Chapter 7 - JULIAN CONFESSED THE ONE THING ETHAN NEVER EXPECTED, AND DANIEL MADE A CHOICE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Julian asked to see me.
Not Ethan.
Me.
Bellamy called the next morning.
“He refuses to speak unless Rachel is present.”
Ethan’s answer was immediate.
“No.”
Bellamy sighed through the phone.
“I expected that.”
“Then why call?”
“Because Rachel is standing beside you and will probably go anyway.”
I folded my arms.
Ethan looked at me.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Rachel.”
“I need answers.”
“You have enough.”
“No.”
“You always need more?”
“Yes.”
He exhaled.
“Annoying.”
“Genetic.”
He almost smiled.
We went together.
Julian sat behind thick glass at the detention facility.
Without the tailored coat and dramatic lighting, he looked older.
Tired.
Human.
I hated that.
Monsters are easier when they look like monsters.
He picked up the phone.
I did the same.
Ethan stood behind me.
Julian smiled faintly.
“You brought him.”
“Yes.”
“I asked for you.”
“You don’t get preferences.”
That smile again.
“You sound like Elena.”
My throat tightened.
“Why did you help my mother?”
His smile faded.
“Because once, I wasn’t who I became.”
Ethan stepped closer.
Julian looked at him.
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
“You shouldn’t.”
I tightened my grip on the receiver.
“Answer me.”
Julian leaned back.
“When Patrick decided to frame Ethan, I agreed.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“I know.”
“No.”
Julian shook his head.
“You know what happened after.”
“What happened before?”
Julian looked at him for a long moment.
“I hated you.”
Ethan said nothing.
“You were younger.”
“Yes.”
“Everyone liked you.”
“I don’t remember that.”
“Because you never noticed.”
Julian laughed bitterly.
“You never wanted Father’s approval, which made him want yours.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“I did want it.”
“No.”
Julian’s eyes hardened.
“You wanted love.”
The word landed differently.
“And Father didn’t know how to give that.”
Silence.
“So I became what he rewarded.”
Julian looked at his hands.
“Obedient.”
“Ambitious.”
“Cruel.”
He swallowed.
“And eventually I couldn’t tell whether I was performing anymore.”
I did not feel sorry for him.
But I understood the tragedy.
That was worse.
“When did you help Elena?”
“The night I learned Patrick planned to have her silenced.”
“Why?”
“Because I realized he would do the same to me.”
Ethan stared.
“So you helped her escape.”
“Yes.”
“And signed the trust.”
“Yes.”
“Then why turn against her?”
Julian’s expression tightened.
“I didn’t.”
I leaned closer.
“You spent months hunting documents she hid.”
“I spent months trying to keep them away from Patrick’s old partners.”
Ethan laughed harshly.
“Don’t rewrite history.”
“I’m not.”
“Then explain Daniel.”
Julian looked away.
That was guilt.
“Daniel was supposed to watch Rachel.”
“By marrying her sister?”
“That was his idea.”
Daniel had told Melissa the opposite.
Interesting.
“Why Sophie?” I asked.
Julian looked at me.
“When I learned Ethan had a child, I thought…”
He stopped.
“What?”
“I thought I could use the trust.”
“To take control.”
“Yes.”
“At least you admit it.”
“I spent twelve years building something I believed I deserved.”
“You were willing to terrorize a baby’s family for it.”
His face tightened.
“Yes.”
That answer disgusted me.
“But?”
He closed his eyes.
“But when I saw Sophie…”
My grip tightened.
“When?”
“In Los Angeles.”
My breath stopped.
“You were inside my apartment?”
“No.”
“Outside?”
“Yes.”
“The man who grabbed me?”
“That wasn’t me.”
I froze.
Ethan stepped forward.
“What?”
Julian looked at him.
“That was Patrick’s former security chief.”
Bellamy, monitoring nearby, immediately moved.
“Name.”
Julian smiled faintly.
“Gerald Vane.”
Bellamy began typing.
I stared.
“So the man in the hospital?”
“Vane.”
“Not you?”
“No.”
My memory shifted.
The photograph resemblance.
Mask.
Eyes.
I had assumed.
Ethan had assumed.
Julian had let us.
“Why?”
“Because Vane wanted the trust documents.”
“For who?”
Julian looked at Ethan.
“For himself.”
Everything changed.
Bellamy stopped typing.
“Vane is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“You expect me to believe the entire plan belonged to someone else?”
“No.”
Julian met his eyes.
“The hotel was mine.”
“The DNA operation was mine.”
“Daniel was mine.”
“The legal trap was mine.”
He paused.
“But Vane was using my operation to find Elena’s original files.”
“Why?”
Margaret’s documents flashed through my mind.
“Because the originals prove Patrick’s crimes?”
Julian nodded.
“And Vane was Patrick’s enforcer.”
Bellamy cursed softly.
“If those files surface, he goes down with Patrick’s legacy.”
“Yes.”
Ethan leaned toward the glass.
“Where is he now?”
Julian stared back.
“Closer than you think.”
A knock came at the door behind Bellamy.
An officer entered.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“You need to see this.”
Bellamy stepped aside.
His face changed as he read the message.
“What happened?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“Melissa’s gone.”
My bl/o/od turned cold.
“What?”
