Chapter 17
1438 Words
Chapter 17
The Man Who Raised Him
The photograph lay on the floor between us.
Nobody moved.
Jax slowly picked it up.
He stared at the man standing beside Sarah.
His face changed.
I could see the recognition before he even spoke.
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“Who is it?”
Jax’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“My uncle.”
Elizabeth covered her mouth.
Luke stared at the picture.
“That’s not possible.”
Jax looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your uncle disappeared before the fire.”
Jax shook his head.
“No.”
He turned the photograph over.
The words Sarah had written were still there.
He raised you, Jax.
Jax looked at his mother.
“What does this mean?”
Elizabeth was crying now.
“I didn’t know.”
“You knew him.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me who he was.”
Elizabeth swallowed.
“His name was Daniel.”
Jax’s expression changed.
“Daniel Reed.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“He was your father’s older brother.”
⸻
I looked between them.
“Why would Sarah say he raised Jax?”
Elizabeth took a shaky breath.
“Because after the fire, Daniel took Jax.”
Jax stepped backward.
“What?”
“You were unconscious.”
“And my mother?”
“She was gone.”
“And Amara?”
“Missing.”
“Luke?”
“We believed he was dead.”
Jax stared at her.
“So Daniel took me.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“Your father told everyone Daniel had died years earlier.”
Jax’s eyes narrowed.
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
He looked at the photograph again.
“Then where is he now?”
Nobody answered.
⸻
The clubhouse suddenly felt too small.
Too many secrets.
Too many names.
Too many people who had supposedly died but were still alive.
Jax paced across the room.
“My father.”
“Victoria.”
“Amara.”
“Luke.”
“Now Daniel.”
He stopped.
“How many people are still alive?”
Luke gave a bitter laugh.
“Probably more than we think.”
Jax looked at me.
“What if Sarah is alive too?”
My heart caught.
“What if she is?”
“We find her.”
He took my hand.
“No matter what.”
⸻
Mason walked over with the flash drive.
“We need to see what’s on this.”
Jax nodded.
They connected it to the laptop.
A single folder appeared.
PROJECT REDEMPTION.
Inside were dozens of files.
Mason opened the first.
A list of names.
Then dates.
Then payments.
Then photographs.
Jax stared at the screen.
“This isn’t just about my father.”
“What do you mean?”
He pointed.
“These payments continued after he disappeared.”
Mason scrolled.
“Someone took over.”
“Who?”
Mason opened another file.
A name appeared.
DANIEL REED.
The room went silent.
Jax stared at the screen.
“My uncle.”
Luke stepped closer.
“He didn’t just raise you.”
Jax looked at him.
“What?”
“He took over the organization.”
⸻
I felt a chill.
“Then why would Sarah trust him?”
“She didn’t,” Luke said.
“She was trying to expose him.”
Jax shook his head.
“No.”
Luke looked at him.
“Jax…”
“No.”
He pointed toward the photograph.
“My mother trusted him.”
Luke’s voice softened.
“She did once.”
Jax stared at the photograph.
“Until she found out who he really was.”
⸻
A new file opened.
A video.
The date was twenty years ago.
Jax stared at the screen.
“That’s the night of the fire.”
The recording showed the old house.
Smoke poured from the windows.
A younger Daniel stood outside.
He wasn’t trying to put out the fire.
He was watching it.
Then someone ran toward him.
Sarah.
She was carrying a small child.
Me.
Jax froze.
His own younger self appeared behind her.
“Mom?”
Sarah handed me to Daniel.
“No.”
Jax stood.
“She didn’t give me to him.”
On the recording, Sarah turned toward the house.
She shouted something.
The audio was too distorted to understand.
Then Daniel grabbed her arm.
She fought him.
Jax watched in horror.
“He took her.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
⸻
Then another file opened automatically.
A recording.
Sarah’s voice.
“If you’re watching this, Daniel has already found me.”
My heart pounded.
“I need you to know what happened that night.”
She paused.
“The fire was started by Victoria.”
Jax closed his eyes.
“But Daniel ordered it.”
I looked at him.
Sarah continued.
“He wanted the evidence destroyed.”
Another pause.
“But he didn’t expect Luke to survive.”
Luke stared at the screen.
Sarah’s voice softened.
“Luke saw everything.”
She whispered:
“And that’s why Daniel kept him hidden.”
Jax looked at Luke.
“You’ve been running from him all these years.”
Luke nodded.
“Yes.”
Sarah continued.
“Jax, if you remember anything from that night, remember this.”
The screen went black.
Her final words echoed through the room.
“Your father didn’t abandon you. Daniel took you from him.”
Jax froze.
“What?”
I looked at Elizabeth.
She was crying.
“Your father wasn’t the one who raised you after the fire.”
Jax stared at her.
“Daniel was.”
⸻
Suddenly, the clubhouse phone rang.
Everyone looked toward it.
Mason answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a man’s voice.
“Is Jax there?”
Mason looked at him.
“Who is this?”
The voice laughed.
“Tell him his uncle wants to talk.”
Mason’s face changed.
He handed the phone to Jax.
Jax slowly took it.
“Daniel.”
A deep laugh came through the receiver.
“It’s been a long time, nephew.”
Jax’s jaw tightened.
“You took my mother.”
“I protected you.”
“You lied to me.”
“I gave you a life.”
“You stole mine.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said:
“I can give you the truth.”
“What do you want?”
“Bring Bella.”
Jax’s eyes immediately went to me.
“No.”
Daniel laughed.
“You really do love her.”
Jax said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“Bring her to the old church.”
“What church?”
“The one your mother used to take you to.”
Jax’s face went pale.
He knew exactly where.
“Why?”
“Because that’s where Sarah left the last piece of the truth.”
The call ended.
⸻
Jax stood motionless.
I walked toward him.
“You’re not going without me.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
“Good.”
He smiled faintly.
“You’re stubborn.”
“So are you.”
He pulled me close.
“I love you.”
The words caught me completely off guard.
I stared at him.
“What?”
He touched my cheek.
“I don’t know what tomorrow looks like.”
His voice softened.
“But I know I want you in it.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I love you too.”
He kissed my forehead.
Then Luke spoke from behind us.
“We need to go.”
Jax nodded.
But before we could leave, Elizabeth grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
I turned.
She looked terrified.
“There’s something you need to know about that church.”
“What?”
Elizabeth swallowed.
“Sarah didn’t leave the last piece of the truth there.”
“Then what is there?”
Elizabeth looked at Jax.
“Your father’s grave.”
Jax frowned.
“My father isn’t dead.”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“No.”
She whispered:
“That’s the point.”
Everyone went silent.
Jax stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears.
“The grave doesn’t belong to your father.”
She looked at me.
“It belongs to the man Daniel killed twenty years ago.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
Elizabeth whispered:
“Sarah’s husband.”
Jax stared at her.
Then slowly turned toward me.
“And that man…”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Was your biological father.”
End of Chapter 17
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