Chapter Three: Brothers in the Fire
2344 Words
Chapter Three: BroThe flames spread faster than Elias expected.
Smoke began pouring through the passage, turning the underground chamber into a suffocating trap.
Lucian grabbed Elias by the shoulder.
“Move!”
Elias pulled away.
“I don’t take orders from you.”
Lucian looked at him with disbelief.
“You can hate me later.”
He pointed toward the passage.
“If you want to survive, follow me.”
A loud explosion shook the chamber.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Elias looked at the documents in his hands.
They contained answers.
Answers about his father.
His mother.
His birth.
His missing years.
And possibly the identity of the person who had destroyed his family.
He couldn’t leave them behind.
Lucian noticed his hesitation.
“You can’t save those papers if you’re dead.”
Elias shoved the documents inside his jacket.
“Then let’s go.”
The two brothers ran toward the hidden passage.
Smoke filled the narrow corridor.
Elias covered his mouth with his sleeve.
Lucian moved ahead of him, searching for another exit.
They reached the staircase.
The sound of footsteps came from above.
Someone was coming down.
Lucian immediately stopped.
“Back.”
Elias whispered,
“How many?”
“At least three.”
“Can we fight them?”
Lucian looked at him.
“Can you?”
Elias tightened his fists.
“I’ll try.”
Lucian almost smiled.
“You really are Alexander’s son.”
Before Elias could respond, gunshots exploded through the passage.
Bullets struck the stone wall.
Lucian pulled Elias backward.
“Run!”
They rushed down another corridor.
At the end was a heavy metal door.
Lucian pulled a key from his pocket.
Elias stared at him.
“You knew about this place.”
“Of course.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Lucian opened the door.
“Because until tonight, I didn’t know you existed.”
Elias stopped.
“You just said you knew I was alive.”
“I knew there was a possibility.”
Lucian looked at him.
“There’s a difference.”
They entered the room.
It was an old storage chamber filled with wooden crates.
Lucian closed the door behind them.
The gunshots became distant.
For a few seconds, neither man spoke.
Elias looked at him.
“You said you’re my brother.”
Lucian nodded.
“Yes.”
“Who is our mother?”
Lucian’s expression changed.
“You don’t know?”
Elias shook his head.
Lucian looked away.
“Her name was Elena Veyron.”
Elias felt something inside him break.
He had heard that name before.
Not from Helen.
Not from Adrian.
From his own mother.
He remembered being a child.
There had been one night when his mother was crying.
Elias had asked her why.
She had held him tightly and whispered,
“Never let them know your name.”
At the time, he hadn’t understood.
Now he did.
Elena had known.
She had known that someone was hunting her children.
“Where is she buried?” Elias asked.
Lucian didn’t answer.
“Where?”
“She wasn’t buried.”
Elias stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
“Her body was never found.”
Silence filled the room.
Elias stepped backward.
“So she’s alive?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what happened?”
“After Father’s death, Mother disappeared.”
Lucian lowered his voice.
“Everyone assumed she was dead.”
“But you?”
“I never believed it.”
Elias looked at him carefully.
“You’ve been searching for her?”
“For twenty years.”
The answer surprised him.
Despite everything Adrian had told him, despite all the lies surrounding the Veyron family, Elias suddenly realized something.
Lucian wasn’t simply a powerful man protecting an empire.
He was a son searching for his missing mother.
A sound came from outside the door.
Both brothers became silent.
Someone walked past.
Then stopped.
Elias held his breath.
The door handle moved.
Lucian pointed toward a small ventilation opening.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll distract them.”
“No.”
Lucian looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because I’m tired of running.”
Elias picked up a heavy metal pipe from the floor.
“We fight together.”
For several seconds, Lucian stared at him.
Then he nodded.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Elias struck him before he could react.
The man fell.
Another entered.
Lucian tackled him.
The room erupted into chaos.
Elias struggled with the first attacker.
The man was stronger.
