Chapter 17: The Two Boys
The photograph changed everything.
I rushed back into the room.
“Where is Ethan?””
Everyone looked confused.
“He’s right there.””
I turned.
The boy sitting beside Noah looked at me.
“Dad?””
My heart dropped.
Something was wrong.
I walked closer.
The detective noticed my expression.
“What is it?””
I showed him the photo.
Nobody spoke.
Because the boy in the image was Ethan.
But Ethan was standing right in front of us.
The impossible had happened.
Or at least it looked impossible.
Then Noah whispered:
“That’s not Ethan.””
Everyone looked at him.
“What?””
Noah pointed at the picture.
“That’s my cousin.””
My stomach tightened.
“Your cousin?””
He nodded.
“Richard took him years ago.””
I felt dizzy.
“No.””
Noah looked at Ethan.
“He looks like him because they’re related.””
Michael stood up.
“Explain.””
Noah’s face became pale.
“Richard told my mother there were two children.””
Two children.
The phrase echoed.
“Two what?””
Noah whispered:
“Two heirs.””
The detective immediately searched the photo metadata.
The image wasn’t new.
It was taken three days earlier.
The location?
A private facility outside the city.
A place Richard owned through a company.
We moved immediately.
But before leaving, Ethan grabbed my hand.
“Dad.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“What if there’s another me?””
I knelt down.
“There isn’t.””
“But everyone keeps saying I’m connected to things I don’t understand.””
I held his shoulders.
“You are not a secret.””
His eyes filled.
“I just want a normal life.””
I pulled him into a hug.
“I know.””
And I meant it.
Because that was the one thing Richard never understood.
Ethan didn’t need to be important.
He needed to be loved.
The facility was abandoned.
Too abandoned.
The kind of place designed to look empty.
But inside, we found evidence.
Files.
Photos.
Medical records.
Richard had been studying children connected to our families for years.
Not just Ethan.
Not just Noah.
Others.
The detective opened a folder.
“Mr. Hayes.””
I walked over.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Richard.
And another person.
My mother.
All standing together.
But the date shocked me.
It was taken after my mother was supposedly dead.
I looked at Michael.
“She was alive?””
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
Then we found the video.
A hidden recording.
My father speaking.
“If Richard finds this, he will destroy everything.””
The video continued.
“He believes children are proof of ownership.””
A pause.
“But he is wrong.””
My father looked directly into the camera.
“Family is chosen.””
My eyes filled.
Because those were the exact words I had said to Ethan.
Then my father said something that changed everything.
“Daniel must never know the truth about his brother.””
Michael froze.
The recording continued.
“Because if he knows Michael survived, Richard will use Daniel against him.””
I looked at my brother.
All these years.
He had been hiding too.
The video ended.
But one final file opened.
A medical report.
The title:
“Subject: Daniel Hayes.””
My hands went cold.
“What is that?””
Michael looked at the screen.
And his face changed.
Because the report wasn’t about Ethan.
It wasn’t about Richard.
It was about me.
The report was from when I was a child.
It contained genetic information.
Family history.
And one shocking conclusion.
“Daniel Hayes is the biological match to the missing heir.””
I stared.
“What heir?””
Nobody answered.
Then Noah pointed at the screen.
“The heir Richard was looking for.””
I looked at Michael.
“Who am I?””
My brother’s eyes filled with sadness.
“You’re not the person you think you are.””
The lights suddenly went out.
Again.
A familiar voice came through the speakers.
Richard.
“You finally found it.””
I turned toward the sound.
His voice continued.
“But you’re too late.””
The screen turned on.
Richard appeared.
Smiling.
“Because now you know the truth.””
A pause.
“You were never protecting Ethan from me.””
My heart pounded.
“You were protecting me from him.””
The video ended.
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And on the screen appeared one final message.
“Daniel Hayes was the first secret.””
