Chapter 16: The unwanted son
747 Words
Bryan Myles — The Shadow Son
Bryan was born from an affair between Richard Callahan and a woman named Angela Myles, a struggling law student working part-time as a server at a corporate gala. Richard saw her as a temporary distraction, but Angela fell pregnant. When she told him, he didn’t deny the possibility — he just wrote a check and told her to disappear.
Angela refused to take the hush money at first. She believed Bryan had a right to know his father. But Richard wanting to keep his reputation clean he told his lawyers who presented Angela with all sorts of lawsuits that threatened her, and she vanished into a small town under a new name, with nothing but bitterness and a baby boy who reminded her too much of the man who ruined her life.
Bryan grew up knowing who his father was. Angela made sure of that. She fed him stories — of how the Callahans bought silence, how his father watched him be born and walked away, how another boy lived his life in his house.
When Bryan was twelve, he found pictures of Jace online. He became obsessed. The face, the smile, the awards… Jace was everything he was told he couldn’t be. So Bryan trained. He studied. He schemed.
When he finally got accepted into the same school — on a scholarship — it felt like fate but Jace had to ruin it as he had to downgrade schools as punishment but Bryan followed him. He made the team, he had to fake smiles,fake friendships,fake the quiet brotherhood… all part of the plan. He got close. Too close. Close enough to know Lexi’s name, Savannah’s secrets, and Jace’s every weakness.
He’s not just a stalker now.
He’s a storm that’s been brewing his whole life.
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Bryan’s POV (introspective, chilling tone)
I was twelve the first time I saw his face. Jace Callahan. My mirror and my curse.
I remember the picture — he was holding a trophy twice the size of his ego. Smiling like the world owed him the sun.
He had my father’s eyes. I had my mother’s rage.
He lived in a mansion. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment with peeling paint and a mom who cried in the shower.
He got summer camps and private tutors. I got threats and silence.
Still, I watched. Year after year. Watched him grow taller, louder, loved.
And when I stepped into that locker room as “just another teammate,” I almost laughed at how easy it was.
He called me “Ryan.” Never Bryan.
He doesn’t know I watched him kiss Lexi behind the bleachers. Doesn’t know I sent Savannah the script for that fake email. Doesn’t know how many times I’ve stood outside his house, wondering if I should knock.
But he will.
He’ll know everything soon. The truth. The blood. The betrayal.
Because I’m not here to haunt him.
I’m here to take what was mine all along.
The sealed documents weren’t locked behind much. That’s the thing about secrets — people like to pretend they’re safe just because they’re buried in a digital vault with a password they’ve used since 2012.
I didn’t need to be a hacker. I just needed access.
Coach trusted me — golden boy Jace’s quiet teammate, the one who never stirred the pot. He left his laptop open during a meeting. I only needed two minutes. I copied the files onto a flash drive I kept under the sole of my cleats.
Arson case. Court-mandated therapy. Expulsion rumors swept under the rug. Jace Callahan wasn’t a golden boy. He was tarnished metal polished for the cameras.
And people like Lexi? They fell for the shine.
I started with Savannah. She was messy, insecure, and desperate to feel powerful. So I gave her power — fed her the fake email template, coached her through how to make it look real. She never once questioned how I knew what would set the school on fire.
Then I moved to Lexi.
The texts started simple —I watched her confusion bleed into fear. Perfect.
Jace was last. I knew he’d put the pieces together. He always does — just a little too late.
The sealed documents were bait. He’s so desperate to protect Lexi, he’d unravel the whole web himself trying to keep her out of it.
What he doesn’t know… is that she’s already tangled in it.
They all are.
- Writer
