Chapter 7 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
Sebastian Cole stared at the photograph for almost a full minute.
He did not blink.
He did not speak.
Because the man looking back at him should not exist.
Alexander Cole.
His uncle.
His father's younger brother.
The man Sebastian had been told died fifteen years ago.
A car accident.
A mountain road.
No survivors.
That was the story.
The official story.
But now, sitting inside his office with the evidence in front of him, Sebastian realized something that had been buried for years.
His family had been built on lies.
Vincent stood across from the desk.
"I know what you're thinking."
Sebastian slowly looked up.
"No."
Vincent waited.
"I'm thinking I should have found this sooner."
The answer surprised him.
Vincent shook his head.
"Sebastian, nobody knew."
Sebastian looked back at the photograph.
"Someone knew."
A pause.
"My father."
The room became silent.
Because that was the hardest truth.
His father had not just hidden information.
He had hidden an entire person.
A person who was alive.
A person who had been moving in the shadows.
A person who knew about Lucas.
Sebastian opened the file again.
The documents were old.
Financial records.
Property transfers.
Private communications.
Everything pointed to one conclusion.
Alexander Cole had never disappeared.
He had been building something.
Something hidden.
Something separate from Sebastian's empire.
"How long?"
Vincent looked at him.
"What?"
"How long has Alexander been alive?"
"We don't know."
"Find out."
"We are already working on it."
Sebastian closed the file.
"No."
Vincent watched him.
"We don't investigate anymore."
A pause.
"We expose."
Because Sebastian finally understood the game.
For years, everyone around him had been reacting.
Madeline ran.
His father hid.
Victor betrayed.
Emma protected.
Everyone was trying to survive.
But Alexander?
Alexander had been planning.
And Sebastian was done following someone else's plan.
Across the city, inside a forgotten apartment overlooking the streets, a man watched a television screen.
The news was silent.
But the image on the screen was clear.
Sebastian Cole.
Standing beside his son.
The man smiled.
Not because he was happy.
Because he had been waiting.
For five years.
The old man sitting across from him looked nervous.
"You shouldn't have let him find the boy."
The younger man continued watching the screen.
"I didn't."
The older man frowned.
"What?"
"He found the boy because Madeline wanted him to."
Silence.
"And now?"
The man smiled slightly.
"Now Sebastian will come looking for me."
The older man shook his head.
"You underestimate him."
"No."
The man turned away from the screen.
"I understand him better than anyone."
He looked at the photograph on the table.
A young Sebastian.
A young Madeline.
And a little boy who had not yet been born.
"I raised him."
That night, Sebastian sat beside Lucas while the boy slept.
The world outside continued moving.
Cars passed.
People walked.
The city continued like nothing had changed.
But Sebastian's life had changed completely.
He looked at his son.
Five years old.
Five years without him.
Five years of memories he would never recover.
Birthdays.
First words.
First steps.
The moments every father dreamed about.
Gone.
His phone vibrated.
Vincent.
Sebastian answered quietly.
"What?"
"We found Alexander."
Sebastian stood immediately.
"Where?"
"New York."
A pause.
"But there's something else."
"What?"
Vincent hesitated.
"Madeline was there."
Sebastian stopped breathing.
"What did you say?"
"We found security footage from three months ago."
Sebastian gripped the phone.
"Show me."
A few seconds later, Vincent sent the video.
Sebastian opened it.
The footage was grainy.
Black and white.
But he knew her immediately.
Madeline.
Walking beside Alexander.
Alive.
Not a memory.
Not a photograph.
Alive.
Sebastian watched the footage again.
And again.
She looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
His hands tightened.
After all these years.
She had been somewhere.
Waiting.
"Where was this taken?"
"An old property owned by Alexander."
Sebastian looked toward Lucas.
His son was still asleep.
"Send me the address."
"Sebastian."
"What?"
"If Madeline is with him..."
"I know."
Vincent lowered his voice.
"Then this is bigger than we thought."
Sebastian looked at the screen.
At the woman he loved.
The woman he buried.
The woman who had spent five years away from him.
"I don't care."
A pause.
"I am bringing her home."
The next morning, Sebastian arrived in New York.
This time, he did not bring an army.
He did not bring dozens of men.
Only Vincent.
Because this was not about intimidation.
This was about answers.
The property was an old mansion hidden outside the city.
Large.
Private.
Protected.
Exactly the kind of place someone disappeared into.
Sebastian stood outside the gates.
For a moment, he remembered something Madeline once told him.
You always look for enemies outside the walls.
Sometimes the person hurting you is already inside.
He finally understood what she meant.
The gates opened.
Too easily.
That bothered him.
"Trap?"
Vincent asked.
"Definitely."
Sebastian walked forward anyway.
Inside the mansion, everything was silent.
No guards.
No resistance.
Almost like someone wanted him there.
They reached the main hall.
Then a voice came from upstairs.
"You're finally here."
Sebastian looked up.
The man standing above him was older.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
But unmistakable.
Alexander Cole.
Alive.
Sebastian stared.
For fifteen years, he believed this man was dead.
Now he was standing in front of him.
"You should have stayed gone."
Alexander smiled.
"Your father said the same thing."
Sebastian's expression changed.
"You knew he was protecting me."
"Of course."
"From what?"
Alexander walked down slowly.
"From the truth."
Sebastian's eyes hardened.
"The truth is you destroyed my family."
Alexander shook his head.
"No."
He looked directly at him.
"Your family destroyed itself."
Sebastian stepped forward.
"You hid Madeline."
"I saved her."
"You stole my son."
"I protected your son."
Sebastian's patience disappeared.
"Don't use that word."
Alexander stopped.
"You think I am the villain because your father never told you what happened."
"My father is dead."
"Exactly."
Alexander looked at him.
"He took the truth with him."
Sebastian stared.
"Where is Madeline?"
For the first time, Alexander's expression changed.
A small sign of emotion.
"She is safe."
"Where?"
"Close."
Sebastian moved closer.
"Bring her to me."
Alexander smiled.
"You're still the same."
"What does that mean?"
"You think power solves everything."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
"And you think hiding people does?"
A long silence.
Then Alexander said:
"Madeline didn't leave because she was afraid of me."
Sebastian froze.
"Then why?"
"Because she discovered what your father had done."
Sebastian waited.
"What did he do?"
Alexander looked toward the window.
"Your father wasn't protecting you from me."
A pause.
"He was protecting you from himself."
The words made no sense.
But Sebastian felt something.
Something he had felt before.
The feeling right before the truth destroyed everything.
"What are you saying?"
Alexander looked back at him.
"Your father built this empire on a secret."
Sebastian said nothing.
"And Madeline found it."
"What secret?"
Alexander stepped closer.
"The night she disappeared..."
A pause.
"She wasn't running from me."
Sebastian's heart began racing.
"She was running because she discovered who really ordered her death."
The room went silent.
Sebastian's voice became almost a whisper.
"Her death?"
Alexander looked at him.
"Sebastian..."
A pause.
"Madeline was never supposed to survive."
For the first time in years, Sebastian felt true fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
"Who tried to kill her?"
Alexander looked toward the hallway.
And said the name Sebastian never expected.
"The person who has been standing beside you since the beginning."
Sebastian froze.
Because suddenly every betrayal.
Every secret.
Every missing piece.
Pointed toward one person.
Someone he trusted.
Someone who had been there through everything.
Someone close enough to destroy his life without ever raising suspicion.
Alexander whispered:
"The person who helped you build your empire."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
May you like
Alexander looked at him.
"Vincent Hale."
