CHAPTER 12 â THE BROTHER WHO NEVER DIED
Arthur stared at the photograph.
His hands went cold.
His brother.
Thomas Sterling.
Dead for twenty years.
At least...
That was what everyone believed.
"I watched him die."
James looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
Arthur's voice became distant.
"I was eighteen."
He remembered the funeral.
The closed coffin.
His father's grief.
His mother's silence.
"Why would they fake his death?"
Daniel answered.
"Because someone wanted him gone."
Arthur looked at the photograph.
Thomas was standing beside Charles.
Older.
Alive.
"Find him."
Daniel nodded.
"We already are."
The search lasted six hours.
The result arrived at midnight.
Thomas Sterling was alive.
Living under another name.
Thomas Vale.
Arthur stared at the screen.
"Vale."
James nodded.
"The connection."
Robert Vale.
Victoria's father.
Arthur understood.
The entire conspiracy was connected.
Thomas.
Charles.
Victoria.
The medical reports.
The fake death.
Everything.
But why?
Thomas arrived at the old Sterling estate the next morning.
He did not run.
He walked in calmly.
He looked almost exactly like Arthur remembered.
Older.
More tired.
But alive.
Arthur stood across from him.
"You let me bury you."
Thomas looked down.
"I had no choice."
"You always had choices."
Thomas looked toward Emily.
Then Lily.
His expression changed.
"I see Charles failed."
Arthur's anger rose.
"Failed?"
"He was supposed to remove you."
"Remove me?"
"From the company."
"From my family?"
Thomas said nothing.
Arthur stepped closer.
"Why?"
Thomas finally answered.
"Because our father chose you."
The words shocked Arthur.
"What?"
"He chose you to inherit everything."
"I was the younger son."
"You were the honest one."
Arthur laughed bitterly.
"That is why you hated me?"
Thomas looked away.
"I hated that you were everything I wasn't."
The confession hung in the room.
Thomas explained.
Their father discovered the Black Ledger.
He wanted to destroy it.
Charles and Thomas opposed him.
They believed the family should control the world, not apologize for it.
When their father refused...
They removed him.
Arthur's face changed.
"You killed my father?"
Thomas lowered his eyes.
"I was there."
Emily covered her mouth.
Arthur stepped back.
The pain was different this time.
Not betrayal.
Confirmation.
His entire life had been built on a family war.
Thomas continued.
"Mother discovered the truth."
"And?"
"She created the emergency trust."
"To protect me?"
"To protect Lily."
Arthur looked at him.
"She knew about Lily?"
Thomas nodded.
"She knew your bloodline mattered."
Arthur frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Thomas looked at Lily.
"She is the only person who carries both sides."
Arthur understood.
The trust.
The inheritance.
The reason everyone wanted Lily.
Thomas continued.
"Charles believed controlling Lily meant controlling the empire."
"And Victoria?"
"She believed controlling you meant controlling Lily."
Arthur looked at Emily.
She looked exhausted.
A lifetime of manipulation had finally been exposed.
Detective Cole entered.
"We have a problem."
Arthur turned.
"What?"
"Victoria escaped custody."
Everyone froze.
"How?"
Cole looked uncomfortable.
"Someone signed her release papers."
"Who?"
Cole handed him the document.
Arthur looked.
The signature belonged to Judge Rowan.
James closed his eyes.
"He was involved."
Arthur understood.
The enemy was everywhere.
Victoria disappeared for three days.
Then she made her final move.
Every news station received a package.
Inside:
Private recordings.
Edited videos.
False documents.
A story.
The story claimed Arthur Sterling was unstable.
His wife was mentally compromised.
His daughter was unsafe.
The public turned against him overnight.
Arthur stood in the living room watching the news.
Lily sat beside Emily.
"Are they angry at Daddy?"
Arthur looked at her.
"No."
"But they said bad things."
"People believe things before they know the truth."
Lily hugged Teddy.
"Will they know?"
Arthur looked at Emily.
Then Daniel.
Then James.
"Yes."
Because they finally had everything.
The Black Ledger.
The medical records.
The recordings.
The truth.
But they needed one thing.
The person who started it all.
Victoria.
And she sent them a message.
A location.
The old Sterling mansion.
The place where Arthur's father died.
The message contained one sentence.
May you like
Come learn why your family was destroyed.
End of Chapter 12
