Chapter 17 - The Brother Without a Name
The stranger stopped several feet from the piano.
He appeared slightly older than Daniel, with the same dark hair and the same gray eyes. A thin scar crossed his chin.
On his wrist was no tattoo.
Instead, the guitar symbol had been burned directly into his skin.
Arthur whispered, “Julian.”
The stranger looked at him.
“So you do remember me.”
Lydia gripped the back of a chair.
“Who are you?”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“The child nobody registered.”
Daniel stood slowly.
“You’re claiming you’re our brother.”
“I’m not claiming anything.”
Julian removed a small document tube from inside his coat and threw it onto the table.
Samuel opened it.
Inside were hospital records, blood tests, and a photograph showing Lydia unconscious in a medical bed with three infant bracelets beside her.
Daniel.
Clara.
Unnamed Male.
Lydia sank into a chair.
“No.”
Elena looked at the records with horror.
“I never saw a third child.”
Arthur laughed weakly.
“Because he was never meant to survive.”
Julian moved toward him.
“You sold me before sunrise.”
Daniel stared at Arthur.
“Sold him to whom?”
Arthur looked away.
Julian answered.
“To the trustees.”
Eleanor’s voice became quiet.
“They raised him inside the trust.”
“Not raised,” Julian replied. “Trained.”
The archive lights brightened.
Behind Julian, three men entered the tunnel wearing dark suits and the same burned guitar mark.
Michael Arden’s voice came through the monitor.
“Julian, do not interfere with the transfer.”
Julian looked toward the camera.
“You knew I would.”
Michael lowered his head slightly.
“I hoped you wouldn’t.”
Clara stepped away from the ballroom piano.
The gun was no longer pressed against her, but armed guards still surrounded the stage.
Daniel looked at Julian.
“What do you want?”
“The trust destroyed.”
Lydia shook her head.
“It contains scholarships, music schools, hospitals—”
“It also contains names,” Julian interrupted. “Children transferred between families. Careers purchased. Witnesses erased.”
Elena looked around the archive.
“The records.”
Julian nodded.
“This room holds the physical copies. The final movement will digitize and release them.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Then let it finish.”
Julian stared at him.
“And expose every transaction bearing your signature?”
Victor said nothing.
The timer began moving again.
04:16.
Clara looked into the camera.
“If there are three heirs, the music requires three players.”
Julian walked toward a locked glass cabinet.
Inside was a violin.
He broke the glass with his elbow and removed the instrument.
Daniel studied him.
“You know the third part.”
“I was forced to practice it every day for eighteen years.”
Samuel picked up the original music pages from a nearby shelf.
The third movement was divided into piano, second piano, and violin.
Daniel returned to his seat.
Clara placed her hands on the ballroom piano.
Julian raised the violin beneath his chin.
Before they began, Lydia grabbed Daniel’s shoulder.
“If all three of you finish the piece, the records won’t be the only thing released.”
“What else?”
She looked toward Arthur.
“The names of everyone currently protected by the trust.”
Arthur smiled through the pain.
“Politicians. Judges. Military officers. People powerful enough to burn cities to keep their secrets.”
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Then the underground ceiling shook.
Someone above had started drilling through it.