He grabbed Elias by the throat and slammed him against the wall.
Elias struggled for air.
Then Lucian struck the man from behind.
The attacker fell.
“Are you okay?” Lucian asked.
Elias coughed.
“I’ll survive.”
Lucian looked at the unconscious men.
“We have to leave.”
They searched the men.
One carried a gun.
Another had a phone.
Lucian picked it up.
There was only one recent message.
Find the brothers. Do not let either one escape.
Elias looked at the screen.
“Who sent it?”
Lucian shook his head.
“The number is hidden.”
Elias’s eyes narrowed.
“This isn’t just about the inheritance.”
“No.”
“Then what is it about?”
Lucian looked at him.
“Our father.”
They left the storage room through another exit.
The passage led them beneath the old estate and eventually opened into a small underground garage.
An old black car stood inside.
Lucian unlocked it.
Elias climbed into the passenger seat.
The car engine roared.
They drove out through a hidden tunnel.
Behind them, the Veyron Estate continued burning.
Elias watched the flames in the rearview mirror.
He felt strangely empty.
That house had been his home before he was born.
His father’s home.
His mother’s home.
His family’s home.
And now it was burning.
Lucian drove in silence.
After several minutes, Elias spoke.
“Where are we going?”
“My private residence.”
“No.”
Lucian glanced at him.
“What?”
“I don’t trust your house.”
Lucian smiled faintly.
“You don’t trust me.”
“Correct.”
“Fair enough.”
He turned onto another road.
“Then I’ll take you somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“Someone who can help us.”
“Who?”
“A woman named Seraphina Vale.”
Elias frowned.
The name sounded familiar.
He had heard it recently.
“Who is she?”
“She’s the only person I know who has been investigating the Veyron family without working for them.”
Elias looked out the window.
“What does she want?”
“The truth.”
Lucian paused.
“And revenge.”
The car became quiet again.
Several minutes later, they arrived at an old apartment building.
Lucian parked.
Elias looked up.
“This is where she lives?”
“Yes.”
“Why would someone like her live here?”
“Because her family lost everything.”
Elias turned toward him.
“What happened?”
Lucian looked straight ahead.
“Her father was accused of stealing money from the Veyron Group.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Then why was he accused?”
Lucian’s expression hardened.
“Because someone needed a scapegoat.”
Elias suddenly understood.
“Someone from our family.”
Lucian nodded.
They entered the building.
On the fourth floor, Lucian knocked three times.
Nothing happened.
He knocked twice more.
A voice came from inside.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Lucian.”
There was silence.
Then the door opened.
A young woman stood there.
She had long dark hair and sharp eyes.
She immediately pointed a small weapon toward Lucian.
“You have some nerve coming here.”
Lucian didn’t move.
“Seraphina, we need your help.”
Her eyes shifted toward Elias.
She froze.
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
Then she lowered the weapon.
“Who is he?”
Lucian answered,
“Elias Veyron.”
Seraphina’s face went pale.
“No.”
Elias looked at her.
“You know my name?”
She took a step backward.
“That’s impossible.”
Lucian entered.
“It’s not.”
Seraphina looked between the two brothers.
“Then the rumors were true.”
Elias frowned.
“What rumors?”
She closed the door.
“Twenty-six years ago, everyone said Alexander Veyron had two sons.”
Elias looked at Lucian.
“Two?”
Seraphina nodded.
“Lucian was publicly recognized as the heir.”
She looked at Elias.
“But the second child disappeared.”
Elias’s voice was quiet.
“Why?”
Seraphina stared at him.
“Because someone tried to kill him.”
Elias felt a chill.
“Who?”
Seraphina walked toward a table covered with documents.
“I’ve spent five years trying to find out.”
She picked up a photograph.
“This was taken the night your father died.”
Elias looked at it.
There was Alexander.
There was Elena.
There was Lucian as a child.
And there was another figure standing in the background.
A man whose face had been scratched out.
