CHAPTER 10 The Brother Who Came Back
Nobody moved.
The mansion hallway became a battlefield of silence.
Daniel stared at the man standing in front of him.
A stranger.
Yet somehow...
Not a stranger.
The resemblance was impossible to ignore.
The same sharp eyes.
The same cold expression.
The same Harrington blood.
Emma stepped back.
"Noah..."
The man looked at her.
"So you remember."
Emma's face changed.
"I was only a child."
"But you remember."
She swallowed.
A thousand forgotten memories came rushing back.
A little boy in the gardens.
A secret room.
A promise.
A night when Richard Harrington told her:
"Never tell Daniel he exists."
Daniel looked between them.
"You knew him?"
Emma remained silent.
That silence was enough.
"You knew my brother before me?"
Noah looked at Daniel.
"She knew more about this family than you ever did."
Daniel's anger grew.
"Who are you really?"
Noah smiled.
"That's a funny question."
He stepped closer.
"Because I've spent my entire life asking the same thing."
Daniel clenched his fists.
"You disappeared."
"No."
Noah corrected.
"I was erased."
The words hit harder.
Noah looked around the mansion.
"This house belonged to me before it belonged to you."
Daniel's face hardened.
"My father raised me."
Noah laughed softly.
"Your father protected you."
A pause.
"But he protected me from existence."
Emma watched Noah carefully.
There was pain behind his anger.
Real pain.
"What happened?" she asked.
Noah looked at her.
"You really don't know?"
Emma shook her head.
Noah reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old envelope.
"This was found after Richard died."
Daniel stared.
"Another letter?"
Noah nodded.
"Your father loved letters."
He threw it onto the table.
"But he hated telling the truth."
Daniel opened it.
The handwriting was Richard's.
His hands tightened.
The letter began:
Noah, if you are reading this, I failed you twice.
Daniel continued reading.
First, I failed to protect you.
Second, I failed to tell your brother the truth.
Daniel looked up.
Noah watched him.
"Keep reading."
Daniel continued.
The next line made his blood run cold.
The person who destroyed our family is still living inside this house.
Everyone became silent.
Emma whispered:
"Who?"
Noah looked toward the upper floor.
Toward Victoria's bedroom.
May you like
And said:
"Your mother."
