Chapter 17 The Brother Who Vanished
Nobody moved.
The man stood beneath the broken archway, rainwater dripping from his coat.
Audrey stared at him.
He looked enough like Ethan to make her chest tighten, but there were differences. His features were sharper. His expression was harder. A thin scar crossed one eyebrow.
Most striking were his eyes.
They were Ethan's eyes without Ethan's warmth.
Nathan looked at Elise.
“You should not have brought her here.”
Elise stepped forward.
“She deserved the truth.”
Nathan's gaze moved to Audrey.
“No. She deserved a life.”
Audrey found her voice.
“Who are you?”
Nathan gave a humorless smile.
“You already know.”
“I know your name.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Caleb stepped between them.
“Why did you disappear?”
Nathan looked at him.
“You of all people should understand.”
“I don't.”
“You were told I was dead.”
“Yes.”
“You believed them.”
Caleb's expression hardened.
“Because everyone I trusted told me the same story.”
Nathan looked toward Audrey.
“That is how this family survives.”
Audrey folded her mother's letter.
“You took the photograph.”
Nathan didn't deny it.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To bring you here.”
“Why not just contact me?”
“Because you would have brought Ethan.”
Audrey stiffened.
“What's wrong with Ethan?”
“Nothing.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“That is what makes this difficult.”
Caleb frowned.
“You hate him?”
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I hate what was done to him.”
Audrey stared.
Nathan continued.
“Ethan was nine years old when Richard decided what he would become.”
“He was a child,” Audrey said.
“So was I.”
The answer was quiet.
It carried more pain than anger.
Audrey stepped closer.
“What happened to you?”
Nathan looked at Elise.
“She knows.”
Elise lowered her eyes.
“I know what happened to you.”
“Then tell her.”
Elise hesitated.
Nathan's voice became firm.
“Tell Audrey why I disappeared.”
Elise looked at Audrey.
“Richard discovered that Nathan had access to the trust.”
Audrey frowned.
“But he wasn't the heir?”
“He was.”
Nathan nodded.
“Until Richard changed the documents.”
Audrey's heart sank.
“Why?”
“Because Nathan refused to obey him.”
“What did he want you to do?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Marry you.”
Audrey froze.
The room became silent.
Nathan continued.
“Richard believed that if I married you, he would control both sides of the Parker fortune.”
Audrey shook her head.
“I was six.”
“You weren't meant to marry immediately.”
“Then what?”
“You were supposed to grow up believing the marriage was your choice.”
Audrey felt sick.
“That's horrible.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't anyone stop him?”
Nathan laughed softly.
“Your grandfather tried.”
“What happened?”
“Richard threatened him.”
“With what?”
“Your life.”
Audrey's face tightened.
Nathan looked toward Ethan's brother.
“I refused.”
“And then?”
“Richard made me disappear.”
Caleb stepped closer.
“You were twelve.”
“Yes.”
“You survived?”
Nathan looked at him.
“Barely.”
Audrey stared.
“Where did you go?”
“First, a boarding school under another name. Then foster homes. Eventually I left the country.”
“And you never came back?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Audrey frowned.
“Why?”
“To see Ethan.”
“Did he know?”
“No.”
Nathan's gaze dropped.
“I watched him from a distance.”
“Why?”
“Because he looked happy.”
Audrey felt an unexpected ache.
“He wasn't.”
Nathan looked at her.
“I know.”
“You knew about our marriage?”
“I knew about the problems.”
“How?”
“Richard never stopped watching.”
Audrey's anger returned.
“And you did nothing?”
Nathan's expression hardened.
“I was trying to find proof before I came to you.”
“What proof?”
“That your marriage had been engineered.”
Audrey held up her mother's letter.
“I already know.”
Nathan looked at the page.
“No.”
“What?”
“You know part of it.”
He stepped toward her.
“Your marriage wasn't only arranged because of the trust.”
Audrey's heart sank.
“What else?”
Nathan looked toward the chapel floor.
“Your grandfather suspected that one of his children had betrayed him.”
“Who?”
“Your grandmother believed it was Richard.”
Audrey shook her head.
“But Richard wasn't James's son.”
Nathan looked at her.
“No.”
“Then why would James trust him?”
“Because Richard wasn't the only person involved.”
Caleb's face tightened.
“Who else?”
Nathan looked at Elise.
“Your mother.”
Caleb went still.
“My mother?”
“She knew about the trust.”
Elise closed her eyes.
“I made mistakes.”
Caleb's voice was bitter.
“You helped Richard.”
“For a short time.”
“Why?”
“Because he threatened you.”
Caleb stared at her.
“You could have told me.”
“You were seventeen.”
“I could have protected myself.”
“No.”
Elise's voice broke.
“You were still a child.”
Caleb turned away.
Nathan looked at Audrey.
“That was how Richard controlled everyone.”
Audrey thought about Ethan.
The quiet husband who had spent years trying to keep everything under control.
The man who had inherited a company, a reputation, and a family history he had never fully understood.
She suddenly wondered how much of his emotional distance had been learned rather than chosen.
Then Nathan said,
“There is one thing you don't know about Ethan.”
