Chapter 7 The Brother Who Knew
Marcus stared at the photograph.
Daniel stood in their father's old study with the Bellweather ledger in his hand.
The image had been taken recently.
Very recently.
Marcus zoomed in.
Behind Daniel, the study looked exactly as it had when their father was alive. The dark shelves. The old desk. The portrait above the fireplace.
Then Marcus noticed something else.
The safe behind the desk was open.
His stomach tightened.
Someone had accessed the family records.
Someone who knew the combination.
Someone who knew where to look.
Emilia stood beside him.
"What is it?"
Marcus hesitated.
She watched his face.
"Marcus."
He turned the phone toward her.
Her eyes widened.
"Daniel."
He nodded.
"Thomas told me not to trust him."
Emilia looked at the photograph again.
"Maybe your father was confused."
"I don't think so."
"You don't know that."
"No."
Marcus's voice was quiet.
"But I know my brother."
He looked at the message again.
Your brother knows why your marriage had to happen.
Emilia felt a chill.
"Why would anyone say that?"
"I don't know."
"Could Daniel have taken the ledger to protect it?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Possibly."
"Then don't assume the worst."
He studied her.
Even now, after everything that had happened between them, she was trying to stop him from judging someone without evidence.
He admired that about her.
He had always admired it.
He had simply failed to say so.
"You still defend people," he said.
"Someone has to."
A faint smile touched his mouth.
Then disappeared.
"I need to go."
Emilia nodded.
"I know."
He hesitated.
"Do you want me to stay?"
The question surprised her.
Six years ago, he would have decided what needed to happen and left.
Now he was asking.
She looked at her father.
Then back at him.
"Go."
Marcus nodded.
He started toward the door.
"Marcus."
He turned.
Emilia swallowed.
"Be careful."
Something softened in his eyes.
"I will."
He left.
Emilia watched the door close.
For the first time since she had walked away from her marriage, she realized something uncomfortable.
She had expected Marcus to fight for her.
She had expected grand promises, expensive gestures, perhaps even anger.
She had not expected him to change the way he listened.
It was small.
Too small to repair six years.
But it mattered.
She turned back to her father.
Thomas remained unconscious.
She took his hand again.
"Dad, what happened to our families?"
The monitor continued its steady rhythm.
She looked at the photograph Marcus had left behind.
Daniel.
The ledger.
The marriage.
Nothing seemed separate anymore.
Marcus drove through the rain with both hands on the wheel.
His mind moved faster than the car.
Daniel had always been different from him.
Where Marcus had been serious and driven, Daniel had been warm and easygoing.
As children, Marcus had been the responsible one.
Daniel had been the boy who climbed trees, broke rules, and somehow convinced their father to forgive him.
When their mother became ill, Daniel had stayed beside her.
When Marcus took over the family company, Daniel had stepped away from the business.
He had said he wanted a life that belonged to him.
Marcus had respected that.
Perhaps too easily.
His phone rang.
Grant.
Marcus answered.
"Tell me."
"We found something."
"What?"
"The security footage from your father's house."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"And?"
"Someone entered the study at 2:14 this morning."
"Daniel?"
"No."
Marcus frowned.
"Then who?"
"The cameras were disabled before we got a clear image."
"Convenient."
"There's more."
Marcus waited.
"One of the guards saw a car leaving the property."
"What kind?"
"Black sedan."
"License?"
"Partially visible."
Grant gave him the numbers.
Marcus recognized them.
His stomach tightened.
"That's one of the family cars."
"Which one?"
"My mother's."
Silence.
Grant spoke carefully.
"Marcus, there's something else."
"What?"
"Your mother called the house shortly before the security system went offline."
Marcus felt a knot form in his chest.
"Where is she?"
"We don't know."
"Find her."
"We're trying."
Marcus ended the call.
His mother's involvement had never occurred to him.
He wanted to dismiss it.
But the photograph of Daniel remained on his phone.
He needed answers.
And he needed them before someone else decided what happened next.
Daniel stood alone in the old study.
The Bellweather ledger lay open on the desk.
He had spent the past hour reading it.
He wished he had not.
Some truths did not make a person wiser.
They simply made sleep impossible.
He turned another page.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Agreements.
Signatures.
For twenty-seven years, his family had told a story about Bellweather.
The story was simple.
Richard Aldridge had rescued the property.
He had acquired it legally.
He had expanded the family's holdings.
He had built the company into an empire.
But the ledger told another story.
Richard had tried to undo the damage.
He had discovered that the original agreement had been forged by someone close to the family.
Someone who had manipulated both sides.
Someone who had benefited from keeping the Fosters and Aldridges suspicious of each other.
Daniel reached the final section.
His breath caught.
There was a letter from Richard.
Daniel,
His father's handwriting.
If you are reading this, then I am either dead or you have finally understood why I kept you away from the company.
Daniel's eyes burned.
He continued.
Marcus believes strength means carrying everything alone. I taught him that without realizing what I was doing.
Daniel stopped.
His brother's face appeared in his mind.
Marcus at twelve.
Marcus at twenty.
Marcus standing beside Emilia on their wedding day.
Richard had been right.
Marcus carried everything.
Even when nobody had asked him to.
Daniel read on.