Elias pointed at him.
“Who is that?”
Seraphina shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Lucian studied the photograph.
“I’ve seen this before.”
Elias looked at him.
“Where?”
“In Father’s study.”
Seraphina placed another photograph beside it.
“This is the same man.”
Elias examined it.
The stranger appeared in several pictures.
Always in the background.
Never identified.
Never named.
Then Seraphina placed a document on the table.
“Look at this.”
Elias read it.
His face changed.
It was a financial transfer.
Millions had been moved from the Veyron Group’s private account on the night Alexander died.
The destination account belonged to a company called Orion Black Holdings.
Elias looked at Lucian.
“Do you know this company?”
Lucian’s expression became dark.
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
Seraphina interrupted.
“That’s what everyone thinks.”
She opened another file.
“Orion Black Holdings doesn’t officially own anything.”
Elias frowned.
“Then why does it exist?”
“Because it is a shell company.”
“Who owns it?”
Seraphina looked at him.
“That’s the problem.”
She pointed toward the final document.
“The ownership records were erased.”
Elias leaned closer.
“But someone created it.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Seraphina’s eyes moved toward Lucian.
“Your father.”
Lucian’s face hardened.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
Seraphina pulled out another document.
“Alexander created Orion Black six months before his death.”
Elias felt confused.
“Why would he create a secret company?”
Seraphina shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Then she looked at Elias.
“But I think you do.”
Elias stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Seraphina pointed toward his jacket.
“The documents you took from the estate.”
Elias froze.
“How did you know about those?”
“I know everything that happens around the Veyron Estate.”
She stepped closer.
“Take them out.”
Elias hesitated.
Lucian nodded.
“Show her.”
Elias pulled out the documents.
Seraphina examined them carefully.
Then she found something.
A small envelope had been hidden inside the folder.
She opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Seraphina read the first line.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Elias asked.
She handed him the letter.
He read it.
The handwriting belonged to his father.
To my sons, Elias and Lucian.
Elias’s hands began to tremble.
He looked at Lucian.
“Both of us.”
Lucian moved closer.
They read together.
If you are reading this, then I am no longer alive.
There is a traitor within our family.
I trusted him with everything.
That was my greatest mistake.
Elias continued.
He knows about Orion Black. He knows about the money. And he knows about my second son.
Lucian’s jaw tightened.
The next sentence was underlined.
Do not let him find Elias.
Elias stared at the words.
Then the final sentence caught his attention.
The person you trust most will be the one who betrays you.
The room became silent.
Seraphina slowly looked at Lucian.
Lucian looked at Elias.
Neither brother spoke.
Then Elias’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a distorted voice said,
“You should never have opened the vault.”
Elias stood.
“Who are you?”
The voice laughed.
“You have your father’s curiosity.”
Elias’s expression hardened.
“What do you want?”
“Your brother.”
Elias looked at Lucian.
“Why?”
“Because he has something I need.”
“What?”
The caller paused.
Then whispered,
“The truth about your mother.”
The call ended.
Elias stared at the phone.
Lucian’s face had gone completely pale.
Seraphina stepped closer.
“What did they say?”
Elias slowly looked at his brother.
“They want you.”
Lucian said nothing.
Then another message arrived.
This time, there was a photograph.
Elias opened it.
His heart stopped.
It was a picture of a woman.
An older woman.
But there was no mistaking her face.
The same eyes.
The same expression.
The same woman Elias remembered from childhood.
His mother.
Under the photograph were four words.
She is still alive.
Elias looked at Lucian.
For the first time, his brother looked genuinely afraid.
And then the phone received one final message.
Come alone if you want her back.
Elias stared at the screen.
The truth he had spent his entire life searching for was suddenly within reach.
His mother might still be alive.
But someone had just given him an impossible choice.
Save his mother.
Or walk into a trap.
And Elias knew one thing for certain.
Whatever happened next would change the Veyron family forever.
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