Chapter 8 — The Brother Who Betrayed Her
Chapter 8 — The Brother Who Betrayed Her
The rooftop door slammed behind Charlotte.
Wind tore across the Solmere Hotel, whipping her hair across her face.
The city stretched beneath her.
Thousands of lights.
Thousands of people.
And somewhere in the darkness, someone who was supposed to be dead had asked her to come.
Vivian followed.
“Charlotte, wait.”
Charlotte didn't.
“Whoever sent that message knows where I am.”
“I know.”
“They knew I found the file.”
“I know.”
“They knew the file disappeared.”
Vivian stopped.
“That is what frightens me.”
Charlotte turned.
“Why?”
“Because only four people knew the file existed.”
“Who?”
“Me. Gideon. Adrian.”
Vivian hesitated.
“And Nathan.”
Charlotte's heart sank.
Her brother.
Again.
She whispered his name.
“Nathan.”
Vivian nodded.
“He was here tonight.”
Charlotte looked toward the rooftop entrance.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You always were good at finding trouble.”
Charlotte froze.
Nathan stood beside the rooftop doorway.
His hands were in his coat pockets.
His face looked exhausted.
Charlotte stared at him.
“You sent the message.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“Then who?”
“I don't know.”
Vivian stepped between them.
“Don't lie.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
“She came herself.”
Nathan's eyes moved to Charlotte.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
Charlotte laughed bitterly.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
“You betrayed Mom.”
Nathan's face changed.
“Who told you?”
“Vivian.”
Nathan looked at her.
Then slowly shook his head.
“Vivian doesn't know everything.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“Then tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because if I tell you, you will never forgive me.”
Charlotte's voice became cold.
“I already don't.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Then he said:
“Good.”
Charlotte frowned.
“What?”
“If you hate me, you'll stay away from me.”
Nathan turned to leave.
Charlotte grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He stopped.
“You don't get to walk away again.”
“I have to.”
“You disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you abandoned me.”
“Yes.”
“You let everyone think I was dead.”
“Yes.”
“You watched while people stole my inheritance.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I watched because I was trying to keep you alive.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
He pulled a small black drive from his pocket.
“Your mother left this for you.”
Charlotte stared.
“Then why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Nathan looked toward the city.
“Of what you'd discover.”
They returned to the archive.
Nathan locked the door behind them.
Charlotte watched him carefully.
“Start talking.”
Nathan connected the drive to the computer.
A single folder appeared.
PROJECT ORCHID.
Charlotte frowned.
“What is that?”
“My grandfather's surveillance program.”
She looked at him.
“You knew about it?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since I was nineteen.”
Charlotte's face tightened.
“And you never told me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“You were seventeen.”
Charlotte remembered.
Her brother had once tried to convince her to leave the family.
She had thought he was jealous.
She had ignored him.
Nathan opened the folder.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Names.
Photographs.
Financial records.
Private messages.
Medical records.
Travel histories.
Everyone in the Vale family had been monitored.
Including Nathan.
Including Charlotte.
Including their mother.
Charlotte whispered:
“He watched all of us.”
Nathan nodded.
“He wanted to know who would betray him.”
“Did you?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Yes.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“You did betray him.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
He opened another file.
A photograph appeared.
Nathan standing beside Charlotte's mother.
She was holding an envelope.
The timestamp was three days before her death.
Charlotte leaned closer.
“What is that?”
“The succession agreement.”
“The one that made me heir?”
“Yes.”
“Why was it hidden?”
“Because your grandfather discovered it.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“And then?”
“He ordered me to steal it.”
“Did you?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Yes.”
Charlotte's expression hardened.
“You stole my inheritance.”
“No.”
He opened another file.
“I stole it from him.”
Nathan explained.
He had taken the original agreement and replaced it with a forged copy.
The forged version gave control of Solmere to Arthur.
The real version named Charlotte as sole heir.
Nathan hid the original.
But Arthur discovered the deception.
He threatened Nathan.
He threatened Charlotte.
And finally, he threatened their mother.
“She knew what was coming,” Nathan said.
“So she created the disappearance plan.”
Charlotte's voice trembled.
“Yes.”
“And Dad helped.”
“Yes.”
“Adrian?”
“Yes.”
“Vivian?”
“Yes.”
Charlotte looked at him.
“Then why did Mom die?”
Nathan lowered his eyes.
“Because someone betrayed the plan.”
“Who?”
Nathan didn't answer.
Charlotte's voice became sharper.
“Who?”
Nathan finally said:
“Me.”
The room went silent.
Charlotte stared at her brother.
“What did you do?”
Nathan swallowed.
“I told someone where you were.”
Charlotte's blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“I thought they were helping.”
“Who?”
“Bianca.”
Charlotte remembered Vivian's words.
Her mother's double.
“You trusted Bianca?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She told me she worked for your mother.”
“She did.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“She worked for Arthur.”
Charlotte's eyes widened.
Nathan continued.
“She convinced me she had escaped from him.”
“And you believed her.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell her?”
“Where you were hiding.”
Charlotte's voice broke.
“Where?”
Nathan looked at her.
“The safe house.”
The safe house where Charlotte had stayed the night before her supposed death.
Nathan's face collapsed.
“I thought she was taking medicine to you.”
