Chapter 3: The Man Behind the Locked Door
I couldn't move.
Corbin.
The man who had spent two years making me afraid to walk home alone was somewhere inside Damien Ashworth's penthouse.
And apparently, he was the other baby in my mother's photograph.
Damien turned toward his guards.
"Nobody enters that room without my permission.""
One guard hesitated.
"Sir, he's demanding to see Briar.""
"Then tell him no.""
A voice suddenly came through the hallway.
"That's not how you greet family, Damien!""
My blood ran cold.
Corbin.
He sounded exactly as I remembered.
Confident. Mocking. Cruel.
Damien stepped in front of me.
"Stay behind me.""
I grabbed his sleeve.
"Why is he here?""
"Because someone brought him into my home.""
"Someone?""
Damien's eyes moved toward the security guards.
For the first time, I understood something.
Even the most powerful man in the room didn't know whom he could trust.
A guard opened the west bedroom door.
Corbin emerged wearing a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His dark hair was messy, and a faint bruise marked his cheek.
When he saw me, he smiled.
"Well, well. Elena's little girl.""
I stepped backward.
Damien raised his gun.
"Don't come closer.""
Corbin laughed.
"Still playing the protective older brother?""
"Shut your mouth.""
Corbin looked at me.
"Did he tell you what your mother did?""
I said nothing.
"Did he tell you why she ran?""
Damien moved forward.
"One more word, Corbin.""
My hands were shaking.
"Why did my mother leave?""
Corbin tilted his head.
"Because she discovered what our father had done.""
Damien's jaw tightened.
"You're lying.""
"Am I?""
Corbin reached into his pocket.
Every guard raised a weapon.
"Relax," he said, pulling out a folded piece of paper.
"It's just a letter.""
He tossed it onto the table.
I picked it up.
The handwriting was my mother's.
Briar, if you're reading this, then I failed to protect you.
Your father is not the man who raised you. The truth is much worse.
You were born into a family built on lies, and the man you must never trust is—
The letter ended there.
The bottom half had been torn away.
"Where's the rest?"" I demanded.
Corbin smiled.
"Ask Damien.""
I turned.
Damien was staring at the paper.
"Did you know?""
He didn't answer.
"Damien!""
He finally looked at me.
"I knew Elena was hiding something. I didn't know the details.""
"That's not an answer.""
Corbin laughed.
"Of course he won't tell you. He has spent his entire life protecting our father's secrets.""
I looked at the two men.
"Who is my father?""
Neither spoke.
Then Shadow appeared in the hallway.
The dog had barely been able to stand an hour earlier. Now he was walking unsteadily toward Corbin.
His ears were pinned back.
A low growl vibrated in his chest.
Corbin stopped smiling.
"Get that animal away from me.""
Shadow moved closer.
I knelt.
"Easy, sweetheart.""
But the dog didn't come to me.
He stood between Corbin and the table.
Then he began barking.
Not the weak, exhausted sound I'd heard earlier.
This was a furious, desperate bark.
Corbin stepped backward.
"Damien, control your dog!""
Damien stared.
"Shadow hasn't barked like that since the night Mother died.""
Corbin's face tightened.
"He's sick. He doesn't know what he's doing.""
Shadow lunged.
Two guards grabbed his collar before he could reach Corbin.
The dog struggled violently, snapping at the air.
I rushed forward.
"Stop! You're hurting him!""
I crouched beside Shadow and placed both hands on his shoulders.
"Look at me, boy. It's okay.""
His breathing gradually slowed.
Then I noticed something.
A small piece of blue fabric was caught between his teeth.
I carefully pulled it free.
It was part of an old uniform.
A gold emblem was stitched into the fabric.
Damien stared at it.
"Where did you get that?""
I turned it over.
There was dried blood along one edge.
Corbin suddenly moved toward me.
"Give me that.""
Damien raised his gun.
"Don't.""
Corbin stopped.
I examined the emblem.
It matched the symbol on the old photographs inside the wooden box.
A black raven surrounded by a silver circle.
"What's this?"" I asked.
Damien looked at Corbin.
"That's the emblem of our family's private security division.""
"Why would Shadow have it?""
Damien crouched and examined the fabric.
Then his expression changed.
"Because this came from the night my mother died.""
Corbin shook his head.
"That's ridiculous.""
Damien stood.
"You told me the security team never reached the accident site.""
"They didn't.""
"Then why does Shadow have part of their uniform?""
Silence.
I looked down at the dog.
Shadow had stopped growling.
He was staring at Corbin with an expression I couldn't understand.
Then he began whining.
A different sound.
Recognition.
Corbin's face turned pale.
Damien slowly lowered his gun.
"Shadow.""
The dog stepped forward.
Corbin backed away.
"Get him away from me!""
Damien looked at his brother.
"What happened that night?""
Corbin's lips parted.
But before he could answer, the elevator doors opened.
A man in a dark gray suit stepped out.
He was older, perhaps sixty, with silver hair and a gold ring bearing the same raven emblem.
Every guard immediately lowered his head.
Damien went rigid.
"Father.""
Vincent Ashworth looked past his son.
His gaze landed on me.
For a moment, he seemed unable to breathe.
Then he noticed the silver necklace around my neck.
His face changed.
"Elena's daughter," he whispered.
I stood.
"Who are you?""
Vincent approached slowly.
"Your grandfather.""
I felt the room tilt.
He reached into his jacket and produced a photograph.
It showed my mother holding two newborn babies.
But this time, there was another person standing beside her.
A younger Vincent.
And his hand was resting on her shoulder.
I stared at the picture.
Vincent leaned closer and whispered:
"There's something your mother never told you, Briar. Corbin isn't your only brother.""
Then he pointed at Damien.
"Your real father is standing right in front of you.""
Damien dropped his gun.
Shadow let out a heartbreaking cry.
And suddenly, I understood why the dog had spent thirty days refusing to eat.
May you like
He hadn't been waiting for a veterinarian.
He had been waiting for the last surviving member of Elena's family to come home.
