CHAPTER 6 – The Secret Buried for Thirty Years
The room fell silent.
Ethan read the first sentence again.
"Lucas was never your biological brother."
His hands trembled so violently that the letter nearly slipped from his fingers.
Emma moved closer.
"What does it say?"
Ethan couldn't answer.
Instead, he unfolded the remaining pages.
His late father's handwriting was unmistakable.
"Thirty-one years ago, your mother gave birth to only one son—you. Months later, my best friend and his wife were killed in a terrible car accident. Their little boy survived."
"His name was Lucas."
"I promised I would raise him as my own and never let him feel different."
Tears blurred Ethan's vision.
His father had never chosen one son over the other.
He had simply kept a promise.
The letter continued.
"When Lucas turned eighteen, he accidentally found documents proving he had been adopted. He never confronted me. Instead, he convinced himself I had stolen his inheritance and loved you more because you carried my blood."
"From that day forward, jealousy became his prison."
Emma quietly wiped away her tears.
"So... all these years..."
Ethan nodded.
"He believed he was the outsider."
Just then, Detective Harper entered the room carrying another evidence box recovered from Lucas's private office.
"We found something you need to see."
Inside was a faded leather journal.
Lucas's journal.
Ethan opened to the first page.
Age 10
"Dad hugged Ethan after his baseball game today. I wish he'd hug me like that."
Age 15
"Maybe if I become smarter... he'll finally be proud of me."
Age 18
"I found the adoption papers. Everything makes sense now. I was never really his son."
Each page grew darker.
The hopeful little boy slowly disappeared...
Replaced by a man consumed by bitterness.
Emma whispered,
"He wasn't born evil."
"No," Ethan replied quietly.
"He became lonely."
Just then, Detective Harper's phone rang.
His expression changed instantly.
He looked up at Ethan.
"Lucas escaped."
The room froze.
"He overpowered a prison guard during surgery and disappeared less than ten minutes ago."
Before anyone could react...
A nurse burst into the hallway, pale with fear.
"The baby..."
"The baby is gone!"
Emma's scream echoed through the hospital.
The crib beside her bed was empty.
Only one note remained.
May you like
Written in Lucas's unmistakable handwriting.
"If I can't be part of this family... neither will your son."
