate the trust."
"What does that mean?"
"Your grandfather built a biometric succession system."
I laughed.
"You're telling me my family trust needs my DNA?"
"Yes."
"And the wedding?"
"Would have transferred temporary control before the biometric succession activated."
I understood.
The wedding wasn't merely financial.
It was a race.
They needed to control me before my thirtieth birthday.
The Betrayal
The doors opened.
Everyone turned.
Elena walked into the room.
My mother.
Or the woman I thought was my mother.
She looked exhausted.
"Connor."
I stood.
"Which one are you?"
She stopped.
Pain crossed her face.
"I knew you'd eventually ask."
"Answer me."
"I'm Elena."
"Prove it."
She looked at Victor.
Then at Ewan.
Then at Celeste.
"I can't."
I felt something break inside me.
"Why?"
"Because Rebecca has my identity."
She placed a small box on the table.
Inside was an old photograph.
Two identical girls.
Elena and Rebecca.
Behind them stood Evelyn.
And beside Evelyn stood Gabriel.
My real father.
I stared.
Elena whispered:
"Rebecca didn't steal my identity."
I looked up.
"I gave it to her."
Everyone went silent.
"Why?"
"Because I was pregnant."
My heart stopped.
"With me?"
She nodded.
"I was twenty-two."
"Who was the father?"
She looked at the photograph.
"Gabriel."
I couldn't breathe.
"Then why did you give Rebecca your identity?"
"Because Anthony found out."
"And?"
"He wanted the baby."
"Why?"
"Because Evelyn's trust had named the child as its final heir."
She looked directly at me.
"You."
The Real Betrayal
I stepped backward.
"You gave me away."
"No."
"You let another woman raise me."
"I saved you."
I shook my head.
"You keep saying that."
"I know."
"Everyone uses that excuse."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"But I did."
"Then why did Rebecca become my mother?"
"Because she promised to protect you."
"And she betrayed us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Elena looked toward the window.
"Because she discovered something."
"What?"
"She could control the trust herself."
I stared.
"So she replaced you."
"Yes."
"And you let her?"
"I thought it would keep you alive."
My voice became cold.
"You abandoned me."
"I watched you from a distance."
"You weren't there."
"I was."
"You weren't my mother."
"I know."
That sentence destroyed me.
Celeste's Confession
Celeste stood.
"I need to tell you something."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She removed her engagement ring.
Placed it on the table.
Then she pushed it toward me.
"I never intended to marry you."
I nodded.
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't."
She opened the ring.
A tiny device was hidden inside.
A transmitter.
"A tracker?"
"Yes."
"Who gave it to you?"
"My father."
"Nathaniel."
She nodded.
"He wanted to know where you went."
"Why?"
"Because you were carrying something."
"What?"
She looked at Victor.
Victor's face hardened.
"Don't."
Celeste continued.
"The original trust."
I stared.
"Where?"
She touched my chest.
"Inside you."
I frowned.
"That's impossible."
"No."
She whispered:
"Gabriel had the trust encoded into your DNA."
Silence.
"That's why they need you alive."
The Person Who Betrayed Everyone
The door opened again.
This time nobody moved.
Rebecca entered.
No guards.
No weapon.
She looked at Elena.
Then at me.
"Enough."
Elena stood.
"You."
Rebecca smiled.
"Yes."
I stared at the two women.
Identical.
Except for their eyes.
Rebecca walked toward the table.
"I know what you want."
I said nothing.
"You want to know who betrayed your family."
She looked at Elena.
Then Victor.
Then Ewan.
Then Celeste.
"All of us."
I frowned.
"What?"
"We all betrayed someone."
She smiled bitterly.
"That's how this family survived."
She placed a folder on the table.
"Anthony betrayed Victor."
Another.
"Victor betrayed Gabriel."
Another.
"Elena betrayed me."
Another.
"Rebecca betrayed Elena."
She looked at Celeste.
"And Celeste betrayed her father."
Then she looked directly at me.
"And you..."
She paused.
"...betrayed yourself."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
"You trusted everyone."
She leaned closer.
"That was your greatest mistake."
The Final Photograph
Rebecca pulled out one final photograph.
She placed it in front of me.
It showed a hospital room.
A newborn baby.
A young woman standing beside the bed.
And a man holding the child.
I recognized him immediately.
Gabriel.
But the woman beside him wasn't Elena.
It wasn't Rebecca.
It was Celeste.
I stared.
"That's impossible."
Celeste covered her mouth.
"I've never seen that."
Rebecca smiled.
"Of course you haven't."
She pointed to the baby.
"That's you."
I looked at the date.
Twenty-seven years ago.
Then I looked at Celeste.
She was only a child in the photograph.
Impossible.
Rebecca whispered:
"Your wedding wasn't designed to make Celeste your wife."
I looked at her.
"Then what was it for?"
Her smile disappeared.
"It was designed to make her your legal guardian."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Why would I need a guardian?"
Rebecca leaned closer.
"Because when the trust activates tomorrow..."
She paused.
"...you will legally become the most powerful man in Chicago."
Silence.
"And every person who wants that power will come for you."
The lights suddenly went out.
A gunshot cracked through the darkness.
Someone screamed.
When the emergency lights came back on...
Victor was on the floor.
Blood spread across his shirt.
Ewan was holding his weapon.
Celeste was gone.
And the door stood open.
On the table was a note.
I picked it up.
Only one sentence had been written.
IF YOU WANT CELESTE ALIVE, COME TO THE WEDDING.
I looked at the clock.
11:58 p.m.
Tomorrow had already begun.
May you like
And somewhere in Chicago...
the woman I was supposed to marry was being held by the people who had spent twenty-seven years trying to control my life.
