Chapter 3: The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
For five years, Damon Cross had believed one thing without question.
Alexander Cross was dead.
The world had accepted it.
The newspapers had reported it.
The investigators had confirmed it.
The funeral had happened.
The grave existed.
And yet, standing in the middle of his family mansion, Damon was staring at a woman who carried the same last name as his brother and was supposed to have disappeared forever.
Evelyn Cross.
The name felt impossible.
Grace stood behind Damon, frozen.
She looked at Evelyn the way someone looked at a nightmare they had spent years trying to escape.
Damon noticed.
That was the first thing that bothered him.
The second was Evelyn’s confidence.
She wasn’t afraid.
Most people became nervous when they entered Damon Cross’s world.
They lowered their voices.
They chose their words carefully.
They looked around the room and remembered exactly who they were speaking to.
Evelyn did none of that.
She walked into his home like she belonged there.
Like she had been waiting for this moment.
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re dead.””
Evelyn smiled faintly.
“So is your brother.””
The room became silent.
Grace looked away.
Damon felt anger rising inside him, but he forced it down.
Anger was useful.
Losing control was not.
“How do you know Alexander?””
Evelyn removed her coat and placed it over the back of a chair.
“I knew him better than anyone.””
Damon’s expression hardened.
“That’s impossible.””
“Is it?””
She looked at him.
“Did Alexander tell you everything?””
The question hit exactly where she intended.
Because the answer was no.
Alexander had always been the easier brother to love.
He smiled more.
Trusted more.
Believed people were better than they appeared.
Damon had spent years protecting him from the world.
But maybe he had never realized Alexander had secrets of his own.
“What was your relationship with him?”” Damon asked.
Evelyn looked toward Grace.
Then back at him.
“He loved me.””
Grace closed her eyes.
Damon noticed.
“You knew?””
Grace whispered.
“Yes.””
The answer shocked him.
“You knew about her?””
“Not everything.””
Grace looked at Evelyn.
“But I knew she existed.””
Damon turned toward Grace.
“Explain.””
Grace hesitated.
Evelyn answered instead.
“Alexander was trying to protect both of us.””
Damon looked at her.
“From what?””
Evelyn’s expression changed.
For the first time, the confidence disappeared.
“From your family.””
The words hung in the air.
Damon’s jaw tightened.
“You keep saying that.””
“Because it’s true.””
“You’re accusing the Cross family of killing my brother?””
Evelyn didn’t answer immediately.
That silence was more dangerous than an accusation.
“I’m saying Alexander discovered something that powerful people wanted buried.””
Damon walked closer.
“And you survived.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because Alexander made sure I disappeared before they could find me.””
Damon studied her face.
He had spent years reading people.
Politicians.
Executives.
Criminals.
Everyone lied.
But not everyone lied the same way.
Evelyn was hiding something.
He could feel it.
“What happened five years ago?””
Evelyn looked toward the window.
Rain covered the glass.
“Alexander found evidence.””
“Of what?””
“A financial network.””
Damon waited.
She continued.
“Money was being moved through several companies. Cross Maritime. Caldwell Holdings. Smaller firms nobody paid attention to.””
Damon’s eyes narrowed.
“My company?””
“Yes.””
“Who was involved?””
Evelyn looked at him.
“That’s the part Alexander never discovered.””
“Because he died.””
“Yes.””
Damon turned away.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he spoke quietly.
“You expect me to believe someone murdered my brother, hid his investigation, and allowed everyone to believe he died accidentally?””
“I expect you to understand why Grace was attacked today.””
Damon looked at her.
Evelyn nodded toward Grace.
“They know she has the last piece.””
Grace touched her stomach.
“The baby?””
Evelyn’s expression softened.
“No.””
Everyone looked at her.
“Alexander left something with Grace.””
Damon’s eyes moved toward her.
“What?””
Grace looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know.””
Damon stared.
“You don’t know?””
Grace shook her head.
“Alexander told me if anything happened to him, I should never look for answers.””
“Why?””
“Because answers get people killed.””
The room went quiet.
Damon walked toward the fireplace.
His mind was moving faster than ever.
Alexander.
The bracelet.
The investigation.
Grace.
Evelyn.
The Caldwell family.
Too many connections.
Too many missing pieces.
Then he remembered something.
A conversation from years ago.
One he had nearly forgotten.
Alexander had stood in this exact room.
Late at night.
Holding a folder.
Damon had asked him what he was doing.
Alexander had smiled.
“Trying to fix something.””
