Chapter 5: The Woman Between Two Brothers
The sight of Celeste standing beside Elias was more painful than the gunshots.
The bullets had been expected.
Betrayal was harder to survive.
Ewan pulled me behind the rusted machinery as another shot cracked through the factory.
Metal screamed.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
I looked at him.
He looked exactly like the brother I remembered.
The same eyes.
The same expression when he was angry.
The same instinct to protect me.
And yet, I couldn't stop hearing his words.
The person who arranged the fire wasn't trying to kill me.
They were trying to make me disappear.
My eyes moved back toward the entrance.
Elias stood calmly beneath the broken lights.
Twenty-five years of loyalty.
Twenty-five years of standing beside my family.
He looked older now.
But not weaker.
Beside him, Celeste stood perfectly still.
Her face was impossible to read.
"Lucian," Elias called.
His voice was almost gentle.
The same voice he used when I was a child and scraped my knee.
The same voice he used at my father's funeral.
The same voice he used when he told me he would help me carry the family forward.
I hated that I still remembered the kindness.
"Come out," Elias said.
"This doesn't need to become worse.""
I almost laughed.
Become worse?
My brother was alive.
My fiancée was standing beside the man who might have destroyed my family.
And someone was shooting at us.
Nothing about this could become normal.
Ewan leaned closer.
"Don't listen to him.""
I whispered back.
"I know.""
"No, you don't.""
His eyes met mine.
"That's the problem.""
I frowned.
"What does that mean?""
Before he answered, Elias spoke again.
"Lucian, you have always been intelligent. But you have one weakness.""
I stayed silent.
"You believe the people you love are incapable of hurting you.""
My jaw tightened.
Beside him, Celeste looked away.
That movement caught my attention.
Not guilt.
Not fear.
Pain.
Why?
Elias continued.
"Your brother learned the truth too late.""
Ewan's face hardened.
"Don't listen to him.""
Elias smiled.
"You always were dramatic, Ewan.""
The sound of his voice saying my brother's name made my hands tighten.
"You should have stayed hidden.""
Ewan stepped slightly forward.
"And you should have gone to prison six years ago.""
The factory went silent.
Elias's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
A crack in the confidence.
"You still don't understand.""
Ewan looked at him.
"No. I understand everything.""
A gunshot echoed.
This time, it came from outside.
Not aimed at us.
A warning.
Elias glanced toward the entrance.
Then back at me.
"We don't have much time.""
I stared at him.
"You came here to kill us.""
"No.""
He looked at Celeste.
"I came here because she failed.""
My chest tightened.
Celeste closed her eyes.
"Elias.""
It was the first time I heard fear in her voice.
Not fear for herself.
Fear for someone else.
Elias looked at her.
"You had one job.""
My anger exploded.
"Enough.""
Both of them looked at me.
"You don't get to stand there and talk like I'm not in the room.""
I stepped out from behind the machinery.
Ewan immediately grabbed my arm.
"Lucian.""
"No.""
I looked at Elias.
"Six years.""
My voice was low.
"Six years I believed my brother was dead.""
Elias said nothing.
"Six years I watched my mother lose herself.""
Still nothing.
"Six years I trusted you.""
His expression softened.
And somehow that made me angrier.
Because he looked sorry.
"I know.""
"Do you?""
I took another step.
"Because if you knew, you would understand why I don't care who is guilty anymore.""
I pointed between him and Celeste.
"I want the truth.""
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Celeste spoke.
Quietly.
"Lucian...""
I looked at her.
"Tell me.""
Her eyes filled.
"I never wanted you involved.""
A bitter smile crossed my face.
"You've done a terrible job protecting me.""
She looked down.
"I know.""
"Did you save Ewan?""
Silence.
Then:
"Yes.""
The answer shocked me.
Even after everything.
Even after seeing her here.
I hadn't expected honesty.
Celeste continued.
"I found him after the fire.""
She looked at Ewan.
"He was barely alive.""
Ewan's expression was unreadable.
"I thought he was dead," she said.
"Then I realized someone had changed the rescue records.""
My eyes narrowed.
"Who?""
"Elias.""
The old man didn't deny it.
Not immediately.
That was enough.
Celeste continued.
"I moved Ewan somewhere safe.""
"You hid him.""
"Yes.""
"From me.""
Her voice broke.
"From everyone.""
I looked at Ewan.
"And he agreed?""
Ewan looked away.
That answer hurt more than anything.
Because I knew.
He had.
"You both decided I didn't deserve the truth.""
Ewan stepped closer.
"Lucian, listen to me.""
"No.""
My voice cracked.
"You listen.""
He stopped.
"I lost you.""
The words came out before I could stop them.
"I buried you.""
Ewan's face changed.
"I know.""
"No, you don't.""
I shook my head.
"You weren't there.""
The factory became silent.
"I stood beside a coffin that didn't have you inside it.""
My eyes burned.
"I watched Mother stop speaking because she thought she lost her son.""
Ewan looked like he had been physically hit.
"I wanted to come back.""
"Then why didn't you?""
He looked at Elias.
And that was when I understood.
There was something else.
Something worse.
"He threatened someone.""
My eyes moved back to him.
"Who?""
Ewan's voice lowered.
"Mother.""
Everything stopped.
"What?""
"He knew if I returned, he would hurt her.""
I looked at Elias.
The man who had protected my family.
The man who had attended every holiday.
The man who knew my mother's medical schedule.
"You threatened my mother?""
Elias finally spoke.
"Your mother knew the truth.""
"About what?""
His eyes moved toward me.
"About your father.""
The words felt like a knife.
I stared.
"My father?""
Elias nodded.
"Your father wasn't the man you believed him to be.""
I wanted to deny it.
I wanted to scream.
But there were too many secrets now.
Too many people saying the same thing.
Ewan looked at me.
"Father discovered the truth before the fire.""
"What truth?""
He hesitated.
Then said:
"The Moretti empire wasn't built only by your grandfather.""
I waited.
"It was built through deals your father spent years trying to hide.""
My stomach tightened.
"No.""
"Lucian—"
"No.""
I looked at Elias.
"Is this what you wanted?""
His expression was unreadable.
"What?""
"To destroy everything my father built?""
Elias shook his head.
"No.""
His answer surprised me.
"Then what?""
He looked at me.
"I wanted you to finally see it.""
A sudden sound interrupted us.
A phone ringing.
Everyone froze.
Not mine.
Not Ewan's.
Celeste reached into her coat.
Her face changed when she saw the screen.
"Who is it?"" I asked.
She didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Celeste.""
Slowly, she turned the phone around.
The name on the screen made my blood run cold.
*MOTHER.*
My mother was calling.
The woman who couldn't speak properly since her stroke.
The woman who had supposedly been asleep upstairs.
The woman everyone was trying to protect.
I grabbed the phone.
"Mother?""
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a broken voice came through.
A voice I had not heard clearly in years.
"Lucian...""
My entire body froze.
"Mother?""
She was crying.
And then she said something that shattered the last piece of my certainty.
"Don't trust Ewan.""
I looked at my brother.
He looked just as shocked as I was.
My mother's voice trembled.
"He was never the one who needed saving.""
A pause.
Then a whisper.
"Run.""
The call ended.
And behind me, Ewan quietly said:
"She remembers.""
I turned toward him.
"What?""
His face had gone pale.
"Lucian...""
He looked toward the darkness outside the factory.
"Your mother wasn't protecting me.""
A cold feeling moved through my chest.
"Then who was she protecting?""
Ewan stared at me.
May you like
And answered with the one name I was no longer prepared to hear.
"Your father.""
