CHAPTER 6 — THE MOTHER WHO FINALLY WOKE
CHAPTER 6 — THE MOTHER WHO FINALLY WOKE
For four years, I had spoken to my mother as if she could hear me.
I told her about business.
About the weather.
About Ewan.
I told her things I had never told anyone else because talking was easier than sitting in silence.
Sometimes I read to her.
Sometimes I simply sat beside her bed.
And sometimes, when I was certain no one was watching, I admitted that I was angry with her.
Not because she had abandoned me.
Because she had never explained why.
I had always believed the silence was something illness had taken from her.
That night, I learned it had been something someone had taken from her.
I entered her room with Delia behind me.
The portrait hung above the fireplace.
A photograph of my parents from the year I was born.
My father standing behind my mother.
His hand resting on her shoulder.
My mother smiling.
I had looked at that photograph hundreds of times.
Now I saw something I'd never noticed.
The frame was thicker than it should have been.
I removed it from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow wooden panel.
I pressed it.
Nothing.
Delia stepped forward.
"Left side."
I moved my fingers along the edge.
There.
A tiny latch.
I pushed.
The panel opened.
Inside was a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
ELIAS.
My hands were cold.
I opened it.
A single sheet of paper fell out.
The handwriting was my mother's.
I knew it immediately.
My mother had written:
My son,
If you are reading this, then I have failed to protect you in the way I wanted.
Do not believe everything you were told about your father.
Do not believe everything you were told about Ewan.
And above all, do not trust anyone who tells you that I chose silence.
I did not choose it.
It was forced upon me.
There is something you must know.
Your father did not build this empire alone.
His brother helped him.
And one day, when they were both gone, they intended for you to inherit everything.
Not because they loved you.
Because they believed they could control you.
I tried to stop them.
Ewan tried too.
Forgive us for failing you.
— Mother
I lowered the paper.
Delia was crying.
"She wrote this when she could still speak?"
"Yes."
"How long before she became ill?"
"Three months."
I looked at my mother.
"Then she knew."
"She knew everything."
I walked to her bed.
"Mom."
Her eyes remained closed.
I held the letter in front of her.
"You wrote this."
Her fingers moved.
I froze.
Delia stepped closer.
"Mom?"
My mother's eyes opened.
Not slowly this time.
Immediately.
She looked at me.
And for the first time in four years, there was recognition.
Complete recognition.
Her lips moved.
I leaned down.
"Mom?"
She whispered:
"Elias."
I couldn't breathe.
I had heard that voice in dreams.
I had imagined it hundreds of times.
But nothing prepared me for hearing my name.
I grabbed her hand.
"I'm here."
She looked at me.
Then at Delia.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Delia."
Delia covered her mouth.
"You're awake."
My mother nodded.
Then she tried to sit up.
I helped her.
Her body was weak.
But her mind was clear.
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then said:
"Ewan."
I closed my eyes.
"He's alive."
My mother stared at me.
I nodded.
"We found evidence."
Her face changed.
Fear.
Hope.
Grief.
All at once.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
She gripped my hand.
"Pier."
"What?"
"Pier..."
Her breathing became faster.
"Forty-four."
I leaned closer.
"What about Pier 44?"
She looked toward the window.
"The fire."
"I know."
"No."
Her voice was weak.
"You don't know."
She struggled for breath.
I pressed the call button.
She shook her head.
"No doctors."
"Mom—"
"No."
She held my hand tighter.
"Listen."
I nodded.
"I'm listening."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Ewan didn't go there alone."
"Who was with him?"
She looked at Delia.
Delia shook her head.
My mother whispered:
"Celeste."
I froze.
"Celeste was there?"
My mother nodded.
"Why?"
"She was helping Ewan."
I stared at her.
"Helping him?"
"At first."
My mother's eyes closed.
"Then she betrayed him."
Delia lowered her head.
I felt my anger return.
"Why?"
"Money."
My mother swallowed.
"Her father."
I sat down.
"Did Celeste start the fire?"
"No."
"Then who?"
My mother's face became terrified.
She whispered:
"Thomas."
My uncle.
Again.
"Thomas started the fire?"
She nodded.
"Why?"
"To destroy the records."
"What records?"
"Everything."
She looked at me.
"Names."
"What names?"
"The people he owned."
I felt cold.
"Politicians?"
"Judges."
"Police?"
"Doctors."
"Lawyers."
She paused.
"People everywhere."
I understood.
Thomas hadn't built an organization.
He had built a network.
A city where everyone important owed him something.
My mother continued.
"Ewan found the ledger."
"The one beneath the conservatory?"
She nodded.
"He copied it."
"Where is the original?"
Her eyes moved toward the wall.
"The house."
I frowned.
"Which house?"
She whispered:
"Your childhood home."
I stared at her.
"That house was demolished."
"No."
She shook her head.
"Not all of it."
