Chapter Thirteen : The Man Who Died Twice
1578 Words
Lucien
For several seconds, Lucien couldn't hear anything.
Not the rain.
Not Elena's breathing.
Not even Mara's weak gasp.
Only one sentence repeated inside his head.
He's Alexander.
His father.
Dead for seventeen years.
Standing somewhere in the darkness.
Alive.
Lucien looked toward the corridor.
"Where did he go?"
Mara tried to sit up.
"Don't."
Lucien helped her.
"Where?"
"He's gone."
"Then tell me everything."
Mara looked at Elena.
"I don't have everything."
"You have enough."
Mara closed her eyes.
"Alexander survived."
Lucien's jaw tightened.
"How?"
"Your grandfather tried to kill him."
"That's not what you told me."
"I didn't know the whole story."
"Then what happened?"
Mara breathed deeply.
"Alexander was shot on March thirteenth."
Lucien froze.
"The night before his official death."
"Yes."
"Who shot him?"
"Augustus."
"Why?"
"Because Alexander discovered the truth about the twins."
Lucien looked at Elena.
"And then?"
"Alexander survived."
"Where was he taken?"
"By Victor."
Lucien's expression hardened.
"Victor was working for him?"
"Yes."
"Then why did he pretend to be Gabriel Laurent?"
"Because Alexander needed a new identity."
"Why?"
"Because Augustus wasn't the only person hunting him."
Lucien stared.
"Who else?"
Mara hesitated.
"Your grandmother."
Lucien went still.
"My grandmother died when I was twelve."
Mara nodded.
"That's what you were told."
Another lie.
Another grave.
Another ghost.
His family had spent his entire life manufacturing deaths.
Lucien looked at Elena.
She looked terrified.
But she was listening.
Mara continued.
"Alexander disappeared because he discovered something Augustus had done years earlier."
"What?"
"Your grandfather had another heir."
Lucien frowned.
"I thought he had only your father."
"He did."
"Then who?"
Mara looked at Elena.
"Her."
---
Elena
Elena's stomach dropped.
"Me?"
Mara nodded.
"Augustus discovered that Seraphina was pregnant."
"But Alexander was my father."
"Yes."
"Then why was Augustus interested in me?"
"Because of your bloodline."
Elena shook her head.
"I don't understand."
Mara looked at Lucien.
"Alexander wasn't a Laurent in the way you think."
Lucien's expression tightened.
"You said he was Gabriel Laurent's son."
"He was."
"Then?"
"Gabriel Laurent's mother was a Voss."
Silence.
Elena stared.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning Alexander carried both bloodlines."
Lucien understood.
"And Elena?"
"She inherited both."
Elena looked confused.
"Why does that matter?"
Mara's voice became quiet.
"Because the Voss fortune wasn't supposed to belong to Augustus."
Lucien frowned.
"Then who was the rightful heir?"
Mara pointed at Elena.
"Her."
Elena stared.
"What?"
"Your mother didn't know."
"Why?"
"Because Augustus hid the original inheritance documents."
Lucien's eyes hardened.
"What documents?"
"The founding trust."
Mara looked at him.
"It states that the Voss estate must pass to the first surviving child of Alexander's bloodline."
Lucien's expression changed.
"That's why Augustus wanted Elena dead."
"Yes."
"Not because she's a threat."
"Because she's the rightful heir."
Elena sat down slowly.
She had spent her entire life struggling to survive.
She had never imagined she was sitting on an inheritance powerful enough to start a war.
---
The Safe House
They left the hospital before dawn.
Lucien took Elena and Mara to another safe house.
This one was underground.
Hidden beneath an old library.
Elena sat across from Mara.
"Why were you watching me?"
Mara looked down.
"Because Alexander asked me to."
"Before he disappeared?"
"Yes."
"How did you know where I was?"
"He never stopped looking for you."
Elena's heart tightened.
"Then why didn't he come for me?"
"Because he couldn't."
"Why?"
Mara hesitated.
"Because you weren't safe with him either."
Elena frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
Mara placed an old recording on the table.
"This was recorded seven years ago."
Lucien pressed play.
Alexander's voice filled the room.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
"If you're hearing this, Elena is alive."
Elena's breath caught.
"I couldn't bring her back. Not yet."
A pause.
"She believes Seraphina is her mother. Let her believe it."
Elena looked at Lucien.
The recording continued.
"The less she remembers, the safer she is."
Then Alexander said something that made Lucien's blood run cold.
"And whatever happens, keep her away from my son."
The recording ended.
Silence.
Elena slowly turned toward Lucien.
"Your father told you to stay away from me."
"Yes."
"And you didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
Lucien looked at her.
"Because I didn't know."
"You know now."
"Yes."
"Then why are you still here?"
He stepped closer.
"Because I'm done obeying dead men's orders."
Elena's heart skipped.
"But your father isn't dead."
Lucien stared at her.
"Exactly."
---
The Letter
That afternoon, another package arrived.
