Chapter 5 - The Brother Who Was Erased
The door opened.
A man stood there holding a gun.
Not pointed at us.
Not yet.
But close enough that I understood one thing immediately.
Roman had not been afraid of the message.
He had been afraid of who would come after it.
The man looked older than Roman.
Early forties.
Dark hair with traces of gray.
A scar across his left eyebrow.
And the same cold eyes.
The same Castell eyes.
Roman stepped in front of me.
"How did you get in?"
The man ignored him.
His gaze moved to me.
"So she finally knows."
My heart tightened.
Roman's voice dropped.
"Lucas."
The name sounded different now.
Not like a memory.
Like a wound.
The man smiled slightly.
"Still saying my name like I disappeared yesterday."
Roman's hand tightened.
"Everyone thinks you are dead."
Lucas looked at him.
"Everyone you allowed to think that."
The silence that followed was worse than an argument.
I looked at Roman.
Then Lucas.
Then back at Roman.
"Someone want to explain why I am standing between two brothers who supposedly don't exist?"
Neither answered.
Lucas lowered the gun.
That should have made me feel safer.
It didn't.
Because Roman Castell looking afraid was more dangerous than a weapon.
"You shouldn't have brought her into this."
Lucas's eyes moved to me.
"She was already in it."
Roman's expression hardened.
"Leave."
"No."
Lucas stepped inside and closed the door.
"The moment you hired her, everything changed."
I felt my anger return.
"Apparently everyone knows my life except me."
Both brothers looked at me.
Good.
I wanted them to.
Because I was tired of being the only person in the room without the full story.
I pointed at Roman.
"You erased my past."
Then at Lucas.
"You sent someone to remind me."
Neither denied it.
That was the worst part.
"Start talking."
Roman remained silent.
Lucas walked toward the desk.
"You want the truth?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
He looked at Roman.
"Tell her."
Roman didn't move.
Lucas laughed quietly.
"Still protecting people from the truth."
"Enough."
"No."
Lucas looked at me.
"You should know what happened five years ago."
I waited.
Because whatever came next would change everything.
Lucas placed his gun on the desk.
Then he spoke.
"Five years ago, Roman was investigating our father's death."
I frowned.
"Your father died before I met Roman."
"Yes."
"Why investigate it?"
Lucas looked at Roman.
"Because he didn't believe it was natural."
Roman's expression became darker.
"Our father died from a heart attack."
Lucas smiled.
"That's what the report said."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"The report was fake?"
Roman answered.
"Partially."
I stared at him.
"Partially?"
"My father was poisoned."
The words landed like a weapon.
I looked between them.
"Who did it?"
Lucas's expression changed.
"That is what we were trying to find."
"Were?"
Roman looked away.
Because that word mattered.
"You stopped."
Lucas looked at him.
"I disappeared."
Roman's jaw tightened.
"Because you were going to get yourself killed."
"And you thought pretending I was dead was better?"
The anger between them was old.
Not new.
Not created tonight.
This was years of pain finally finding a place to come out.
I stepped closer.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Lucas looked at me.
"You found the person connected to our father's murder."
My breathing stopped.
"What?"
"Your investigation."
Roman continued quietly.
"The report you created wasn't just about money transfers."
I looked at him.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"What did I find?"
Roman looked at Lucas.
Lucas answered.
"A name."
The room became silent.
"What name?"
Lucas's eyes narrowed.
"The person who financed the people who killed our father."
I waited.
But nobody spoke.
Then I understood.
"Someone inside Castell."
Roman nodded.
The answer hurt even though I expected it.
"Who?"
Roman looked at the floor.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen before.
Shame.
"The person who raised us."
My face changed.
"Your mother?"
"No."
Roman's voice became quiet.
"Our father's closest friend."
I frowned.
"Then why hide it?"
Lucas laughed.
"Because the person wasn't just close to our father."
He looked at Roman.
"He was close to you."
The next hour felt unreal.
I sat across from Roman and Lucas while they showed me pieces of a history I never knew existed.
Documents.
Old photographs.
Financial records.
Everything connected to the same hidden network.
The same names.
The same companies.
Vanguard Meridian.
The security company.
The wedding contract.
Everything led back years.
Before Roman became the head of the empire.
Before Chloe Bishop.
Before me.
Lucas placed an old photograph on the table.
Three men stood outside the Castell estate.
Roman's father.
A younger Roman.
And another man.
I recognized him immediately.
My blood went cold.
Because I had seen him before.
Not in a photograph.
Not in a file.
In Roman's office.
Every morning.
Every day.
For five years.
"No."
Roman saw my reaction.
"Who is it?"
I couldn't answer immediately.
Because my mind was trying to reject what I already knew.
Lucas leaned forward.
"You know him."
I whispered:
"He's one of Roman's executives."
Roman stood.
"Which one?"
I looked at him.
"The person who manages your internal security."
The room went completely silent.
Lucas looked at Roman.
Roman looked at me.
Then he reached for his phone.
"No."
I stopped him.
"Why?"
"Because if he knows we found out—"
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Roman froze.
Again.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Someone was inside the system.
His phone rang.
He answered.
"Speak."
A guard's voice came through.
"Sir..."
Roman's expression changed.
"What?"
The guard hesitated.
"Someone accessed the restricted archive."
Lucas stood immediately.
"Which archive?"
Roman didn't answer.
Because he already knew.
The archive that contained everything.
Everything about his father.
Everything about Lucas.
Everything about me.
"Roman?"
The guard continued.
"Sir, the person used your highest clearance."
Roman's eyes moved toward me.
Because only one person besides him had that level of access.
Someone who had spent five years beside him.
Someone he trusted.
Someone who knew every weakness in his empire.
I looked at Roman.
"Who has your highest clearance?"
He didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Because my phone suddenly vibrated.
A new message appeared.
From the same unknown number.
This time, there was no photo.
Only a sentence.
THE PERSON WHO SAVED YOU FIVE YEARS AGO IS THE PERSON WHO ALMOST KILLED YOU.
My hands went cold.
Roman saw the message.
Lucas saw it too.
And then Lucas whispered something that made Roman's face lose all color.
"She wasn't the target that night."
A pause.
"She was the witness."
Before I could ask what that meant, the office screen turned on by itself.
A video file began playing.
The timestamp was five years old.
The camera angle showed a hospital hallway.
And standing beside my unconscious body was Roman.
But he wasn't alone.
Someone else walked into the frame.
Someone carrying the same scar across his eyebrow.
Lucas.
Then another figure appeared behind them.
And Roman whispered:
May you like
"That's impossible."
Because the person walking toward my hospital room was the one man everyone believed had died years ago.