Damon had laughed.
“Since when are you interested in fixing the world?””
Alexander had looked serious.
“Since I realized someone was breaking it.””
At the time, Damon thought it was just another one of his brother’s impossible ideas.
Now he wondered if Alexander had been trying to warn him.
A sound interrupted his thoughts.
A phone ringing.
Everyone looked toward Ethan.
The older man answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“Sir.””
Damon turned.
“What?””
Ethan covered the phone.
“The security system detected someone accessing the east gate.””
“Who?””
“We don’t know.””
Damon’s expression became cold.
“How did they get access?””
Ethan hesitated.
“They used an authorized code.””
That changed everything.
Only a handful of people had access.
Damon’s eyes moved around the room.
Someone connected to him had opened the gate.
Someone inside his circle.
Grace noticed his expression.
“What is it?””
“Someone is here.””
Evelyn stood immediately.
“No.””
Damon looked at her.
“You know who?””
Her face lost color.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
Before she could answer, the lights went out.
The entire mansion disappeared into darkness.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Then came the sound.
A crash.
Glass breaking.
From upstairs.
Damon reacted instantly.
“Stay here.””
Grace grabbed his arm.
“No.””
He looked at her.
“You need to stay safe.””
Her fingers tightened around his sleeve.
“You don’t understand.””
“What?””
“He wants you to go upstairs.””
Damon stared.
“Who?””
Grace’s voice shook.
“The person who killed Alexander.””
A moment later, the emergency lights turned on.
Red lights flashed across the mansion.
Ethan reached for his security weapon.
Damon stopped him.
“No.””
“Sir?””
“If someone got inside this house, they know every security measure we have.””
Damon looked toward the staircase.
“This isn’t a break-in.””
Evelyn nodded slowly.
“He wants to be found.””
Damon walked upstairs.
Every step felt familiar.
But tonight, his own home felt like enemy territory.
The hallway was empty.
Too empty.
He reached the second floor.
A door at the end of the hall stood open.
Alexander’s old office.
Damon stopped.
He had never allowed anyone to enter that room after his brother died.
Not even himself.
Something about opening that door felt wrong.
Like crossing a line.
But then he saw it.
A light inside.
Someone was waiting.
Damon entered.
The office looked exactly the same.
Books.
Documents.
Alexander’s old desk.
Even the chair remained untouched.
Except for one thing.
A folder placed in the center.
Damon approached slowly.
On top of the folder was a handwritten note.
Three words.
For Damon only.
His heart tightened.
Because he recognized the handwriting.
Alexander’s.
Impossible.
Damon opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Records.
And one image that made his entire body go still.
A photograph of Alexander.
Alive.
Standing beside Grace.
And beside them...
A newborn baby.
Damon stared.
His hands tightened around the picture.
Because the date written beneath it was impossible.
The photograph had been taken four years ago.
One year after Alexander’s reported death.
A sound came from behind him.
Damon turned.
A man stood in the doorway.
Older.
Calm.
Holding a gun.
But Damon barely looked at the weapon.
Because he recognized the face.
Oliver Kane.
Alexander’s former assistant.
The man who disappeared after the accident.
The man Grace said knew the truth.
Oliver smiled sadly.
“I was hoping you would find this sooner.””
Damon raised his eyes.
“Where is my brother?””
Oliver’s expression changed.
Pain.
Regret.
Fear.
“He’s not dead.””
The words struck harder than any punch.
Damon didn’t move.
Couldn’t.
For five years, he had mourned a dead man.
And now someone was standing in front of him telling him that grief had been built on a lie.
“Where is he?””
Oliver looked down.
“I can’t tell you.””
Damon stepped forward.
“Why?””
Oliver’s grip tightened around the gun.
“Because if you find Alexander…”
He looked toward the photograph.
“…they will kill him.””
Silence filled the room.
Then Damon asked the only question that mattered.
“Who are they?””
Oliver looked terrified.
And whispered:
“The people who own your company.””
The gunshot came before Damon could react.
The window behind Oliver exploded.
Oliver collapsed.
Damon rushed forward.
Outside, somewhere in the darkness, a figure disappeared into the rain.
And on the floor beside him, Oliver Kane took his final breath.
But before he died, he grabbed Damon’s hand.
His voice was barely audible.
“Don’t trust…”
Damon leaned closer.
“Don’t trust who?””
Oliver’s eyes moved toward the photograph.
Toward Grace.
Toward the baby.
May you like
Then he whispered the final words of his life.
“Your own blood.””
