CHAPTER 4: THE MAN WHO WALKED INTO THE COURTROOM... WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The courtroom was packed.
News cameras lined the walls.
Everyone wanted to witness the trial of Ethan Carterâthe billionaire accused of murdering his wife and stealing an empire.
Lily sat quietly beside Nathan, holding the same worn-out stuffed rabbit she had carried through the airport.
The judge was about to begin when the courtroom doors burst open.
A tall man in a black suit walked inside.
The room fell silent.
Nathan's face turned white.
"It... it can't be..."
The stranger smiled.
"Hello, brother."
Gasps erupted.
Nathan whispered, "Michael..."
Seven years ago, Michael Reed had been declared dead after the same mysterious yacht explosion that supposedly killed Lily's mother.
Yet here he was.
Alive.
Ethan's expression changed instantlyânot to shock, but to fear.
"You..."
Michael looked directly at Ethan.
"You never expected me to survive."
The prosecutor immediately called Michael to the witness stand.
"What happened seven years ago?"
Michael took a deep breath.
"Ethan didn't just try to kill one person."
"He planned to kill all three of us."
The courtroom became deathly quiet.
Michael revealed that Ethan had invited him, Nathan, and Emily onto his luxury yacht under the pretense of celebrating a business merger.
But hidden beneath the deck was a timed explosive device.
"I escaped by jumping into the ocean before the explosion."
"Emily never made it."
"And everyone believed I drowned."
The prosecutor asked the question everyone feared.
"If you survived... why didn't you come back?"
Michael lowered his head.
"Because someone paid people to hunt me down."
"They told me if I ever contacted Nathan or Emily again..."
"...they would kill the little girl."
Lily's eyes widened.
"Me?"
Michael nodded with tears in his eyes.
"I stayed away to keep you alive."
The courtroom erupted in disbelief.
But Ethan suddenly laughed.
A slow...
Cold...
Terrifying laugh.
"You still don't understand."
Everyone turned toward him.
"You think I did all of this for money?"
He leaned forward, staring directly at Nathan.
"No."
"I did it because your father left everything... to someone else."
Nathan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Ethan smiled.
"The real will has never been found."
Michael's face lost all color.
"No..."
Ethan's grin grew wider.
"Your father hid something worth far more than the company."
"Something powerful enough to destroy every person sitting in this courtroom."
Even the judge looked unsettled.
Then Ethan whispered one final sentence before the hearing was suspended.
May you like
"The real game... hasn't even started."
TO BE CONTINUED...
