Chapter 6: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Dominic stared at the photograph until the edges blurred.
A younger version of himself stood beside his father.
He was six years old.
The same age Lily was now.
His father, Alexander Vane, had one hand resting on his shoulder.
Behind them stood a man in a dark coat.
A man Dominic remembered only as a shadow.
A face appearing in a nightmare he had spent nineteen years trying to forget.
Marcus Vale.
Except that couldn’t be true.
Because Marcus Vale was supposed to be dead.
Everyone knew that.
Or at least everyone had told Dominic that.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
“Who sent this?””
Nobody answered.
Not his mother.
Not Adrian.
Not Anna.
Even Dr. Mercer’s name, which had filled the room with anger moments earlier, had disappeared into the background.
Because this was bigger.
Much bigger.
Dominic looked at Eleanor.
“You said he disappeared.””
Her face remained pale.
“He did.””
“Then explain the photograph.””
She looked at it.
And for the first time all night, Dominic saw something he had never seen from his mother.
Fear.
Real fear.
Not concern.
Not stress.
Fear.
“Mother.””
She slowly sat down.
“I thought he was gone.””
Dominic placed the phone on the desk.
“That’s not an answer.””
Eleanor pressed her fingers together.
“After your father died, we believed Marcus left the country.””
“Believed?””
“Yes.””
“Based on what?””
Silence.
Dominic laughed quietly.
“Of course.””
He walked away from the desk.
“Of course nobody actually knew.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“Dominic.””
“No.””
He turned.
“You don’t get to defend this.””
Adrian stopped.
“You all keep saying you were protecting me.””
His voice became sharper.
“But every secret you buried became a weapon someone else could use against me.””
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
Dominic picked up the photograph again.
“How did my father die?””
The room froze.
Eleanor looked up.
“You know that.””
“I know the official story.””
He looked at her.
“I want the real one.””
A long silence followed.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“Your father was murdered.””
The words were simple.
But they changed everything.
Dominic stared.
For nineteen years, he had been told his father died from a heart attack.
A sudden medical emergency.
A tragedy.
Not a crime.
Not murder.
“You told me he collapsed.””
“He did.””
“Then how was he murdered?””
Eleanor looked down.
“Because someone made sure he collapsed.””
Dominic felt cold.
“Who?””
Nobody answered.
But he already knew.
Marcus Vale.
The name that kept appearing.
The man his family erased.
The man who was supposed to be gone.
The man who somehow knew everything happening inside this house.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Eleanor’s eyes filled slightly.
“Because you were sixteen.””
“I was old enough.””
“You were grieving.””
“I was your son.””
The sentence hit her.
Hard.
She looked away.
Dominic had spent years remembering his father’s funeral.
The endless people.
The speeches.
The business associates saying Alexander Vane was a visionary.
He remembered standing beside his mother, feeling like the entire world had moved forward while he stayed frozen.
And all that time, his mother knew someone had killed him.
“Who else knew?””
Eleanor didn’t answer.
Dominic’s expression changed.
“Who else knew?””
Adrian finally spoke.
“Everyone in the family.””
Dominic looked at him.
“Everyone?””
“Yes.””
“Victoria?””
Adrian nodded.
“Uncle Charles?””
Another nod.
Dominic stepped back.
His own family had carried a secret for nineteen years.
And somehow, every single one of them agreed he didn’t deserve the truth.
A sound came from the hallway.
Everyone turned.
The door opened.
A security officer stood there.
“Mrs. Vane.””
Eleanor immediately stood.
“What?””
“We found something.””
Dominic watched the officer carefully.
“What?””
The man hesitated.
Then looked at Dominic.
“We found Dr. Mercer’s vehicle.””
“And?””
“He left the property.””
Dominic frowned.
“Then why do you look worried?””
The officer swallowed.
“Because he didn’t leave alone.””
The room became quiet.
“Who was with him?””
The officer looked at Eleanor.
Then at Dominic.
“We don’t know.””
Dominic walked closer.
“Show me.””
The security room was located beneath the main house.
Another hidden place.
Another room Dominic had never known existed.
The thought was becoming exhausting.
He watched the security footage on the monitors.
The image showed the driveway.
Dr. Mercer’s car leaving through the front gate.
Then another vehicle followed.
Black.
No license plate visible.
Dominic narrowed his eyes.
“Zoom in.””
The security officer did.
The image became clearer.
The driver’s window lowered slightly.
A hand appeared.
A ring.
Dominic froze.
The Vane family crest.
“Who was driving?””
Nobody answered.
He looked at Eleanor.
She looked terrified.
“Mother?””
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.””
But Dominic noticed something.
She wasn’t looking at the screen.
She was looking at Adrian.
Dominic turned.
“Adrian.””
His brother didn’t move.
“Who was driving?””
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t do this.””
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who.””
Adrian closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
“Charles.””
Their uncle.
Dominic stared.
“Charles is working with Mercer?””
“I don’t know.””
“But he was in the car.””
“Yes.””
The room felt smaller.
Dominic looked back at the screen.
His uncle.
A man who attended every family dinner.
A man who gave speeches about loyalty.
A man who called Dominic his own son after Alexander died.
Another betrayal.
Another piece of the puzzle.
“Find him.””
The security officer nodded.
But before anyone could move, Dominic’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He opened the message.
*Don’t trust the person helping you.*
He frowned.
A second message arrived.
*The biggest lie was not who hurt you.*
A third.
*It was who saved you.*
Dominic stared at the screen.
Slowly, he looked around the room.
At his mother.
At Adrian.
At Anna.
At the security officer.
Everyone had reasons.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone had lied.
Then the phone buzzed again.
A photo appeared.
Dominic opened it.
His breath stopped.
It was a hospital photograph.
Taken eleven weeks earlier.
The night of his accident.
He was unconscious on a hospital bed.
Dr. Mercer stood beside him.
But Mercer wasn’t looking at Dominic.
He was looking at someone standing outside the room.
Someone hidden by the glass.
Someone Dominic couldn’t fully see.
But there was one detail visible.
A woman’s hand resting against the window.
Wearing a familiar ring.
The Vane family crest.
Dominic looked at his mother.
Then at the photo.
“No.””
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Dominic?””
He zoomed in.
The image became clearer.
The ring.
The sleeve.
The hand.
The woman outside his hospital room.
His mother.
His voice barely came out.
“You were there.””
Eleanor’s face changed.
“Dominic—”
“You were there the night of my accident.””
“I told you I was.””
“No.””
He held up the phone.
“Not at the scene.””
His eyes locked on hers.
“At the hospital.””
Silence.
Then Dominic asked the question that had been waiting since the beginning.
“The night I almost died…”
His voice broke slightly.
“Were you there because you were trying to save me?””
Eleanor looked at him.
Or were you there to make sure I didn’t survive?””
For a long moment, nobody moved.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“I was there because someone told me you were already dead.””
Dominic froze.
“What?””
She looked at the photograph.
“I arrived because I thought I had lost my son.””
“Then why were you outside the room?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because the person who called me…”
She paused.
“…was Marcus Vale.””
The room went silent.
Dominic felt his entire understanding of the past collapse.
Because Marcus Vale wasn’t just alive.
He had been watching.
He had been moving pieces.
And somehow, he had been close enough to know Dominic would survive.
Then Dominic’s phone received one final message.
No photo.
No warning.
Just a location.
An address.
And beneath it, four words.
*Come alone, Dominic.*
He stared at the screen.
May you like
Because the address was not a random place.
It was the abandoned house where his father had died.