Audrey looked at him.
“What?”
“He wasn't supposed to be your husband.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You still don't understand.”
He looked directly at her.
“Ethan was supposed to be your protector.”
Audrey frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Richard changed the plan after I disappeared.”
“Why?”
“Because he needed someone he could control.”
Audrey's stomach tightened.
“Ethan.”
Nathan nodded.
“Richard made him believe that marrying you was his own decision.”
Audrey's eyes widened.
“How?”
“By keeping the truth from him.”
She thought about Ethan's admission.
His memories.
His father's secrets.
The documents.
The trust.
Everything seemed to connect.
Then a loud sound came from outside.
Nathan turned sharply.
“Everyone down.”
A window shattered.
Elise pulled Audrey toward the floor.
Caleb grabbed Rachel.
Ethan's voice came through the darkness.
“Audrey!”
She looked toward the doorway.
“Ethan?”
He stepped inside.
His coat was wet, and there was a cut above his eyebrow.
He had followed them.
Audrey stood.
“What happened?”
“I found the others.”
“Who?”
“Martin and two security men.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
Nathan stared at him.
Ethan stared back.
For several seconds, the brothers said nothing.
Then Nathan whispered,
“You grew up.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“I know you.”
Nathan looked startled.
“What?”
“I don't know how.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“But I remember you.”
Audrey looked between them.
Ethan continued.
“You were at the hospital.”
Nathan's face went pale.
“Yes.”
“You were arguing with Dad.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Nathan looked at him.
“I tried to get Claire out.”
Ethan's breathing changed.
“You were there when she died.”
“Yes.”
“What did you see?”
Nathan's eyes moved toward Audrey.
“I saw who gave the order.”
Audrey's heart stopped.
“Who?”
Nathan looked toward the chapel doors.
“We don't have time.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she's coming.”
The doors at the far end of the chapel opened.
Everyone turned.
A woman stepped inside.
Elegant.
Composed.
Impossible.
Audrey's grandmother, Evelyn.
But this time, she wasn't alone.
A man stood behind her.
Audrey recognized him immediately.
Richard.
He was holding a gun.
Ethan stepped in front of Audrey.
Richard's expression was strangely calm.
“Nathan,” he said.
Nathan's face hardened.
“Richard.”
“You've caused enough trouble.”
“You did that years ago.”
Richard looked at Audrey.
“Give me the ledger.”
Audrey held it tighter.
“No.”
“You don't understand what you're holding.”
“I understand that people have lied to me for years.”
Richard's gaze moved to Ethan.
“And you still trust him?”
Audrey looked at Ethan.
He didn't ask her to answer.
Richard smiled.
“That is exactly what I expected.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Richard, enough.”
He looked at her.
“You've always been weak.”
“And you've always mistaken cruelty for strength.”
Richard raised the gun.
Audrey's breath caught.
Then someone moved.
Nathan lunged toward Richard.
A shot exploded through the chapel.
Everyone screamed.
Audrey ducked.
When she looked up, Nathan was on the floor.
Ethan rushed toward him.
“Nathan!”
Blood stained Nathan's shirt.
Audrey froze.
Richard backed toward the doorway.
“Move!”
Evelyn stepped in front of him.
“You're not leaving.”
He looked at her.
“You'll regret this.”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice was steady.
“I regret what I did twenty years ago.”
Richard's face changed.
Audrey looked at her grandmother.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn turned toward her.
“I gave Richard the order that destroyed your mother's life.”
Audrey's eyes filled with tears.
“Why?”
“Because he told me Nathan was dead.”
Nathan coughed from the floor.
Ethan pressed his hand against the wound.
“You're going to be okay.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You still say that.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
“You said it that night.”
“What night?”
Nathan's eyes moved toward Audrey.
“The night your mother died.”
Audrey knelt beside them.
“What happened?”
Nathan struggled to speak.
“Claire was alive at 2:17.”
Audrey's heart pounded.
“What happened after that?”
Nathan looked at Ethan.
“Your father came into the room.”
“And?”
“He wasn't alone.”
“Who was with him?”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Your grandmother.”
Evelyn looked away.
Audrey stood.
“You were both there.”
“Yes.”
“And Caleb?”
Nathan nodded.
“He came later.”
Audrey's voice broke.
“Who killed my mother?”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“It wasn't Caleb.”
Audrey stared.
“Then who?”
Nathan looked directly at Evelyn.
“She did.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I thought I was saving you.”
Audrey's tears finally fell.
“You killed my mother.”
“I gave the order.”
“You killed her.”
“I was wrong.”
Ethan stood.
Richard was gone.
The chapel door swung in the wind.
Then Audrey noticed something on the floor near Nathan.
A small black drive.
Nathan had dropped it when he fell.
She picked it up.
“What is this?”
Nathan looked at it.
“The proof.”
“Proof of what?”
He looked at Ethan.
“Your father's final betrayal.”
Audrey's phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message appeared.
You have the drive. Good.
Then another.
Now bring it to the Calloway tower before midnight.
Audrey stared at the screen.
A final message appeared.
Come alone, or Ethan learns what really happened at 2:17.