The Homeless Girl Who Was Supposed to Be Dead

“Put the gun down, Matthew.””

Adrian's voice was dangerously calm.

His head of security stood in the doorway of the hidden nursery, blocking the only staircase. The gun in his hand never wavered. Behind him, the library remained silent, its tall windows reflecting the pale moonlight.

I stared at Matthew's face.

Three years.

He had worked beside Adrian for three years, protected him during negotiations, accompanied him to dangerous meetings, and stood at his bedside after the shooting that had nearly killed him.

And now I was looking at the little boy from the photograph.

My twin brother.

Matthew's gaze shifted toward me.

For half a second, something flickered in his eyes.

Recognition.

Then it disappeared.

“I'm sorry, Adrian,” he said.

“You weren't supposed to find the box.””

Adrian slowly lowered the letter from his father.

“Did you know who Wren was when I brought her into the salon?””

“Yes.””

“Did you arrange the attack in the alley?””

Matthew hesitated.

“No. That was Vincent.””

“Then why are you pointing a gun at me?””

“Because you keep digging into things that should have stayed buried.””

Adrian took one careful step forward.

“You've eaten at my table. You've slept in my house. I've trusted you with my life.””

Matthew's jaw tightened.

“And you gave me a reason to trust you, too. You gave me a salary, a title, and a place in your organization. But you never asked where I came from.””

“I asked you about your family.””

“You asked whether I had anyone waiting for me at Christmas. You never asked why I couldn't remember my childhood.””

I looked at him.

“Matthew.””

He flinched at the sound of his name.

“Please look at me.””

“Don't.””

“We were together when we were little, weren't we?””

His gun dipped slightly.

I held up the photograph.

“Look at this. We were babies. Someone wrote your name on the back. I remember a boy hiding beneath a table while a woman told us to stay quiet.””

Matthew's breathing changed.

“Stop talking.””

“I think you were my brother.””

“SHUT UP!””

His shout echoed through the small room.

Adrian moved toward him.

Matthew immediately raised the gun again.

“Another step, and I'll shoot.””

Adrian stopped.

I couldn't stop staring at the man who might have shared my first birthday, my first nightmares, and the last moments of the childhood I could barely remember.

“Why did you leave me?”” I whispered.

Matthew's face twisted.

“I didn't leave you.””

“Then what happened?””

He looked toward the wooden horse.

“Vincent took me.””

The words came out flat, almost mechanical.

“I was five when he brought me to a different house. He told me my parents had died and that my sister had been killed in a fire. Every time I asked questions, he showed me photographs of the burned mansion.””

My chest tightened.

“I was there.””

“I know.””

“How?””

Matthew swallowed.

“Because I remember your scream.””

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then he continued.

“Vincent told me that if I ever tried to find you, he'd kill the only person who knew the truth about my birth.””

“Who?””

“Anna Bell.””

Adrian's expression changed.

“Your biological mother?””

Matthew nodded.

“She was alive when Vincent took me. He brought me to a hospital, told me she had abandoned me, and arranged for me to grow up under a different name. Years later, he showed me a photograph of Anna and threatened to kill her if I disobeyed him.””

I stepped closer.

“So you became his spy.””

Matthew's eyes hardened.

“I became whatever I needed to become to keep her alive.””

Adrian's voice dropped.

“You've been reporting my movements to Vincent.””

“Yes.””

“Every meeting?””

“Yes.””

“The night I was shot?””

Matthew looked away.

“I didn't know he planned to kill you.””

Adrian laughed bitterly.

“That's convenient.””

“I swear it.””

“Then why didn't you warn me?””

Matthew's silence answered the question.

I felt something inside me break.

“You could have told us.””

“And what would you have done?”” he demanded.

“Walked into Vincent's office and asked him nicely to stop threatening our mother?””

“Our mother?”” I whispered.

Matthew's expression softened.

“Anna Bell gave birth to me. Catherine Whitmore gave birth to you. We have different mothers, Wren. But we were raised as brother and sister for the first five years of our lives.””

I looked at the photograph again.

Two newborns.

Two families.

One lie.

Adrian took another step.

“Give me the gun, Matthew. We can protect Anna without Vincent controlling you.””

Matthew shook his head.

“You don't understand. Vincent doesn't just have Anna. He has the original hospital records, the proof of the adoption fraud, and evidence linking half the city's powerful people to his operations.””

“Then we expose him.””

Matthew laughed without humor.

“And you think they'll let us live?””

A phone vibrated in his pocket.

He glanced down.

The color drained from his face.

“What is it?”” Adrian asked.

Matthew slowly withdrew the phone and turned the screen toward us.

A live video showed an elderly woman sitting in a chair beneath a harsh fluorescent light. Her hands were bound, and a strip of white cloth covered her mouth.

Even through the grainy image, I recognized her.

Anna Bell.

A message appeared beneath the video.

*BRING THE WHITMORE GIRL TO PIER 19 BEFORE MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE. OTHERWISE, THE NURSE DIES.*

Matthew's hand began shaking.

“She's the only family I have left.””

I stepped toward him.

“You have me.””

His eyes filled with tears, but he turned away.

“Not for long.””

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the stairs.

Adrian raised his hands.