Chapter 12 - The Truth About Wyatt’s Disappearance
The phone rang inside the vault.
Nobody moved.
The name on the screen remained there.
Thomas Brooks.
Hazel stared.
Her father had been dead for twelve years.
The impossible had already happened too many times.
Her mother was alive.
Wyatt was alive.
Antonio Romano was alive.
But this was different.
Because this was her father.
"Answer it."
Her voice barely existed.
Damian looked at the phone.
"No."
Hazel turned.
"What?"
His expression was serious.
"This could be a trap."
She looked at the screen.
"But what if it's not?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone was thinking the same thing.
What if it wasn't?
What if Thomas Brooks had left one final piece behind?
Damian reached for the phone.
His hand stopped.
For the first time, Hazel saw hesitation.
Not fear.
Something closer to pain.
Then he answered.
"Hello?"
Static.
No voice.
Then a recording began.
Thomas.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
"Damian."
Hazel closed her eyes.
Hearing her father's voice again felt impossible.
"If you are hearing this, then the archive has been opened."
A pause.
"You probably have questions."
Damian looked at Hazel.
Everyone did.
Thomas continued.
"The first question is about Damian."
The room became silent.
Damian held the phone tighter.
"Damian was never Antonio Romano's son."
The words hurt even though Hazel expected them.
The photograph had already shown them.
But hearing it made it real.
Thomas continued.
"Years ago, I discovered Antonio was protecting a child."
A pause.
"A child whose existence could destroy powerful people."
Hazel looked at Damian.
Thomas's voice continued.
"That child was Damian."
Damian didn't move.
"Antonio raised him as his own because keeping him hidden was the only way to keep him alive."
Antonio looked away.
For the first time, he looked old.
Not powerful.
Not dangerous.
Just tired.
Hazel whispered:
"You knew."
Antonio nodded slightly.
"Yes."
The recording continued.
"But there was another secret."
Everyone became still.
"Damian was not the only child hidden."
Hazel felt cold.
Thomas continued.
"There were two children."
Damian looked confused.
"Two?"
A pause.
"The other child was connected to me."
Hazel felt her heart stop.
Her eyes moved to her mother.
Her mother looked away.
No.
Not again.
Another secret.
Another missing piece.
"Your father knew," Thomas said.
"Your mother knew."
Hazel looked at her.
Her mother's eyes filled with tears.
"But Hazel did not."
The recording continued.
"Because knowing the truth would have put her in danger."
Damian stepped closer to Hazel.
"What truth?"
Thomas answered.
"The people who wanted Damian gone were the same people who wanted Hazel found."
The room became silent.
"Because together, they represented something."
A pause.
"Two bloodlines."
Hazel frowned.
"I don't understand."
Damian looked at the files.
The word remained.
HEIR.
Thomas continued.
"The archive was never about money."
A pause.
"It was about ownership."
Everyone listened.
"Years ago, powerful families created an agreement."
Antonio's face darkened.
"The agreement controlled everything."
"The businesses."
"The money."
"The people."
Thomas's voice lowered.
"And the next generation."
Hazel felt sick.
"They were choosing heirs."
Damian looked at the photograph again.
The baby.
Him.
"But why me?"
Thomas answered.
"Because you were the first child they lost."
Silence.
Damian froze.
Hazel looked at him.
"First?"
The recording continued.
"Antonio saved you."
A pause.
"But someone else saved Hazel."
Her mother covered her mouth.
Hazel turned.
"What does that mean?"
No one answered.
Then the recording ended.
A different voice began.
Wyatt.
Hazel's heart dropped.
"Damian."
The sound of his voice was different.
Broken.
"If you're hearing this, I'm probably already gone."
Hazel closed her eyes.
Not again.
Another goodbye.
"I lied to Hazel."
The words hurt.
"I lied because I had no choice."
Hazel looked down.
Wyatt continued.
"Frankie Sullivan wasn't my boss."
A pause.
"He was my enemy."
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Wyatt continued.
"I worked for Thomas Brooks."
Hazel froze.
"What?"
The room shifted.
Wyatt had not betrayed her.
He had been hiding something else.
"I found out the truth about the archive."
His voice shook.
"And when I tried to get Hazel away from it, they found me."
Hazel whispered:
"Then why did you leave?"
The recording answered.
"Because if I stayed, they would follow me to her."
Tears filled her eyes.
For months, she had believed the worst.
She believed Wyatt abandoned her.
But he had been running.
Trying to protect her.
Wyatt continued.
"I needed Damian to find her."
Damian looked up.
"Me?"
"Because Thomas trusted you."
A pause.
"And because you were the only person strong enough to protect her."
Hazel looked at Damian.
The man everyone feared.
The man she thought was cold.
The man who had held her when she was too exhausted to stay awake.
The recording continued.
"There is one thing you need to know."
The room became quiet.
"Antonio wasn't the person who ordered Thomas's death."
Everyone froze.
Antonio looked up.
"Then who?"
Wyatt answered.
"The person who betrayed all of us."
A pause.
"The person who created this entire plan."
Static filled the speakers.
Then one final sentence.
"The person who raised Hazel after her mother disappeared."
Hazel's face went pale.
Her mother.
"No."
Her mother stepped back.
"I didn't."
But nobody was looking at her.
Because everyone understood.
The recording wasn't finished.
The screen on the phone changed.
A new file appeared.
FINAL TESTIMONY.
Damian opened it.
The video began.
A woman appeared.
Not Hazel's mother.
Someone else.
Someone older.
Someone Hazel had never seen.
She looked directly at the camera.
"My name is Evelyn Brooks."
Hazel froze.
The name.
Brooks.
"My daughter Hazel was never supposed to know the truth."
Her voice became colder.
"Because Hazel was not protected."
A pause.
"She was prepared."
The room went silent.
Damian looked at Hazel.
Hazel couldn't move.
The woman on the screen continued.
"Everything that happened was designed to bring Hazel back to the people she belonged to."
Damian stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
The woman smiled.
"Someone who has been waiting."
The video glitched.
Then showed a final image.
A document.
A signature.
A name.
Hazel looked at the screen.
And her entire body went cold.
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Because the signature at the bottom belonged to the one person she trusted most...
Damian Romano.
