CHAPTER 3: The Message From Beyond
Six months later, the criminal organization was dismantled.
Dozens of arrests were made.
The businessman at the center of the scandal was sentenced to prison.
Life slowly returned to normal.
Then one evening, Ethan received an email.
The sender had no name.
Attached was a photograph.
Ethan froze.
It showed Ryan standing on a beach, smiling.
The photo had been taken just two days earlier.
His hands shook as he opened the message.
"Brother,
If you're reading this, everything worked.
The body found near the warehouse wasn't mine. It belonged to a criminal who died during the raid.
The investigators used the confusion to give me a new identity and a new life.
I couldn't tell you the truth because the fewer people who knew, the safer you'd be.
You once told me that family always finds its way back together.
You were right.
Thank you for saving my life.
-Ryan"
Tears filled Ethan's eyes.
For seven years, pride had kept the brothers apart.
Now distance would separate them forever.
But for the first time in a long time, Ethan smiled.
His brother wasn't dead.
May you like
He was finally free.
THE END.
