Chapter 8 - My brother's son
Alexander had known.
Not from the beginning.
He learned two years earlier after S7 anonymously sent him DNA results.
He never approached Noah.
Why?
“Because I thought it was blackmail.”
Amelia confirmed they'd had a relationship during a separation from Dominic.
Alexander didn't know she was pregnant.
When he learned years later, he wanted contact.
Then photographs of Sophia arrived.
The message was simple:
Leave Noah alone or Vivienne's daughter pays.
He obeyed.
I wanted to scream at him for not telling me.
Then I remembered how many things I hadn't told my own family.
Secrets had become the Sterling inheritance.
S7 contained another recording from Father.
“If Alexander has reached this file, he has already made his choice.”
Alexander stared at the screen.
“What choice?”
The recording continued.
“Blood or power.”
Then terminated.
Victor slammed the desk.
“This is manipulation.”
I agreed.
Our father's recordings weren't instructions anymore.
They were traps from a dead man who had spent his life assuming everyone could become an enemy.
Then Nathaniel quietly said:
“Maybe they're not Father's recordings.”
We turned.
Audio analysis.
Synthetic reconstruction.
Someone could have built his voice from archival recordings.
But preliminary forensic testing suggested the audio was at least several years old.
Then Nathaniel admitted he'd heard Father's voice recently too.
Three months earlier.
A call.
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because he told me Victor was stealing from the family.”
Victor stared at him.
Nathaniel continued:
“And he told me Alexander had a secret child.”
Someone had been feeding each sibling different suspicions.
Dividing us.
The same technique used on me tonight.
Chloe humiliates me.
I call Victor.
Victor attacks Dominic's company.
Financial panic exposes S7.
Every reaction predicted.
Someone hadn't merely watched our family.
They understood exactly how we would behave.
Then Sophia wandered into the doorway.
“Mommy?”
I closed the laptop.
She carried another paper heart.
“I forgot to give you yours.”
My heart stopped.
“Where did you get that?”
“Aunt Chloe.”
Victor immediately stood.
Sophia handed it to me.
Inside was no storage card.
May you like
Only a handwritten message:
Ask Victor what he took from your father the night he died.
