The Other Twin

CHAPTER THREE

ELIAS POV

It took almost forty minutes to complete the discharge paperwork. As I stepped back into Nadia’s room, she was already standing by the window, looking smaller than I remembered.

I helped her gather her bags, my hands brushing hers more than once.

A nurse handed me a thick file with instructions about concussions and fractured ribs.

“Thank you,” I said, my eyes fixed on Nadia.

She looked pale; her lips dried, her ribs still tightly taped. She moved carefully, as if every breath reminded her of the pain.

We rode the elevator down to the underground parking lot in silence, while I caught her reflection in the elevator doors, she saw me and held my gaze for a long second before she looked away.

We walked to where my car was parked, and I opened the passenger door for her.

She paused… staring at the leather seat like it was a step into another life.

“You don’t have to stay,” I said softly. “If there’s somewhere else—”

“I don’t.” Her voice was quiet, She slipped inside without another word.

The drive home was quiet. I took the long route, deliberately avoiding the Brooks estate.

Every few minutes, I looked at her. She kept her face turned to the window, eyes distant, lost somewhere I couldn’t reach. It was the silence of a journalist who knew when to speak. I was grateful for the silence.

The gates of the old family house swung open at my car’s signal. This four-story stone house had belonged to the Brooks family for three generations.

After my grandparents passed, it had sat empty, until I returned and slowly made it feel like home again, adding bookshelves, good lighting, and a kitchen that no longer felt abandoned.

Mrs. Wilfred was waiting outside, her sharp eyes softening the moment they landed on Nadia.

She is seventy, and had managed the Brooks properties for forty years and had never been shy about her opinions.

“The east room is ready,” Mrs. Wilfred said, still looking at Nadia.

I nodded as I walked Nadia inside.

“You look like you need feeding and a proper rest, love.” she said as she followed us inside.

Nadia’s shoulders eased, as a smile touched her lips.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Mrs. Wilfred gave a satisfied nod, as if she’d just passed judgment.

I led Nadia upstairs to the second floor. The room lit with the soft light and felt warm. Her small bag neatly placed on the side table.

She walked to it slowly.

“How did you get this?” she asked.

“It wasn’t hard,” I said gently. “I saw it… where I found you.”

Pain filled her eyes, but she quickly buried it.

“This is your home?” she asked, looking at me with sharp eyes

“Yes.”

“No…t the Brooks estate?” she slurred.

“No.” I hesitated, then added, “brooks estate belongs to the part of my life that’s still under investigation.”

She looked at me for a long moment.

“Rest,” I said instead. “Mrs. Wilfred will bring breakfast soon.”

I was almost at the door when she called me.

“Elias.”

It was the first time she’d said my name since that night at the hospital. The sound of it made my heart warm. I stopped.

“Thank you,” she said, “For… for everything.”

The room went silent.

I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her everything. Instead, I only nodded.

“Rest,” I repeated softly, and closed the door behind me.

I walked outside to the stone balcony, I let the morning breeze do its thing. I gripped the railing, staring at the city, as my mind drifted backward.

Four years ago. Westford, United States.

I had just returned from one of the Brooks branches to my apartment. I stepped into the kitchen for a drink, when I heard the front door open. No knock.

Three men entered like they owned the place, then he stepped into the light.

My face dropped.

It was like staring into a mirror— Same jaw, grey eyes, dark hair and broad shoulders. But his expression held a darkness I had never created myself.

“You know,” he said in a voice that was mine and yet sounds strange, “I had wondered what it would feel like to see you.”

“Who are you?” I asked, unable to find my voice.

He smiled slowly. “That’s a fair question.”

He made a gesture to the men in front of him, and we went into a physical combat.

The fight was short. I took down the first man, aimed for the second, until a bat hit against the back of my head.

I woke up in a cold, dusty room, a spring bed, stained toilet, and a small window that let in thin rays of light. I didn't know how long I had passed out. I checked the door, it was locked.

Days passed, then weeks, maybe a month.

One day he returned. He carried a bag. He looked calm. He tossed the bag containing food in my direction.

“Eat,” he ordered.

As I ate the food, he watched me with cold and murderous eyes.

“What is your name?” I asked

“I’m Elias Brooks,” he said smiling.

“Who are you?” I rephrased.

“I am Marcus, Your twin. The one our parents sold to pay their gambling debts.”

“That’s not true,” I whispered.

He gave a sharp look.

“I am sorry okay, just let me out of here I promise, we will figure this out together.” I pleaded.

“Together?” He Snapped.

“Nobody would want me if you were around, especially Nadia.” He rubbed his nose.

The word hit me hard on my chest.

“I’m going to marry her,” he said, patting my shoulder. “She deserves someone who keeps his word.”

The tears came hot and helpless.

I begged him. I offered him everything. My name, my life, if he would just leave her alone.He just laughed and walked out. That was the last time I saw him.

He ordered my death. Seventeen bullets was his order. I should have died…

“Elias.”

Nadia’s voice pulled me back to the present. She stood in the balcony doorway, with her arms wrapped around herself

“You couldn’t sleep?” I asked, stepping closer.

She shook her head. “I keep thinking about him, the man I married.” Her voice cracked slightly. “Tell me what happened in Westford. Please.”

I studied her for a while. The truth had been buried for so long. But I knew I couldn’t protect her from it anymore.

“Come here,” I said quietly, gesturing to the bench beside me.

She sat so close that I could feel her shallow breath.I looked out over the city.

“Four years ago a man wearing my face walked into my apartment…” I paused.

That was where I always started, but sitting beside her now, something shifted in the story I had been telling myself for four years.

“Nobody would want me if you were around, especially Nadia.” Marcus' words rang in my ear.

I had always heard that as a threat, but sitting beside her now, I heard it differently.

He said her name like he had been living with her.

I froze. The letters.

He knew about the letters that I wrote, the promises and the consistency. He had studied the real me, and had built a version of himself to fit my life, which meant…

“Elias.” She said again. “What Is wrong?”

"Nadia," I said, my voice low and urgent.

"The man you married," I said carefully, "went through my letters before he came to Fairmount. He knew your name and what you meant to me."

I held her gaze. "He chose you because he had decided that you were worth having."

Her face was very still.

"With what you are saying" she said slowly, "he fell in love with me.”

"I think," I said quietly, "what Marcus felt was not love. It was possession. He wanted everything I had…. And you were the centre of it."

A long silence settled.

"He read the letters," she said. " And made sure you never sent another one."

The words landed completely.

"Yes," I said.

She turned back to me.

“I need to read them.”

I looked at her.

"The letters," she said. "The ones he read. I want to know what he saw that made him decide I was worth taking."

I thought about the worn leather notebook in my study.

"They were written for you," I said.

"Then give them to me," she said.

I watched Nadia sit beside me, asking for letters that had been written for her and stolen from her.

And I wondered if she understood that whatever came next, she was not going to be a passenger in it.