“She wasn't.”
“No.”
“She took the information to Arthur.”
“Yes.”
Charlotte turned away.
She couldn't look at him.
“My mother died because of you.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“You didn't just betray me.”
“I know.”
“You killed her.”
Nathan's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
Charlotte slapped him.
The sound echoed through the archive.
Nathan didn't defend himself.
He simply stood there.
“Again,” he whispered.
Charlotte stared.
“Why?”
“Because I deserve it.”
She didn't strike him again.
Instead, she stepped away.
“You should have told me.”
“I was trying.”
“For three years?”
“I was afraid.”
“You let me hate myself.”
“I know.”
“You let me think nobody wanted me.”
“I know.”
Charlotte wiped her tears.
“I needed my brother.”
Nathan whispered:
“I know.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Nathan immediately turned off the computer.
“Someone's coming.”
Charlotte looked at the door.
“Who?”
Nathan reached for the weapon beneath his coat.
“I don't know.”
The door handle moved.
Nathan raised the gun.
The door opened.
Adrian entered.
Nathan aimed immediately.
Adrian didn't react.
“Put it down.”
“You shouldn't be here.”
“I know.”
Charlotte looked between them.
“You two know each other.”
Adrian nodded.
“Very well.”
“How?”
Nathan lowered the weapon.
“We worked together.”
Charlotte's eyes narrowed.
“On what?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Saving you.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Everyone claims they saved me.”
“Some of us did.”
“Some of you got my mother killed.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“That wasn't Nathan's fault.”
Nathan looked at him.
“Don't.”
“You're still protecting her.”
“I deserve what she thinks.”
Adrian turned toward Charlotte.
“You need to know what really happened.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Adrian ignored him.
“Your mother wasn't killed by Bianca.”
Charlotte froze.
“What?”
“Bianca tried.”
“What are you saying?”
“She failed.”
Adrian placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Bianca.
Standing beside Charlotte's mother.
Both women were alive.
The date was the night Charlotte's mother supposedly died.
Charlotte stared.
“That's impossible.”
Adrian pointed to the background.
A clock.
“Look at the time.”
11:42 p.m.
“Your mother died at 9:15.”
Charlotte looked at Nathan.
“What does that mean?”
Nathan whispered:
“She was alive after her official time of death.”
Charlotte felt dizzy.
Adrian opened another file.
A hospital record.
PATIENT: EVELYN VALE
STATUS: TRANSFERRED
Charlotte stared.
“Transferred where?”
Adrian answered:
“An underground medical facility.”
“Why?”
“Because she survived the attack.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“My mother survived?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Six months.”
Charlotte could barely breathe.
“Six months?”
“She was kept hidden.”
“By whom?”
Adrian looked toward Nathan.
“Your brother.”
Charlotte turned.
Nathan's face was devastated.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Mom was alive?”
“Yes.”
“And you still let me believe she was dead?”
Nathan's voice broke.
“She made me promise.”
Charlotte shook her head.
“Everyone has a promise.”
She stepped toward him.
“What did she die from?”
Nathan looked at the floor.
“She didn't.”
Charlotte froze.
Adrian's voice was quiet.
“She disappeared.”
Charlotte stared at both men.
“Where is she?”
Neither answered.
“Where is my mother?”
Nathan finally looked at her.
“We don't know.”
“When did she disappear?”
“Two years ago.”
Charlotte's heart pounded.
“She could still be alive.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the person who took her sent us a message.”
“What message?”
Nathan handed her a folded piece of paper.
Charlotte opened it.
Six words.
Bring Charlotte back, or she dies.
Charlotte looked up.
“Who sent this?”
Nathan's voice was barely audible.
“Your grandfather.”
Charlotte's hands trembled.
Then the lights went out.
A scream came from the hallway.
Nathan grabbed Charlotte.
Adrian drew his weapon.
Someone ran past the archive door.
Then silence.
Charlotte looked down.
The black drive was gone.
Someone had stolen it.
Again.
Nathan looked at Adrian.
“They're inside.”
Adrian nodded.
Charlotte whispered:
“Who?”
Adrian looked toward the locked door.
“The person who has been manipulating all of us.”
A phone rang.
Not Charlotte's.
Not Nathan's.
Adrian's.
He answered.
A voice spoke.
Charlotte couldn't hear the words.
But she saw Adrian's face change.
“Who is it?” she asked.
Adrian slowly lowered the phone.
Then looked directly at Charlotte.
“It was your mother.”
Charlotte's heart stopped.
“What did she say?”
Adrian swallowed.
“She said your grandfather isn't the one controlling Solmere.”
Charlotte stared.
“Then who is?”
Adrian looked toward Nathan.
Nathan closed his eyes.
And Charlotte realized he already knew the answer.
Adrian whispered:
“The person sitting on this board.”
Charlotte's eyes widened.
“Which one?”
Before Adrian could answer, a gunshot exploded somewhere below them.
Then another.
The entire hotel erupted in screams.
Nathan grabbed Charlotte's hand.
“We have to go.”
“Where?”
“To the ballroom.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Because the succession vote has already started.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“And if we don't stop it?”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Your grandfather won't control Solmere.”
“Then who will?”
May you like
Nathan looked at her.
“The brother you thought betrayed you.”
