CHAPTER 2: THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
CHAPTER 2: THE MAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
Evelyn canceled the gala immediately.
By midnight, half the city was talking about what had happened.
The internet had questions.
The press had questions.
But Evelyn only wanted answers.
The next morning, she called Ethan into her office.
The young butler looked exhausted.
He clearly hadn't slept.
Neither had she.
Evelyn closed the door.
"Start talking."
Ethan swallowed.
"I don't know why she called me that."
"That's not true."
His silence answered for him.
Evelyn leaned forward.
"My daughter has never spoken like that before."
Ethan looked away.
Then his eyes landed on a framed photograph sitting on her desk.
The picture showed Evelyn and her late husband, Michael.
The moment Ethan saw it, his face changed.
Evelyn noticed immediately.
"You knew him."
It wasn't a question.
Ethan's shoulders dropped.
Slowly.
Defeated.
"Yes."
Evelyn's pulse quickened.
"How?"
For several seconds he said nothing.
Then he reached into his wallet.
Pulled out an old photograph.
And placed it on the desk.
Evelyn picked it up.
Her blood turned cold.
The photo showed Michael.
Standing beside Ethan.
Both smiling.
Both wearing military uniforms.
"What is this?"
Ethan's voice cracked.
"He was my brother."
The room went silent.
Evelyn stared.
Impossible.
Michael had never mentioned a brother.
Never.
Ethan looked devastated.
"He didn't know I was alive."
"What?"
"My father took me away when I was a child."
His eyes filled with tears.
"By the time I found Michael..."
He looked toward Ava's drawings pinned on the office wall.
"...he was already dead."
Evelyn struggled to process everything.
But before she could speak again, Ethan said something worse.
Something that changed everything.
"The man you're engaged to..."
He looked directly at her.
"Ryan knew exactly who I was."
Evelyn froze.
"What are you saying?"
Ethan's face hardened.
"I'm saying Michael's death wasn't an accident."
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END OF CHAPTER 2
TO BE CONTINUED...
