CHAPTER 2 — The DNA That Could Destroy an Empire
Michael barely slept.
Emily's words replayed endlessly.
"You were supposed to become my brother."
Impossible.
Ridiculous.
Yet something inside him refused to dismiss it.
At sunrise, he ordered a private investigator to reopen every record connected to his birth.
Hospital files.
Birth certificates.
Adoption agencies.
Factory records.
Everything.
Three hours later...
His assistant entered his office, pale.
"Sir..."
"The hospital where you were born burned down eighteen years ago."
Michael frowned.
"All records?"
"Gone."
Convenient.
Too convenient.
That afternoon...
Emily called.
Her voice was weaker.
"I remembered something."
Michael rushed back to the hospital.
She handed him an old silver locket.
Inside...
A faded photograph.
Two newborn babies.
Each wearing identical knitted blankets.
Written on the back...
M & E.
Michael.
Emily.
Tears filled Emily's eyes.
"My father always said we were twins in everything except time."
Michael's pulse raced.
"Where did he get this?"
"He never told me."
"But before he died..."
"...he begged me to protect it."
Before either of them could say another word...
The hospital room door burst open.
Three expensive suits entered.
Behind them...
Michael's longtime attorney.
Richard Collins.
The man he'd trusted for fifteen years.
Richard looked terrified.
"Michael..."
"We need to leave."
Emily immediately understood.
"No."
Michael stared.
"What is this?"
Richard swallowed.
"They found you."
"Who?"
"The Harrison Foundation."
Michael laughed bitterly.
"My own family?"
Richard shook his head.
"They aren't your family."
One of the strangers stepped forward.
Gray hair.
Perfect posture.
Cold smile.
"My name is Victor Langston."
"I represent people who protected the Harrison inheritance."
Michael narrowed his eyes.
Victor calmly placed a folder on the hospital bed.
Inside...
DNA reports.
Photographs.
Birth records.
Destroyed records.
Bank transfers.
Bribes.
One sentence highlighted in red.
INFANT REPLACEMENT APPROVED.
Michael's blood froze.
Victor smiled.
"You were never meant to inherit billions."
"You were chosen."
Emily gasped.
"For what?"
Victor answered calmly.
"To save someone else's bloodline."
The room exploded into chaos.
Emily suddenly began coughing violently.
Blood stained her blanket.
Doctors rushed inside.
Machines screamed.
Michael tried following them.
Security stopped him.
Victor leaned close enough to whisper.
"If you continue searching..."
"...your daughter dies first."
Michael turned slowly.
"I don't have a daughter."
Victor smiled.
"You do."
"Sophie's birth certificate was altered."
Everything stopped.
Every sound disappeared.
Michael looked through the ICU window.
Sophie stood crying in the hallway.
Holding the drawing she'd made.
Three people.
Her mother.
Herself.
And...
the businessman.
She had drawn his eyes perfectly.
Michael finally understood.
Buying shoes had never been an accident.
Someone...
May you like
had been trying to lead him to Sophie.
From the very beginning.
