LIES WE LOVED

LIES WE LOVED Ch. 22 - 25

CHAPTER 22 — THE SECRET FAMILY

They flew that same night to Lucas’s mother’s home — the one place he’d avoided since this began. She opened the door, and at the sight of the photo in his hand, her face crumpled.

“You knew,” Lucas said, no greeting, no pretense. “All this time.”

She nodded slowly, stepping aside to let them in. The house was quiet, filled with old photographs — but one wall was empty, as if something had been removed.

“Your father… he had another family,” she said, her voice trembling. “A woman in the city. Adrian was his son — his brother, not just yours. You two were half-brothers.”

Lucas stumbled back. “We were related. And he never told me.”

“He didn’t know either,” she said gently. “Your father kept it from both of you. Adrian found out — threatened to expose the affair, ruin the business deals, destroy everything. So your father and Mia’s father… they made a plan. Stage the accident. Send Adrian away. Silence everyone who knew.”

“And the body in the casket?” Mia asked, sick to her stomach.

“A stranger. A homeless man with no family. They paid the coroner to alter the records. It was never Adrian.”

CHAPTER 23 — THE PAYOFF

Elena met them the next morning, her face grim. She’d been digging through financial records all night.

“It’s worse than we thought,” she said, spreading documents across the table. “The night of the ‘accident,’ your fathers were finalizing a massive land deal — a resort development that would have made them billions. Adrian was going to blow the whistle — not just on the affair, but on the bribes, the threats, the illegal land grabs. If he’d spoken up, the whole empire would have collapsed.”

“So they faked his death to save their business,” Lucas said, his voice tight with rage.

“Not just the business — their freedom. Both families were facing multiple criminal investigations. Adrian’s silence was the only thing keeping them out of prison.” Elena tapped a bank transfer record. “And look at this — payments made to a secure offshore account every month for twelve years. Same amount, same date. Labeled ‘Maintenance.’”

“Adrian,” Mia whispered. “They’ve been paying him to stay gone. To stay silent.”

CHAPTER 24 — THE HUNT

“We have to find him,” Lucas said, standing up. “If he’s alive — if he’s been alive all this time — he’s the only one who knows the full truth. He can tell us who really tampered with the car. He can tell us everything.”

“But if they’ve been paying him all these years,” Mia said slowly, “what happens when the money stops? When the secrets start unraveling?”

Her question was answered an hour later — when Elena’s phone buzzed with a breaking news alert: “Billionaire Businessman Found Dead — Apparent Suicide.” The photo showed Lucas’s father.

Lucas’s phone rang — an unknown number. He answered, his hand shaking.

“Lucas,” a voice said — familiar, yet changed by years of distance and secrecy. “Don’t look for me. They know. And they’ll kill me if you find me.”

“Adrian?” Lucas’s voice cracked. “Where are you? We can protect you —”

“It’s too late,” Adrian whispered. “They’re not just watching me. They’re watching all of you. Be careful. Especially Mia. Her father didn’t act alone —”

The line went dead.

CHAPTER 25 — THE WARNING

Mia’s phone buzzed — a text from her father, sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial. “I never wanted any of this. But you dug too deep. Now they’re coming for both of us. Run, Mia. Before it’s too late.”

“They’re still out there,” Lucas said, pacing the room. “The people behind this. It wasn’t just our fathers. There’s someone else. Someone pulling the strings.”

“Someone who killed your father,” Mia said quietly. “To keep him silent. And now they’re coming for us.”

Elena stood up, her expression determined. “Then we don’t wait for them. We find Adrian. He’s the key. If we can get to him before they do — we can end this.”

They spent the next three days tracking every lead — bank withdrawals, phone records, border crossings. Adrian had moved every two years, never staying in one place too long. But his last withdrawal — three days ago — was made in a small mountain town in the north. A place so remote, so isolated, it was almost impossible to find.

Almost.

---to be continue---