Chapter 4 - The Brother Naomi Never Mentioned
A man stood outside my wife’s office door and whispered: "Roman, you were never supposed to find this."
I opened the door and found a broken family photo frame on the floor.
A name was scratched into the glass: "Adrian D’Angelo."
I finally realized Naomi had been hiding an entire part of her life from me.
The door opened slowly.
For a moment, nobody moved.
I stood inside Naomi’s office.
Sabrina stood behind me.
And the stranger stood in the doorway.
The man looked nothing like the person I expected.
He was older.
Around forty.
Dark hair.
A tired face.
The kind of person who looked like he had spent years running from something.
But there was one thing I noticed immediately.
His eyes.
They were Naomi’s eyes.
The same expression.
The same sadness.
The same secret.
My hand moved toward the weapon hidden beneath my jacket.
The man noticed.
"I wouldn't do that."
His voice was calm.
Not threatening.
Almost exhausted.
"Who are you?"
He looked at the room.
Then at Naomi’s picture on the desk.
"My name is Adrian."
Silence.
I waited.
He knew exactly what I was thinking.
"Adrian what?"
He looked directly at me.
"Adrian D’Angelo."
My grip tightened.
Impossible.
"Naomi didn't have a brother."
Adrian looked down.
"That's what she wanted you to believe."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I stepped closer.
"You expect me to believe my wife had a secret brother she never mentioned?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"I expect you to believe Naomi had a reason."
Sabrina suddenly spoke.
"Roman, don't listen to him."
Both of us turned toward her.
Adrian’s expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"You."
Sabrina stepped back.
"I don't know you."
Adrian gave a bitter smile.
"You were there."
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But enough.
I noticed.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered.
I looked between them.
"Someone better start explaining."
Adrian walked into the room slowly.
He wasn't afraid of me.
That bothered me.
Everyone was afraid of Roman D’Angelo.
Everyone except people who knew something I didn't.
He picked up the broken photo frame from the floor.
The same one that had fallen when the door opened.
He looked at the scratched name.
Then he handed it to me.
"Naomi kept this hidden because she knew someone would come looking."
I looked at the broken glass.
The name.
Adrian D’Angelo.
My wife's handwriting was underneath.
A small sentence.
"Forgive me, Roman."
My chest tightened.
"Why did she hide you?"
Adrian looked away.
"Because she was protecting you."
"From what?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Then he said:
"From our father."
The room became silent.
I stared at him.
"Our father?"
Adrian nodded.
"The man who built the D’Angelo empire before you."
I knew that name.
Everyone in my world knew it.
My father-in-law.
The man who died years ago.
The man Naomi never wanted to discuss.
"He is dead."
Adrian looked at me.
"That is what everyone was told."
My heart started beating faster.
"No."
Adrian reached into his jacket.
He pulled out an old photograph.
He placed it on Naomi's desk.
The picture showed three people.
A younger Naomi.
Adrian.
And a man standing behind them.
A man I recognized.
Because I had seen his portrait in Naomi's childhood home.
Her father.
The man who was supposed to be buried.
On the back of the photo was a date.
Two years after his reported death.
I stared at it.
My mind refused to accept it.
"Where did you get this?"
"Naomi gave it to me."
"When?"
Adrian looked down.
"The night she found out she was pregnant."
My eyes moved toward Sabrina.
She looked nervous.
"You knew."
Sabrina shook her head.
"No."
"Don't lie."
"I knew Naomi was afraid."
"Why?"
Sabrina didn't answer.
Adrian did.
"Because she discovered someone was trying to take control of her children before they were even born."
I looked at him.
"My children."
He nodded.
"Yes."
A painful silence filled the room.
Then I asked the question that had been destroying me.
"Why didn't Naomi tell me?"
Adrian looked at the floor.
"Because she thought you would do exactly what you are doing now."
"What?"
"Start a war."
I said nothing.
Because he was right.
If someone threatened my family, there was no limit to what I would do.
Adrian continued.
"Naomi knew you loved her."
His voice became quieter.
"But she also knew your enemies would use that love against you."
I looked at the old phone.
The video.
The hidden box.
The medical records.
Everything was connected.
Someone had been planning this.
Someone had been moving pieces around us.
Then Sabrina suddenly walked toward the desk.
"Roman, you need to understand something."
I looked at her.
"You don't get to explain anything."
Her face hardened.
"You think I wanted Naomi gone?"
Nobody spoke.
She continued.
"I spent months trying to protect her."
Adrian laughed quietly.
"Protect her?"
Sabrina looked at him.
"You don't know what happened."
"I know exactly what happened."
Adrian stepped closer.
"You were the person who delivered the information."
Sabrina froze.
"What?"
I looked at Adrian.
"What information?"
He looked at me.
"The information that almost got Naomi killed."
My anger rose.
"What did Sabrina tell them?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the window.
Like he was checking if someone was watching.
Then he whispered:
"She told them Naomi was carrying twins."
The room went silent.
Sabrina's face turned pale.
"I didn't."
Adrian looked at her.
"You did."
"No."
"You gave them the date of Naomi's appointment."
Sabrina stepped backward.
"I was trying to help."
"Then why did Naomi write your name in her final message?"
I looked at him.
"What message?"
Adrian reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
My hands froze before I even touched it.
Naomi's handwriting.
Again.
I opened it.
Only one sentence was written.
"Roman, if Sabrina tells you she was helping me, ask her who she was helping."
I looked up.
Sabrina looked terrified.
For the first time.
Completely terrified.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
A message.
From the same unknown number.
I opened it.
A photo appeared.
My blood turned cold.
It was Naomi.
Alive.
Standing outside a building.
The timestamp was from three days after doctors said she had died.
I stared at the screen.
Impossible.
My hands started shaking.
Adrian looked at the photo.
And whispered:
"They didn't kill Naomi."
I looked at him.
"What did you say?"
He looked at me with fear in his eyes.
"They took her."
The room went silent.
Then my phone received one more message.
A single sentence.
"Roman, if you want your wife back, come alone."
Below it was an address.
I looked at Adrian.
Then Sabrina.
Then the photo of Naomi.
I grabbed my jacket and walked toward the door.
Adrian followed.
"Roman, you don't understand."
I stopped.
"Then explain."
His face turned pale.
"That address..."
I waited.
He whispered:
"That's where my father has been hiding for the last five years."
I reached for the front door handle.
May you like
It was already unlocked from the inside.
Someone was waiting for me.
