Chapter 10 - Brothers Beneath the House
Dominic carried Adrian into the hidden chamber behind the tunnel gate.
The childhood drawings on the wall looked familiar.
Dominic had seen the horses before.
Not here.
In his father’s private notebooks.
“Who drew these?” he asked.
“I did.”
Adrian pressed a hand against the wound in his side.
The bullet had passed through, but he was losing blood.
Dominic opened the emergency medical box beneath the table.
“You said you are my brother.”
“Half brother.”
“How do you know?”
“Julian told me every day I was old enough to understand shame.”
Dominic packed gauze against the wound.
“Why were you kept here?”
“Vivienne tried to poison me.”
Dominic looked up.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You believe that part.”
“I believe she is capable of it.”
“Then believe the rest.”
“I need proof.”
“The registry.”
“Mia found it.”
“Vivienne has most of it.”
“Most?”
Adrian reached inside his coat and removed a folded section of parchment.
“I took this from the chapel ledger years ago.”
Dominic opened it.
The document described the Blackthorne covenant.
The estate and attached holding company would transfer to the oldest living person registered under the founder’s protected bloodline, regardless of surname.
“This is not a Vale trust,” Dominic said.
“No.”
“Whose bloodline?”
“Eleanor Blackthorne’s.”
Dominic looked at the children’s drawings.
“Our family purchased the estate.”
“Our family was brought here to guard it.”
“Guard what?”
Adrian leaned his head against the wall.
“The Blackthorne descendants.”
“Eleanor had no children.”
“That is the official history.”
“And the real history?”
“She had a daughter.”
Dominic heard movement in the tunnel behind them.
He aimed the flashlight.
Nathan appeared, one hand pressed against his shoulder.
Blood soaked his sleeve.
Dominic stood.
Nathan stopped at the gate.
“Dom.”
“Where are Mia and Harper?”
“They escaped through the courtyard passage.”
“Escaped from you?”
“From Mother.”
“You reported Mia missing after imprisoning her.”
“I kept her inside the estate because I thought it was the only place Mother could not seize her.”
“There is a hidden cell under my basement.”
“I did not put her there.”
Dominic crossed the chamber and struck him.
Nathan hit the wall.
Adrian watched silently.
Dominic grabbed his brother by the collar.
“Who did?”
Nathan’s eyes filled with anger.
“Mrs. Bell.”
Dominic released him slightly.
“Why?”
“To hide her from Vivienne’s men. Then the hatch jammed.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No. I expect you to believe the recording Harper has.”
“I heard enough.”
“You heard one sentence.”
“It was enough to know you planned to manipulate my signature.”
“To transfer the estate to Mia before Mother took it.”
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Six months ago. I sent you copies of the original covenant.”
“I never received them.”
Nathan stared.
“Then someone intercepted them.”
“Or you never sent them.”
Adrian laughed.
Both brothers turned.
“This is exactly what she wants,” he said.
Nathan’s face hardened.
“You should be dead.”
“I often hear that from family.”
Dominic looked between them.
“Who is the fourth heir?”
Neither answered.
Dominic seized Nathan’s wounded shoulder.
Nathan gasped.
“Tell me.”
“I do not know.”
“You told Mia there was another claimant.”
“I know the registry was amended. Mother has hidden the final page.”
Adrian said, “She told you the claimant was someone Dominic loves.”
Nathan looked at him.
“You heard?”
“So did Mia.”
Dominic released Nathan.
“Harper?”
“No,” Adrian said. “Harper was born years after the amendment.”
“Mia?”
“The registry names her, but the bloodline test may not.”
Dominic looked at him sharply.
“You know about the test?”
“Julian knew.”
The cold chamber seemed to close around him.
Dominic had arranged the test after Julian’s death.
“How?”
“He planned your marriage before he died.”
Nathan shook his head.
“No. Dom met Mia by chance.”
“There are no chances in Blackthorne.”
Dominic remembered the fundraiser.
The St. Orison Trust funded it.
The invitation had come from an anonymous foundation director.
Mia attended because her hospital supervisor selected her.
Every path had been arranged.
“Why?” Dominic asked.
Adrian looked at the parchment.
“Because Mia carries the key to something the Blackthorne heir needs.”
“What key?”
“Not an object.”
Nathan went still.
“The Ashford line.”
Adrian nodded.
Dominic looked between them.
“What is the Ashford line?”
Nathan’s face showed the fear of a boy hearing an old story.
“Our father used to say Blackthorne blood could inherit the house, but Ashford blood could open it.”
“Open what?”
A vibration shook the chamber.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Somewhere beneath them, machinery began moving.
Adrian closed his eyes.
“She found the final page.”
“What does that mean?”
“The house is waking.”
Another vibration followed.
The stone wall split along a hidden seam.
Behind it, a staircase descended deeper underground.
A low red light glowed from below.
Nathan stared.
“That passage was never here.”
Adrian pushed himself upright.
“It was always here.”
Dominic reached for his radio.
Only static answered.
From the red-lit staircase came a child’s voice.
“Daddy?”
Dominic ran toward it.
Nathan grabbed him.
“That may not be Harper.”
Dominic threw him off and descended.
At the bottom, he found Harper’s missing blue slipper.
May you like
Beside it lay the silver recorder.
The red light was still blinking.
