Chapter 5 - The Phantom
I stared at the man standing in the doorway, my mind completely shattering.
He had the exact same eyes, the exact same jawline, and the exact same messy brown hair as my dead husband.
"Mark?" I whispered, my vision blurring as I reached out to touch him.
The man immediately lowered his rifle, his expression softening with genuine pity.
"I am not Mark, Sally," he said gently.
"My name is Julian."
I flinched backward, remembering what the bodyguard had just told me in the car.
"You are the brother," I gasped, raising the stolen gun and aiming it at his chest.
"You sent Elias to kidnap me and murder my baby!"
Julian looked at the gun in my trembling hands, completely unfazed.
"If I wanted you dead, Sally, I would not have left you the keys to this cabin."
He pointed to Mark's letter, which was still crumpled tightly in my pocket.
"Look at the back of the paper."
I slowly pulled the letter out, keeping the gun awkwardly aimed at him.
I flipped the heavy notebook paper over and saw a handwritten address and a four-digit access code.
"Mark told me everything, Sally," Julian explained, stepping out into the cold night.
"I am the twin brother the family completely erased from existence."
He carefully reached out and pushed the barrel of my gun toward the ground.
"Victoria locked me in a psychiatric facility ten years ago because I tried to expose the syndicate's crimes to the federal government."
"Mark was the one who finally helped me escape last year."
I searched his eyes, desperately looking for the truth in a world full of lies.
"But Elias said you hired him to kill me," I argued, my voice shaking uncontrollably.
"Elias works for our older brother, Richard," Julian corrected me with a grimace.
"Richard is the golden child who wants to eliminate every other heir."
A sudden, agonizing pain ripped through my lower abdomen, entirely different from the fake cramps I had used earlier.
I cried out, dropping the gun and clutching my massive stomach as warm fluid soaked my clothes.
"My baby," I sobbed, collapsing against the wooden porch railing.
"It is too early, she is coming right now."
Julian rushed forward, catching me before I hit the ground, and carried me inside the cabin.
He laid me on a clean bed and grabbed a pile of fresh towels.
"I am going to help you, Sally," Julian promised, his voice filled with quiet determination.
May you like
But before he could say another word, the wooden front door was violently kicked off its hinges.
Three men wearing tactical gear stormed into the small cabin with assault rifles raised.
