Chapter 7 - 'HOW COULD YOU, BROTHER?'
The words hung in the air, sharp and impossible.
“Brother?” I repeated. “She called him brother?”
Julian nodded solemnly. “Clear as day. ‘How could you, brother?’ She screamed it. And then he pushed her. Or she slipped. I could not tell. She lost her footing and went into the water. It was fast that evening. The current was strong. I ran. I tried to reach her. But the man was gone. Vanished into the trees. And Elena… she did not surface.”
I stood frozen. My mind spun. Brother. Elena had grown up an only child. She had no brothers. Which meant… she had been speaking to my brother.
My brother. The man who had stood beside me since Elena’s funeral. Who had comforted me. Who had protected Leo. Who had guarded Vivienne. Who had sent me on this journey.
It was impossible. And yet… Julian had no reason to lie. No reason to frame my brother. He had risked everything to speak this freely.
“Did you tell anyone?” I asked, my voice barely audible. “Did you tell my father?”
Julian nodded. “That is why he paid me. That is why he silenced me. I told him everything. I told him what Elena said. And your father… he broke down. He said he would handle it. That it must never leave this conversation. He gave me enough money to disappear. To start over. And he swore he would deal with his son himself.” Julian looked at me, tears streaming down his weathered face. “Your father knew, Adrian. He knew it was his own boy. And he chose to protect him. Instead of Elena.”
The betrayal hit me like a physical blow. My own father. Protecting a murderer. My own brother. Killing Elena.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why would he hurt her? She loved him like family.”
“I do not know,” Julian said. “I only know what I saw. And what I heard. Elena was terrified. And your brother… he was desperate. Whatever secret she had uncovered… it was powerful enough to kill for.”
I turned toward the door. My head spun. I needed air. I needed to think.
“Adrian,” Julian called. “Be careful. If your brother killed her… and your father protected him… he has been living freely all this time. Watching. Waiting. And he knows you are asking questions now.”
I paused with my hand on the latch. “Did my brother know you were here?”
“I do not think so,” Julian said. “Your father kept my location secret. Only he knew. Until now.”
“Stay here,” I told him. “Lock the door. Do not speak to anyone. I will send men to bring you home. To protect you.”
“Home?” Julian gave a bitter laugh. “There is no home for me, Adrian. Not anymore. Not with a killer in your house.”
I left him there. I walked back to the car. I drove blindly through the darkening forest. Every thought led back to one place. My brother. The man I trusted most in the world. The man who had held Elena while she cried. The man who had sworn to protect Leo with his life.
Had he been protecting himself instead?
Had he nearly killed Leo too? To remove the last living tie to Elena?
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And Vivienne… where did she fit into this? Had she known all along? Had she protected my brother? Or had she been using the truth to protect herself?
I gripped the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white. I would return home. I would confront him. And I would learn the final, terrible truth. Whatever the cost.