Ethan grabbed the phone.
The security footage showed our penthouse.
Melissa entering the elevator.
Alone.
No struggle.
No force.
She left willingly.
Daniel was nowhere.
My chest tightened.
“Daniel.”
Julian smiled faintly behind the glass.
“He finally made his choice.”
I turned on him.
“What choice?”
Julian’s eyes darkened.
“Whether he loved your sister more than he feared Vane.”
I stared.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Where would he take her?”
Julian leaned closer.
“There’s only one place Vane still controls.”
“Where?”
“The old Callahan shipping yard.”
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“We’re leaving.”
Julian called after us.
“Ethan!”
He stopped.
Julian’s face had changed.
No mockery.
No superiority.
Just exhaustion.
“Don’t become Father today.”
Ethan stared at him.
Then walked away.
We reached the shipping yard twenty-eight minutes later.
Police units held back.
Bellamy wanted negotiation.
Ethan wanted entry.
I wanted my sister.
Then a text arrived from Melissa.
ONE CONTAINER. RED DOOR. COME ALONE, RACHEL.
Ethan read it over my shoulder.
“No.”
“Stop saying no.”
“This time I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“I’m going.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
He turned toward me.
“Rachel, I cannot lose you.”
The words stopped me.
His face was raw.
Unmasked.
“I just found you.”
My chest broke open.
I touched his cheek.
“You’re not losing me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“But I know Melissa would come for me.”
He closed his eyes.
Then pressed his forehead to mine.
“Five minutes.”
“What?”
“You get five minutes.”
“With backup close.”
“Yes.”
“No heroics.”
“Rachel.”
“No heroics.”
He almost laughed.
“Fine.”
I walked toward the red container.
Every step felt louder than the last.
Inside—
Melissa sat in a chair.
Untied.
Daniel stood beside her.
And across from them—
Gerald Vane.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
The man from my apartment.
The man from the hospital.
He smiled.
“Rachel Morales.”
My skin crawled.
“You.”
“Yes.”
Melissa stood.
“Rachel, don’t—”
Vane lifted a g/u/n.
She froze.
Daniel moved slightly.
Vane pointed it toward him.
“Try.”
Daniel stopped.
I forced myself to breathe.
“What do you want?”
“The box.”
“You know I don’t have it.”
“You know where it is.”
“In Los Angeles.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Elena never trusted distance.”
My heart tightened.
“The box isn’t in California?”
“No.”
“Where?”
He looked at Melissa.
“Ask your sister.”
I turned.
Melissa’s face crumpled.
“Mom left it with me.”
Shock hit.
“What?”
“I found it after the funeral.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know what it was.”
“Where is it?”
Melissa looked toward Daniel.
Vane smiled.
“Yes.”
Daniel reached slowly into his coat.
My heart stopped.
He pulled out a small blue metal box.
My mother’s.
Vane extended his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Daniel looked at Melissa.
Then at me.
Then at Vane.
He smiled.
“No.”
Everything happened fast.
Daniel threw the box toward me.
Melissa dropped.
Vane raised the g/u/n.
Daniel lunged.
A shot cracked.
I screamed.
Ethan burst through the door.
Bellamy behind him.
Vane went down.
Police swarmed.
I crawled toward Daniel.
He lay on the ground.
Bl/o/od spread across his shoulder.
Melissa screamed his name.
His eyes opened.
“I’m okay.”
She sobbed.
“You idiot.”
“Apparently.”
She hit his chest lightly.
He winced.
“Maybe not there.”
Even I laughed through tears.
Bellamy cuffed Vane.
Ethan reached me.
“You’re hurt?”
“No.”
“Rachel.”
“I’m fine.”
He pulled me into his arms.
I held the blue box between us.
My mother’s last secret.
Inside were documents.
Ledgers.
Letters.
Photographs.
And one sealed envelope.
Addressed to:
RACHEL AND MELISSA.
We opened it together.
My mother’s handwriting filled four pages.
The final paragraph changed everything.
Girls,
If you ever read this, it means the Callahan family has found its way back into your lives.
Do not inherit our fear.
Do not inherit our silence.
And most importantly, do not confuse blood with destiny.
You are allowed to choose your family.
You are allowed to choose love.
And if a Callahan man ever tells you power matters more than kindness, tell him Elena Morales said he was an idiot.
Melissa laughed so hard she cried.
I looked at Ethan.
He shook his head.
“I think I like your mother.”
“She would have terrified you.”
“Probably.”
Then Melissa unfolded one final page.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She handed it to me.
It was a legal document.
A transfer.
Signed eighteen years earlier.
My mother had purchased a small percentage of Callahan Holdings.
Not for herself.
For us.
Melissa stared.
“Rachel…”
I read the percentage.
Then looked at Ethan.
He understood instantly.
“With your mother’s shares…”
“What?”
“You don’t control forty-one percent.”
My stomach tightened.
“How much?”
He smiled.
“Fifty-one.”
Silence.
Daniel, lying on a stretcher, started laughing.
Melissa stared at me.
“You own the company.”
I pointed at Ethan.
“No.”
He smiled wider.
“Yes.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You’re technically my boss.”
“This is the worst day of my life.”
He leaned close.
“I’m enjoying it.”
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
May you like
Unfortunately—
he was right.
