Chapter 13 - the man in the photograph
The photograph could not be real.
Alexander had never met Beatrice or his father at the location shown.
The image had been taken outside a stone building near the ocean. Beatrice wore the same coat she had worn during a business trip to Portugal six months earlier.
Lucien stood beside her, older but clearly alive.
Alexander stood on Lucien’s other side.
The date printed on the photograph was accurate.
On that day, Alexander had been in Chicago addressing Vale shareholders.
Hundreds of people had seen him.
Seraphina studied the picture.
“The man resembles you, but we cannot see his left hand.”
Daniel enlarged the image.
The stranger’s posture was slightly different from Alexander’s. His shoulders were narrower, and a pale line appeared near his ear.
“A surgical scar,” Daniel said.
Alexander touched his own face.
“Someone altered himself to look like me.”
“Or the image was manipulated,” Seraphina said.
The forensic examination found no obvious digital changes.
Mrs. Rowan looked at the photograph and sat down heavily.
“I hoped he was dead.”
“Who?” Alexander asked.
She pointed to the man wearing his face.
“Julian.”
The name meant nothing to Alexander.
Mrs. Rowan closed the kitchen door.
“Lucien had two sons.”
Alexander stared at her.
“My mother had one child.”
“Your mother had one child. Julian’s mother was someone else.”
“Who?”
“The unnamed member of the Wren Circle.”
The seventh seat.
The person removed from the photograph.
“Why was he hidden?” Seraphina asked.
“Because Julian was older by three months.”
Alexander understood the significance.
“If he was recognized, he would have been the Vale heir.”
“Yes.”
“Did my father abandon him?”
“No. Lucien raised him in secret.”
“Why?”
“Julian’s mother demanded it. She believed the public Vale heir would become a target.”
“So I was the decoy.”
Mrs. Rowan nodded slowly.
“On paper, you inherited the name, the company, and the danger. Julian inherited Lucien’s private education and knowledge of Wren.”
Alexander stepped away from the table.
Every childhood lesson changed meaning.
Every time his father disappeared, perhaps Lucien had been visiting another son.
Every threat Alexander faced may have been directed toward an heir he never knew existed.
“Did Beatrice know?”
“Yes.”
“She helped hide him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
“Julian believed the Wren fortune belonged to him. Lucien disagreed. When Elena discovered the stolen estates, Lucien planned restitution. Julian wanted control.”
Seraphina held the succession key.
“Does this belong to Julian?”
“No,” Mrs. Rowan said. “His mother created it.”
“What does it control?”
“I only know that Lucien ordered Elena to destroy it.”
“But she kept it.”
“Yes.”
Alexander returned to the photograph.
“Why would Julian copy my face?”
“To replace you.”
The words felt absurd, but the evidence around them made absurdity increasingly dangerous.
Daniel entered.
“The stone building has been identified. It is a private clinic on an island owned by a Wren subsidiary.”
“Can we reach it?” Alexander asked.
“The court froze the accounts, but the aircraft records show three flights during the last six months. One passenger used Lucien’s name. Another used yours.”
Seraphina looked again at the scar near the stranger’s ear.
“Julian may have been preparing for years.”
Alexander’s phone rang.
The screen showed Seraphina’s number.
Her phone was in her hand.
Daniel answered using the speaker.
A man spoke.
“Hello, brother.”
Alexander’s face went cold.
“Julian.”
“So Amelia finally told you.”
“Where is my father?”
“With the son he chose.”
“Then why did he place me in control of Vale Holdings?”
“To attract every enemy while we built something larger.”
“You expect me to believe he used a child as a shield?”
“He used both of us.”
“What do you want?”
“The succession key.”
Seraphina closed her hand around it.
“What does it open?” she asked.
Julian laughed softly.
“Elena never told you?”
“She died before she could.”
“She died because she refused to surrender it.”
Leonard had claimed another car followed Elena onto the bridge.
Perhaps Julian had been inside it.
“Did you kill my mother?” Seraphina asked.
Silence followed.
“I was nine years old.”
“Then who was driving?”
“Our mother.”
Mrs. Rowan closed her eyes.
The unnamed Wren member.
Julian continued.
“Give me the key, Seraphina, and I will tell you where Lucien is.”
Alexander leaned toward the phone.
“You will stay away from her.”
“You sound exactly like me when you’re angry.”
“You are nothing like me.”
“That is true. I know what we were created to do.”
The call ended.
Daniel attempted to trace it.
The signal originated from inside Vale Holdings headquarters.
The building had been evacuated after the accounts were frozen.
Security footage showed one person entering through Alexander’s private garage.
May you like
He used Alexander’s face and fingerprints.
He was heading toward the executive vault.