If Marcus and Emilia marry, do not interfere. Their relationship must belong to them, not to the agreement. If they choose each other, let them. If they do not, let them walk away.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Then he reached the final paragraph.
But if someone attempts to separate them using Bellweather, tell Marcus the truth. The danger is not the property. It is the person who has been waiting for the right moment to control both families.
Daniel looked toward the study door.
A sound came from the hallway.
He closed the ledger.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Daniel stood.
He reached for the desk drawer.
Inside was an old pistol.
He did not remove it.
Instead, he moved toward the door.
Then he heard a familiar voice.
"Daniel?"
His mother.
Daniel opened the door.
She stood in the hallway.
Her face was pale.
"Mother."
She looked at the ledger.
"You found it."
Daniel nodded.
"Did you know?"
She closed her eyes.
"Not everything."
"Enough."
"Yes."
Daniel's disappointment was quiet.
That made it worse.
"You let Marcus believe Dad was innocent."
"I wanted to protect him."
"From what?"
"From the truth."
Daniel shook his head.
"You and Dad spent your entire lives confusing protection with secrecy."
His mother looked away.
"You don't understand what Richard was trying to prevent."
"Then tell me."
She was silent.
"Mother."
She finally whispered,
"The person behind Bellweather isn't after the property."
Daniel frowned.
"Then what do they want?"
She looked at him.
"Your brother."
Marcus reached the family house.
The gates were open.
He parked and entered.
The house was dark.
"Daniel!"
No answer.
Marcus walked through the foyer.
Everything looked untouched.
That worried him.
He entered the study.
The safe was open.
The ledger was gone.
Then he saw something on the desk.
A photograph.
It showed Marcus and Emilia on their wedding day.
They were standing beneath an arch of white flowers.
Emilia was smiling.
Marcus remembered that day.
He had been nervous.
Not because of the ceremony.
Because when Emilia had walked toward him, he had suddenly understood that his life was changing.
He had loved her then.
He knew that now.
But somewhere along the way, he had allowed responsibility to become an excuse for distance.
He picked up the photograph.
Someone had written on the back.
She was always the key.
Marcus's heart stopped.
He heard movement upstairs.
"Daniel?"
No answer.
He climbed the staircase.
At the end of the corridor, his mother's bedroom door stood open.
Inside, drawers had been pulled out.
A suitcase was missing.
Marcus walked to the window.
His mother's jewelry box remained untouched.
Whoever had taken her had not come for valuables.
They had come for information.
His phone rang.
An unknown number.
Marcus answered.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice replied.
"You should stop looking."
Marcus's expression hardened.
"Where is my mother?"
"Safe."
"Put her on."
"Not yet."
Marcus gripped the phone.
"If you hurt her—"
"No one wants your mother hurt."
"Then what do you want?"
The voice paused.
"Your wife."
Marcus went still.
"You already threatened her."
"We don't want Emilia harmed."
"Then leave her alone."
"We will."
The voice became quieter.
"If you give us the ledger."
Marcus looked at the empty safe.
"I don't have it."
"You will."
"Why?"
"Because your brother will bring it to you."
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
"Daniel?"
"He's already made his choice."
The call ended.
Marcus immediately called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then his phone received a location.
A coastal road.
Near the Foster property.
Marcus's blood ran cold.
Daniel stood in the study with his mother.
"Where is Marcus?"
"Coming here."
Daniel looked at her.
"You called him."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he needs to hear the truth from us."
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
She looked at him.
"What?"
"I don't trust this."
"Why?"
"Because they knew I found the ledger."
His mother froze.
"What do you mean?"
Daniel opened the desk drawer.
Inside was a small listening device.
His mother stared at it.
"They've been listening to us."
Daniel picked it up.
"Probably for weeks."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
A floorboard creaked outside.
Daniel turned.
The door slowly opened.
Marcus stood there.
For a moment, the brothers simply looked at each other.
Then Marcus said,
"Tell me the truth."
Daniel looked at the ledger.
Then at his brother.
"I was trying to protect you."
Marcus laughed bitterly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
Daniel's expression tightened.
"Because it's true."
"Then why did Thomas tell me not to trust you?"
Daniel went still.
"What?"
"Before he lost consciousness."
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
Marcus stepped closer.
"You had the ledger."
"Yes."
"You knew about the marriage."
"Yes."
"You knew Dad was hiding something."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
"I was trying to find proof first."
Marcus stared at him.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
The two brothers stood inches apart.
All their childhood disagreements seemed insignificant compared with the weight between them now.
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Did you ever believe Emilia was part of some plan?"
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"Then why does the ledger say her marriage to me mattered?"
Daniel looked toward his mother.
"Because someone believed it mattered."
"Who?"
Daniel hesitated.
His mother answered.
"The person who forged the agreement."
Marcus looked at her.
"Who?"
She took a breath.
Then the study lights went out.
Daniel cursed.
A sharp noise came from the hallway.
Marcus immediately moved toward his brother.
"Stay here."
A shadow crossed the doorway.
Then a voice spoke.
"You're finally asking the right questions."
Marcus froze.
The voice was familiar.
Far too familiar.
Daniel whispered,
"No."
A figure stepped into the doorway.
Marcus stared.
The person he had trusted for years was standing there.
And in their hand was a photograph of Emilia.
"Now," the stranger said, "we can discuss why your marriage was never supposed to survive."