Chapter 12: The Price of Saving My Brother
The red light flashed against the concrete wall.
Anna struggled against her restraints, her breathing ragged and shallow. Matthew rushed toward her, but Vincent raised his gun and fired into the floor.
“Another step, and she dies!””
Matthew froze.
Adrian's men spread across the warehouse, weapons trained on Vincent's guards. Rain hammered the roof, drowning out the distant sirens rising from the streets.
I stood between Daniel and the table, my heart pounding.
“Turn it off,” Adrian ordered.
Vincent glanced at the tablet.
“Of course. Once you give me what I want.””
“You already have the girl.””
“I want the records.””
“You think I'd hand you anything after what you've done?””
Vincent sighed.
“Adrian, I've watched you grow from a frightened little boy into a powerful man. I've protected your interests, expanded your empire, and eliminated threats you didn't even know existed.””
“You murdered my father.””
“I corrected a problem.””
Adrian's face went frighteningly blank.
Vincent continued.
“Your father was going to expose the adoption fraud. He wanted to take you away from the Kane family and return you to Anna Bell. He believed blood mattered more than loyalty.””
Adrian tightened his grip on the gun.
“So you killed him.””
“I gave him an opportunity to cooperate. He refused.””
“And my mother?””
“Your adoptive mother knew nothing about your birth. She died believing you were her son.””
Adrian flinched.
For the first time, Vincent seemed to understand that he had gone too far.
“You were loved, Adrian. That's more than most children receive.””
“You stole ten years from my life.””
“I gave you an empire.””
Adrian stepped forward.
“I never asked for one.””
Vincent pressed the button again.
Anna screamed.
Matthew lunged toward her, but Daniel caught him around the neck and dragged him backward.
“Stop!”” I shouted.
Everyone turned toward me.
I looked at Vincent.
“You want the records? I'll help you find them.””
Adrian immediately shook his head.
“Wren, no.””
Vincent smiled.
“Excellent.””
“But you release Anna first.””
He laughed.
“You aren't in a position to negotiate.””
I walked toward the table and picked up the hospital documents.
“You believe my father hid the evidence beneath the nursery. But you don't know how to open the box, do you?””
Vincent's smile faded.
I held up the gold locket.
“The key was inside this. The documents were hidden in the wooden horse. And there's a reason my father left them where I could find them.””
I looked directly at him.
“He knew you'd come after me.””
Vincent stared at the locket.
For a moment, the warehouse seemed to hold its breath.
Then he gestured toward Daniel.
“Bring her here.””
Daniel shoved Matthew aside and grabbed my arm.
Adrian raised his weapon.
“Touch her again, and I swear—”
Vincent fired.
The bullet struck Adrian in the shoulder.
He staggered backward, and his men opened fire.
The warehouse erupted into chaos.
I hit the floor as bullets shattered windows and tore through wooden pallets. Matthew tackled Daniel, sending both men crashing into the table. Anna screamed as the chair tipped sideways.
Vincent seized my hair and dragged me toward the rear exit.
“Move!””
I kicked backward, catching his knee.
He cursed and tightened his grip.
“You little—”
I twisted and drove my elbow into his ribs. He released me just long enough for me to run toward Anna.
Matthew had disarmed Daniel and was struggling to free her wrists.
“Help me!”” he shouted.
I grabbed a fallen knife from the floor and cut through the restraints.
Anna collapsed into my arms.
“Where's Adrian?”” she whispered.
I looked across the warehouse.
He was on one knee, pressing a hand against his bleeding shoulder. Marco had regained consciousness and was firing from behind a concrete pillar.
Vincent was nowhere to be seen.
“Matthew, get Anna out!””
“What about you?””
“I'll find Adrian.””
Matthew hesitated.
Then he took Anna's arm and helped her toward the exit.
I ran across the warehouse, ducking beneath a broken beam. Adrian looked up when I reached him.
“Wren?””
“Can you stand?””
He tried to rise and winced.
“Apparently, I'm not as young as I used to be.””
Despite everything, I laughed.
“That's the first sensible thing you've said tonight.””
He gave me a faint smile.
Then his expression changed.
“Where's Vincent?””
“Gone.””
Adrian swore.
Marco appeared beside us.
“Boss, we've secured the east entrance. But Vincent's men are retreating toward the docks.””
Adrian pushed himself upright.
“Then we'll stop them at the docks.””
“No,” I said.
He turned toward me.
“Wren—”
“That's what he wants. He wants you chasing him while he escapes with the records.””
I held up the folder I'd taken from the table.
“I have the documents.””
Adrian stared at me.
“What?””
“Copies, at least. Financial statements, hospital records, names, dates. Everything he wanted us to retrieve.””
Marco took the folder and began examining it.
“Boss, she's right. These documents could expose the entire network.””
Adrian looked at me with a mixture of pride and fear.
“You took them while everyone was shooting?””
“I had excellent motivation.””
He shook his head, then pulled me into a brief embrace.
For one fragile moment, the warehouse disappeared.
Then a gunshot sounded from the rear exit.
We spun around.
Vincent stood beneath a hanging light, holding Anna at gunpoint.
Matthew knelt beside her, his hands raised.
“Drop your weapons!”” Vincent shouted.
Adrian raised his gun, but Vincent pressed the barrel against Anna's temple.
“Do it!””
One by one, Adrian's men lowered their weapons.
Vincent looked at me.
“Give me the locket.””
I clutched it instinctively.
“No.””
“Give it to me, Isabella.””
“You've taken everything from everyone in this room.””
“And I'll take more if you make me.””
I looked at Anna.
Her eyes met mine.
She shook her head.
Then she mouthed two words.
The necklace.
I glanced down at the gold locket.
Something inside it shifted.
I remembered my father's hands fastening it around my neck. The tiny catch. The hollow space beneath the photograph.
I pulled at the inner lining.
A thin strip of paper slid out.
Vincent's face changed.
“Give that to me!””
I unfolded it.
The paper contained a series of numbers, followed by a name.
*ANNA BELL — ORIGINAL PATIENT FILE 7719.*
Below it was a hospital address and a date from ten years earlier.
Vincent's eyes widened.
“No.””
Adrian stared at the paper.
“What is it?””
I looked at Vincent.
“The original hospital record. The one proving who Adrian really is.””
Vincent's expression twisted with rage.
“Destroy it!””
I held the paper over a nearby flame burning in a metal barrel.
“Release Anna.””
Vincent's gun trembled.
“You wouldn't dare.””
“Try me.””
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Vincent shoved Anna toward Matthew and lunged for me.
Adrian fired.
Vincent screamed and fell, clutching his leg.
Marco's men rushed forward, disarming him and securing his hands behind his back.
Matthew caught Anna before she hit the floor.
I stared at the paper in my hand, shaking.
Adrian approached slowly, blood soaking his sleeve.
“You saved us.””
I shook my head.
“We saved each other.””
He looked at the document.
“There's one thing we still need to know.””
“What?””
“Whether the records prove that Matthew and I were switched at birth—or whether Vincent arranged something even worse.””
Marco examined the remaining pages.
His face gradually lost its color.
“Boss,” he whispered.
“You need to see this.””
He turned the final document toward us.
It was an original birth certificate.
The child's name had been blacked out and rewritten.
But beneath the ink, one word remained visible.
*ISABELLA.*
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And beside it, in Vincent's handwriting, were six words that changed everything.
*THE GIRL WAS NEVER MEANT TO LIVE.*
