Chapter 12: The Brother Who Chose Power
The meeting place was an abandoned boatyard.
Jayden recognized it immediately.
Old boats sat covered in dust.
Broken equipment surrounded the area.
It was the kind of place where secrets disappeared.
He arrived alone.
Exactly as the message demanded.
A black vehicle waited near the dock.
The door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Well dressed.
Confident.
Jayden knew immediately.
Victor Cole.
His uncle.
For several seconds, they simply looked at each other.
Then Victor smiled.
“You look like Owen.””
Jayden’s expression hardened.
“You threatened my family.””
Victor sighed.
“That’s the first thing you say?””
“What else should I say?””
Victor looked almost disappointed.
“I expected curiosity.””
“I have questions.””
“Good.””
He motioned toward the dock.
“Ask.””
Jayden stayed where he was.
“Why?””
Victor looked at the water.
“Because your father wasted an opportunity.””
“What opportunity?””
“To build something bigger.””
Jayden shook his head.
“You mean to destroy what people built.””
Victor smiled.
“That’s exactly what your father would say.””
Victor explained his version of history.
He believed Owen was too sentimental.
Too attached to tradition.
“He saw a small seafood shop.””
Victor said.
“I saw a future city.””
Jayden looked disgusted.
“You wanted hotels.””
“I wanted progress.””
“You wanted money.””
Victor didn’t deny it.
“Money creates change.””
Jayden laughed.
“So that’s your excuse?””
“No.””
Victor looked at him.
“That’s reality.””
He stepped closer.
“You think your father is a hero because he protected a few buildings?””
Jayden said nothing.
Victor continued.
“He kept Harbor Bay trapped in the past.””
“And you?””
“I wanted it to evolve.””
Jayden stared.
“You destroyed people to build something.””
Victor’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
“But history is always written by winners.””
Jayden looked around.
“Where is my father?””
Victor smiled.
“You’re negotiating already.””
“I asked a question.””
“He’ll be released.””
“When?””
“After you make a choice.””
Jayden felt anger rising.
“What choice?””
Victor reached into his jacket.
He removed a document.
“A purchase agreement.””
Jayden looked at it.
The seafood shop.
The property.
Everything.
“You want me to convince my dad to sell.””
“No.””
Victor smiled.
“I want you to convince him.””
Jayden laughed.
“You think I’ll betray my family?””
Victor looked at him carefully.
“No.””
He paused.
“I think you’ll protect them.””
That sentence bothered Jayden.
Because it was the same thing everyone kept using.
Family.
Protection.
Fear.
Victor knew exactly where to attack.
“You’re wrong.””
Victor looked surprised.
“Am I?””
Jayden stepped closer.
“My father taught me something.””
“What?””
“That protecting someone doesn’t mean giving them everything they want.””
Victor stared.
For a moment, Jayden saw something.
Not anger.
Recognition.
Like Victor remembered being that young.
Then it disappeared.
“You really are Owen’s son.””
A phone rang.
Victor answered.
His expression changed.
Only briefly.
“What?””
Silence.
Then:
“No.””
He looked at Jayden.
“You failed.””
Jayden frowned.
“What happened?””
Victor ignored him.
The call ended.
Then another phone rang.
Jayden’s.
Mia.
He answered.
Her voice was urgent.
“Jayden, you need to come back.””
“What happened?””
“It’s your dad.””
His heart stopped.
“What about him?””
“He escaped.””
Jayden froze.
“How?””
Mia hesitated.
“Someone helped him.””
“Who?””
The answer shocked him.
“Your uncle.””
Jayden slowly looked at Victor.
Victor looked away.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Not powerful.
Not in control.
Uncertain.
Jayden lowered the phone.
“You helped him.””
Victor didn’t answer.
“Why?””
The older man looked toward the harbor.
Then quietly said:
“Because maybe I was wrong.””
Jayden stared.
A man who spent fifteen years chasing power.
A man who helped destroy families.
A man who thought winning was everything.
Suddenly questioning himself.
But before Jayden could speak, Victor added:
“However, you need to understand something.””
“What?””
Victor looked directly at him.
“I’m not the most dangerous person involved.””
The wind stopped.
Jayden felt cold.
“Who is?””
Victor’s answer was barely a whisper.
“The person who convinced me to do it.””
And at that moment, Jayden realized.
Victor Cole had never been the beginning.
May you like
He had only been another piece.
The real person behind the war was still hidden.