No sender.
Inside was a single envelope.
Lucien opened it.
The handwriting belonged to Alexander.
Lucien,
If you have found this, then Victor has failed to keep you away from the truth.
I know you will be angry.
You should be.
But there is something you must understand.
Elena was never meant to be your enemy.
Lucien looked at Elena.
He continued reading.
She was born because I loved Seraphina.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
But Camille was involved.
Lucien stopped.
His heart tightened.
Camille knew Elena's real identity before anyone else.
She helped me hide her.
She knew Augustus would kill her if he discovered the truth.
Seven years ago, Camille made the sacrifice I couldn't.
She took the blame for a crime she didn't commit.
Elena covered her mouth.
Lucien continued.
The person responsible for Camille's death is still alive.
And he has been watching Elena since the night she was born.
The letter ended.
But something was written beneath Alexander's signature.
A name.
ADRIAN VOSS.
Lucien stared.
Elena's eyes widened.
"Adrian?"
"Apparently."
"But Mara said Adrian worked with your father."
"He did."
"Then why would your father accuse him?"
Lucien didn't know.
He read the letter again.
Something was wrong.
The ink on the final name was darker.
Fresh.
He touched it.
Wet.
Lucien's eyes narrowed.
"This wasn't written seventeen years ago."
Mara looked at him.
"What?"
"This part."
He pointed.
"Someone added it recently."
The room fell silent.
Someone had access to Alexander's original letter.
Someone wanted Lucien to suspect Adrian.
Again.
---
Elena
That night, Elena couldn't sleep.
She wandered into the kitchen.
Lucien was already there.
He stood by the window, drinking coffee.
"You're awake."
"So are you."
"I can't sleep."
"Neither can I."
She sat beside him.
For a while, they said nothing.
Then Elena asked:
"Do you regret kissing me?"
Lucien looked at her.
"No."
"Even after finding out everything?"
"No."
"Why?"
He set his cup down.
"Because none of it changes how I feel."
Elena's heart tightened.
"What do you feel?"
He looked directly at her.
"Too much."
She smiled faintly.
"That's not an answer."
"It is for me."
She reached for his hand.
He let her.
"I don't know what happens next."
"Neither do I."
"What if we're related?"
Lucien's expression changed.
"Then we'll deal with it."
"And if we're not?"
His eyes darkened.
"Then I don't intend to keep pretending I don't want you."
Elena's pulse raced.
"You shouldn't say things like that."
"Why?"
"Because I might believe you."
He leaned closer.
"Believe me."
Their lips almost touched.
Then—
a gunshot shattered the window.
Lucien pulled Elena to the floor.
Mara shouted from the hallway.
"DOWN!"
Another shot.
The lights went out.
Lucien reached for his weapon.
"Stay here."
Elena grabbed his arm.
"No."
"Elena."
"I'm not losing you too."
He looked at her.
For one second, everything stopped.
Then he kissed her forehead.
"I'll be back."
He disappeared into the darkness.
---
The Basement
Lucien followed the sound through the underground corridor.
Footsteps.
Fast.
He reached the emergency exit.
The door slammed shut.
He opened it.
Nothing.
Only rain.
Then he noticed something on the ground.
A black bracelet.
Lucien picked it up.
His eyes narrowed.
He had seen it before.
In the photograph of the twins.
The bracelet belonged to Elias.
His phone vibrated.
A message.
You keep looking for me.
Another:
Stop.
Then a photograph appeared.
Elias.
Standing beside Alexander.
Both alive.
Both looking directly at the camera.
Lucien stared.
A final message appeared.
Your father wants Elena.
Then:
I want Elena too.
Lucien's blood ran cold.
He typed:
Why?
The reply came immediately.
Because she is my sister.
Another message.
And because she is the only person who can save me.
Lucien stared at the screen.
Then another photograph arrived.
Elena as a child.
Standing beside a hospital bed.
A young Lucien was beside her.
But behind them stood another child.
A boy.
Elias.
The three children were together.
Lucien's breathing stopped.
That photograph proved something impossible.
Elias had been with Elena and Lucien seven years ago.
Which meant Elias hadn't been stolen as a newborn.
He had been living near them.
Watching them.
All along.
Lucien zoomed in.
The date was printed beneath the image.
March 14, 2019.
Seven years ago.
The night Camille died.
Lucien whispered:
"Why were all three of us there?"
A voice answered behind him.
"Because that was the night everything began."
Lucien spun around.
Elias stood in the doorway.
He wasn't alone.
A man stood beside him.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
Cold eyes.
Lucien's heart stopped.
He knew that face.
The face from every family portrait.
The face from every nightmare.
The man who was supposed to have died years ago.
Augustus Voss.
Elias smiled.
"Meet your grandfather."
Augustus looked past Lucien.
Toward the safe house.
Toward Elena.
Then he said:
"Bring me my heir."
And for the first time, Lucien understood.
The war had never been about the Voss fortune.
It had always been about Elena.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD