Chapter 13: The Night Alexander Disappeared
Chapter 13: The Night Alexander Disappeared
The room remained silent after Eleanor read the message.
Ask your son what happened the night Alexander disappeared.
The words felt heavier than the recording.
Because unlike everything else they had uncovered, this secret was not about Marcus.
It was about Julian.
Eleanor slowly lowered the paper.
Her eyes moved toward her son.
"Julian."
He did not answer.
That alone told her everything.
"Look at me."
Slowly, he did.
And for the first time in years, Eleanor saw something she had almost forgotten existed.
Fear.
Not anger.
Not arrogance.
Fear.
"What happened to Alexander?"
Julian looked away.
"I don't know."
The answer came too quickly.
Too rehearsed.
Eleanor's expression hardened.
"Don't lie to me."
Julian closed his eyes.
"I wasn't trying to hurt him."
The room became completely still.
Alexander, standing near the window, turned.
"What does that mean?"
Julian looked at his half-brother.
A man he had spent years pretending did not exist.
"I didn't know what Marcus was planning."
Alexander's face changed.
"Planning?"
Julian said nothing.
"Julian."
Alexander stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Twenty years earlier.
Before the winery became internationally famous.
Before the family trust.
Before the secrets.
There was a night Julian never forgot.
He was fourteen years old.
Angry.
Confused.
And convinced that his father had replaced him.
Thomas had recently admitted the truth.
Alexander existed.
A son.
A brother.
Someone who would soon become part of their lives.
Julian remembered standing outside his father's study.
Listening.
Thomas was inside speaking with Marcus.
"He deserves to know his place in this family."
Thomas's voice.
Julian had heard the words differently.
He thought his father meant:
Alexander deserved his place.
And Julian did not.
That night, anger took control.
Present day.
Julian sat down.
"I was fourteen."
Eleanor listened carefully.
"Marcus knew I was upset."
Alexander remained silent.
"He came to me."
"What did he say?" Eleanor asked.
Julian swallowed.
"He told me my father was making a mistake."
A pause.
"He said Alexander would destroy everything."
Alexander looked away.
"He convinced you."
Julian nodded.
"Yes."
The honesty surprised everyone.
"He said my father would give him the company."
Eleanor frowned.
"Did you believe that?"
"I was a child."
Julian's voice broke slightly.
"But yes."
He continued.
"Marcus told me Alexander was meeting my father secretly."
"He was."
"I know that now."
Julian looked down.
"But at the time, I thought they were planning my future without me."
Alexander spoke quietly.
"So what did you do?"
Julian took a long breath.
"I followed Marcus's instructions."
Eleanor's heart sank.
"What instructions?"
Julian closed his eyes.
"To scare him."
The room became colder.
"What does that mean?"
Julian looked at Alexander.
"I found out where you were staying."
Alexander froze.
"You knew?"
Julian nodded.
"Marcus gave me the address."
Eleanor whispered:
"Julian..."
"I didn't hurt him."
His voice became desperate.
"I swear."
Alexander stared at him.
"Then what did you do?"
Julian's hands trembled.
"I left a message."
"What message?"
"That he should leave."
Silence.
"Why?"
"Because I thought..."
He stopped.
"Because I thought if he left, everything would go back to normal."
Alexander walked away from the window.
For years, he had wondered why his father disappeared from his life again.
Why Thomas suddenly stopped answering calls.
Why the family he hoped to know vanished.
"You scared me."
Julian looked at him.
"I know."
"You made me think someone wanted me gone."
Julian's eyes filled with regret.
"I was wrong."
Alexander laughed quietly.
Not with humor.
With pain.
"You were a child."
A pause.
"But you became the man who did the same thing to Clara."
The words hit Julian hard.
Because he knew they were true.
Eleanor looked at her son.
"Did you tell your father?"
Julian shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because Marcus told me if I admitted it, I would lose everything."
"What exactly did he threaten?"
Julian looked toward the floor.
"He said my father would hate me."
A tear escaped before he could stop it.
"And he was right."
That evening, Eleanor went alone to Thomas's study.
She needed space.
Not from Julian.
From the pain of realizing how long the damage had existed.
She opened Thomas's notebook again.
Near the final pages, she found another entry.
One she had missed.
Alexander disappeared after receiving a threatening message.
Her hands shook.
Another entry.
Julian confessed part of the truth.
Eleanor stopped.
Thomas knew.
He knew.
She continued.
I believe Marcus manipulated my son.
But Julian must take responsibility for his choices.
A tear fell onto the page.
Because even in death, Thomas had understood what she was only now learning.
Being manipulated did not erase responsibility.
The next morning, Detective Brooks arrived.
"We found Marcus's location."
Eleanor stood immediately.
"Where?"
"A private airport."
"Is he leaving?"
"We think so."
"Can you stop him?"
The detective hesitated.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because he's not alone."
Eleanor frowned.
"Who is with him?"
The detective placed a photograph on the desk.
A man standing beside Marcus.
Older.
Unknown.
But Eleanor recognized the name written beneath it.
David Vale.
Her face went pale.
"Impossible."
Detective Brooks looked at her.
"Who is he?"
Eleanor stared at the photograph.
"My husband's brother."
"Thomas had a brother?"
"No."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"He died before I met Thomas."
The detective looked confused.
"Then who is he?"
Eleanor picked up the photograph.
She noticed something.
The man had the same eyes as Thomas.
The same family resemblance.
Then she saw the date.
The photograph had been taken yesterday.
That night, Marcus called Eleanor.
She almost didn't answer.
But she did.
"Where are you?"
Marcus laughed softly.
"Still asking the wrong questions."
"You hurt my family."
"No."
His voice remained calm.
"Your family was already broken."
Eleanor tightened her grip on the phone.
"You killed Thomas."
A pause.
"I didn't kill him."
"Then what did you do?"
"I gave him a choice."
"What choice?"
"Protect the family he built..."
A pause.
"Or admit the family he abandoned."
Eleanor's anger rose.
"You don't get to decide who deserves forgiveness."
"No."
Marcus's voice became colder.
"But I do understand what people do when they are afraid."
The line crackled.
Then he said:
"Ask Alexander why Thomas never told him the truth about his mother."
Eleanor froze.
"My son's mother?"
Marcus laughed quietly.
"Every secret has another secret underneath."
The call ended.
Eleanor immediately found Alexander.
"Your mother."
He looked confused.
"What about her?"
"Marcus said Thomas never told you the truth."
Alexander's face changed.
"My mother is dead."
"I know."
"Then what truth?"
Before Eleanor could answer, Alexander's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman's voice came through.
A voice none of them expected.
"Alexander?"
He froze.
Because he knew that voice.
A voice he had not heard in twenty years.
His mother.
Alive.
The room fell silent.
And Eleanor realized Marcus was right about one thing.
May you like
Every secret had another secret beneath it.
And this one had been buried deeper than any of them imagined.