I felt a chill.
"What remains?"
"The basement."
Delia looked at me.
"There's a basement beneath the old house."
I remembered.
I hadn't been there since I was thirteen.
My father had forbidden us from going downstairs.
I had always thought it was because the building was unsafe.
Now I knew better.
My mother grabbed my sleeve.
"Don't go."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because he knows."
"Thomas?"
She nodded.
"He knows you're looking."
"How?"
She looked at the door.
"Because he has someone here."
The room became silent.
I turned toward the hallway.
"Who?"
My mother didn't answer.
She pointed toward the doorway.
I stepped forward.
No one.
Then I heard footsteps.
Marcus appeared.
"Elias."
I turned.
"What?"
He looked at my mother.
His expression changed.
"She's awake."
"Yes."
He nodded.
Then lowered his voice.
"We have a problem."
"What?"
"One of the security guards is missing."
I stared at him.
"Which one?"
"Daniel."
My mother's face went white.
She whispered:
"Thomas."
I looked at Marcus.
"Find him."
"We're trying."
"Where was he last seen?"
"The north gate."
"When?"
"An hour ago."
I looked at the clock.
Then at my mother.
She was trembling.
"Mom."
She grabbed my hand.
"Don't trust the guards."
"Why?"
"Because..."
She struggled to breathe.
"One of them..."
She closed her eyes.
I leaned closer.
"One of them what?"
She whispered:
"Was Ewan's friend."
I stared at her.
"Which one?"
She couldn't answer.
Her eyes closed.
The monitor beside her bed began to beep faster.
Delia rushed to her side.
I stepped away.
Marcus moved toward me.
"We need to secure the house."
"Do it."
He nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No one spoke.
Then a man's voice came through.
"Elias."
I recognized it.
Not because I'd heard it often.
Because I'd heard it once.
Through a steel door.
"Ewan?"
"Listen carefully."
"Where are you?"
"Not where you think."
"Who took you?"
"I left."
"What?"
"I left."
I frowned.
"You escaped?"
"Yes."
"Where are you?"
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because someone is listening."
I looked around the room.
"Who?"
Ewan's voice became quieter.
"Someone you trust."
My heart tightened.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then why call me?"
"Because I found something."
"What?"
"A name."
"Whose?"
"Thomas."
I froze.
"What about him?"
"He's not working alone."
"Who is he working with?"
Silence.
"Ewan."
The line crackled.
Then he said:
"Mom."
I looked toward the bed.
My mother was awake.
She was staring directly at me.
"What about Mom?"
Ewan's voice dropped.
"She knows."
"Knows what?"
"The truth about our father."
I swallowed.
"I know Dad wasn't—"
"No."
He interrupted.
"That's not the truth."
"What then?"
"Elias..."
His voice cracked.
"The man you called Dad wasn't Adrian."
I couldn't move.
"What?"
"He was Thomas."
I stared at my mother.
She closed her eyes.
Tears streamed down her face.
Ewan continued:
"Adrian was our real father."
I froze.
Everything I'd learned collapsed.
The supposed dead father.
The uncle.
The birth certificate.
The hidden contracts.
All of it.
"Then who is Thomas?"
Ewan answered:
"Our uncle."
"I know."
"No."
His voice became urgent.
"You don't understand."
"Tell me."
"He isn't our father's brother."
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"Then who is he?"
Silence.
Then:
"He is our mother's first husband."
I couldn't breathe.
I looked at my mother.
She was crying.
"Elias," Ewan said.
"What?"
"Mom married Thomas before Adrian."
I closed my eyes.
"Why didn't she tell us?"
"Because Thomas threatened to kill you."
"And Dad?"
"Adrian took us."
"Why?"
"To protect us."
I couldn't speak.
Ewan continued.
"And Thomas has been trying to get us back ever since."
The call suddenly became distorted.
"Ewan?"
Static.
Then his final words.
"He's inside the house."
The line died.
I looked at Marcus.
"Lock everything down."
He reached for his phone.
My mother suddenly pointed toward the door.
Her face was frozen with terror.
I turned.
There was no one there.
Then I saw it.
A small red light.
Blinking above the door.
A camera.
Someone had been watching us.
Watching my mother wake up.
Watching me read her letter.
Watching every word.
Marcus followed my gaze.
His face hardened.
"We need to move her."
"No."
My mother spoke.
Her voice was stronger now.
"Don't move me."
"Mom—"
She looked at me.
"Let him come."
"Who?"
She stared at the camera.
"Thomas."
I felt the air leave the room.
My mother reached for my hand.
"Elias."
"Yes?"
She squeezed my fingers.
"Your father is not the man you think he is."
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You still don't know."
She looked toward the window.
Then whispered:
"Adrian is alive."
I froze.
My mother continued:
May you like
"And he is the one who has been protecting you."
END OF CHAPTER 6
