Chapter 11 - THE BLOODLINE
I stared at the birth certificate until my eyes burned. The ink blurred. The words seemed to shift and rearrange themselves, as if my mind refused to accept what was written there.
Daniel. My husband. The man I loved. The father of my child.
Was also my brother.
My hands trembled so violently the paper rattled. I read it again. And again.
*Father: Thomas Edward Holloway.*
*Mother: Lia Maria Henderson.*
The woman Viktor had killed.
Daniel was Lia’s son. The hidden heir. The one Viktor feared. The one my father had died protecting.
Everything made sense now. Every piece fit in a way that tore my heart open.
My father had found Lia pregnant. He had loved her. Planned to leave his wife. But Viktor had killed her. Before she could give birth. Before they could marry.
The baby—Daniel—had been born. Secretly. My father had given him to Evelyn to raise. To protect him from Viktor. Evelyn had agreed. She had raised Daniel as her own son. Never telling him the truth. Never telling anyone. Including Daniel himself.
That was why she had been so hard on Noah. That was why she had kept Daniel close. That was why she had fought Viktor with every breath in her body. She wasn’t just protecting Noah. She was protecting Daniel. The son she had raised. The son she loved. Even though he was not of her blood.
And Viktor… he had known. Or suspected. That was why he needed Noah. That was why he had hunted Daniel. That was why he had burned the cabin.
He had been trying to destroy both heirs.
I stood up and walked to the window. The ocean crashed against the rocks far below. Gray and endless.
Daniel and I. We had married. We had loved each other. We had had a child.
And we were brother and sister.
I sank to the floor, the birth certificate slipping from my fingers. Sobs tore through me, ragged and raw. Not just grief. Horror. Guilt. A terrible, crushing weight.
Noah. Our son.
I thought of the DNA report. Probability of paternity: 99.99%. It had confirmed Daniel was Noah’s father. But it had never said Daniel was not also my brother.
I pressed my forehead to the cold floor. Everything I had ever believed about my life was a lie. The man I loved. The family I trusted. The very blood in my veins.
And then I remembered.
Daniel was alive. Viktor had taken him. Kept him alive.
Not out of mercy.
Because Viktor needed to make sure. He needed to know the truth. He needed to see the proof. He needed to destroy Daniel before Daniel could destroy him.
Daniel was the key. The heir. The witness. The one who could prove everything.
And Viktor had him.
I stood up, wiping tears from my face. My hands were still shaking. But the paralysis was beginning to lift.
I picked up the birth certificate. Folded it carefully. Tucked it into my pocket.
Evelyn had known. She had known all along. That was why she had despised our marriage. That was why she had never looked me in the eye. That was why she had tried to separate us. She had known the truth. And she had let us marry anyway. Because she had been protecting the secret. Because if Viktor learned Daniel was alive… he would have killed him before he could grow up.
She had chosen the lesser of two horrors. And she had prayed we would never discover the truth.
I walked to Noah’s room. He was sleeping, one arm thrown over his teddy bear. Innocent. Unaware.
My beautiful, perfect son.
I knelt beside him. “I will fix this,” I whispered. “Whatever it takes. Whatever the cost. I will save us all.”
I stood up. Dried my face. Put on my coat.
I had to go back.
I had to find Sarah. I had to find Viktor. I had to find Daniel.
And I had to do it before Viktor discovered what Daniel truly meant to him.
Because if Viktor learned Daniel was the son of Lia… the boy his brother had hidden… the heir who could prove everything…
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He would not keep Daniel alive any longer.
He would kill him.
