Isla's POV
"Don't move." The gun doesn't waver from Marcus's head.
My heart stops. The figure in black steps closer, and in the flickering garage lights, I catch a glimpse of their face.
It's a woman. Young, maybe mid-twenties, with fierce eyes and a scar running down her left cheek.
"You're not Marcus Langford," she says, her voice sharp. "You're Marcus Chen."
The name hits me like a slap. Chen?
Marcus's shoulders sag in defeat. "Isla, I was going to tell you—"
"Tell me WHAT?" My voice echoes off the concrete walls. "That you're related to me? That you've been lying this whole time?"
"He's your half-brother," the woman says flatly. "Same father, different mother. Richard Chen had an affair twenty-eight years ago. Marcus is the result."
The world tilts sideways. Marcus—my fiancé—is my brother?
"Put the gun down, Sarah," Marcus says quietly. "She doesn't need to be scared."
"She needs to know the truth!" Sarah—whoever she is—keeps the gun raised. "Tell her why you really proposed. Tell her about the plan."
"Plan?" I back away from both of them. "What plan?"
Marcus turns to face me, and I've never seen him look so defeated. "The engagement was never real, Isla. I'm your half-brother, and I've been protecting you."
"Protecting me from what?"
"From everyone who wants to use Ethan."
The gun lowers slightly, and Sarah's expression softens. "I'm Sarah Chen. Your other half-sister. The one nobody talks about because Mom was just the mistress." She spits the word like poison. "Marcus and I have been investigating what happened to you six years ago. Someone powerful orchestrated everything—the drugging, the setup, the pregnancy scandal. They wanted to destroy both you and Dominic Ashford."
My mind spins. "Why?"
"We don't know yet. But whoever it is wants Ethan now. That kidnapping attempt wasn't random." Marcus takes a cautious step toward me. "I proposed to you three years ago to give you protection. As my fiancée, you had my family's security, my resources, my name. No one could touch you without going through me."
"You lied to me for three years!" Anger burns through my shock. "You let me think you loved me!"
"I do love you! Just not the way you thought." His voice cracks. "You're my sister, Isla. When I found out what Father did to you—disowning you while you were pregnant, choosing Vivienne over you—I had to fix it. I had to keep you safe."
Sarah finally lowers the gun completely. "Look in the trunk. The evidence is real. Your step-sister Vivienne is just a puppet. Someone else pulls the strings."
With shaking hands, I find the car keys under the mat and open the trunk.
Inside are boxes of files, photographs, and a laptop. I grab the first photo.
It's Vivienne from six years ago, talking to a man whose face is turned away from the camera. But I can see his expensive watch, his tailored suit sleeve.
"Who is that?" I whisper.
"We don't know yet," Marcus admits. "His face is hidden in every photo. But he's the one who paid Vivienne to drug you and Dominic. He's the one who spread rumors about you being a gold-digger. And he's the one who tried to have Ethan kidnapped tonight."
The garage suddenly feels too small, too dark. "This is insane. Why would anyone go to such trouble?"
"Because Ethan isn't just Dominic Ashford's son." Sarah's voice is grim. "He's the heir to two fortunes—the Ashford empire and the Chen family legacy. Someone wants to control him, which means controlling billions of dollars."
A door slams somewhere in the garage. We all freeze.
"You need to leave. Now." Marcus grabs my arm. "Take the evidence and go. Don't trust anyone at the summit except—"
"Except who?" I demand.
"Dominic Ashford," Sarah says. "He's been investigating too. He hired private detectives the day after you left his office six years ago. He's been looking for you ever since."
That can't be true. "He called me a liar!"
"And then spent the next six years trying to prove you weren't." Marcus pulls me toward the stairs. "Go. The gym on the top floor—he'll be there at dawn. He goes every morning. Talk to him. Compare evidence. You need each other to figure this out."
Footsteps echo through the garage, getting closer.
Sarah raises her gun again. "Go! We'll handle this."
I grab the laptop from the trunk and run. Behind me, I hear shouting, but I don't stop. I take the stairs two at a time, my lungs burning, my mind reeling with impossible revelations.
Marcus is my brother. Sarah exists. Someone's been manipulating my entire life. And Dominic—cold, cruel Dominic—might have been looking for me?
None of it makes sense.
I burst out of the stairwell on the top floor, gasping for air. The hotel gym is through glass doors ahead. It's barely 5 AM—too early for most people, but if Marcus is right...
I push through the doors.
The gym is empty and silent except for one treadmill running in the corner.
Dominic Ashford runs with intense focus, sweat soaking his shirt, his jaw tight with concentration. He hasn't noticed me yet.
This is the man who destroyed me. The man whose son I've raised alone. The man who, apparently, has been searching for me for six years.
I should leave. I should run back to my room, pack my bags, and grab Ethan. We could disappear again, start over somewhere new.
But I'm so tired of running. And I need answers.
I step onto the treadmill next to his and start running.
He notices immediately. His head whips toward me, and shock floods his face. He slams the stop button on his treadmill, breathing hard.
"Isla."
"We need to talk." My voice is steadier than I feel.
"Yes. God, yes." He steps off his treadmill, and for the first time since I've known him, Dominic Ashford looks uncertain. Vulnerable. "I've been trying to find you for years—"
"Save it." I stop my treadmill too, facing him. "I don't want apologies. I want answers. Six years ago, who paid Vivienne to drug us? Who wanted to destroy us? And why do they want our son now?"
His eyes widen. "Our son?"
"His name is Ethan. He's five years old. He has your eyes and your stubborn attitude." Anger and exhaustion make my words sharp. "And someone tried to kidnap him last night because apparently he's worth billions to the right buyer."
Dominic's face goes white, then red with fury. "Someone tried to take my son?"
"My son. You lost the right to call him yours when you—"
The gym doors explode inward.
Three men in black tactical gear storm in, guns drawn. Not police. Not security.
Professional killers.
"Isla Chen and Dominic Ashford," the lead man says calmly. "You're both coming with us. Try to run, and we'll go after the boy next."
Dominic moves instantly, putting himself between me and the guns. "You touch her, and I'll destroy you."
The lead man laughs. "You can't destroy us. We don't exist." He raises his gun. "And neither will you in about thirty seconds."
Dominic's hand finds mine, squeezing tight. His voice drops to a whisper only I can hear: "On three, run for the fire exit. Don't look back."
"I'm not leaving you—"
"You have to live for Ethan. Promise me."
Before I can answer, the lead man's radio crackles. A voice comes through, speaking in rapid Chinese. His expression changes from confident to confused to afraid.
"Fall back," he orders his team. "Now. Mission aborted."
They retreat as quickly as they came, leaving Dominic and me alone in the sudden silence.
"What just happened?" I breathe.
Dominic pulls out his phone, his face grim. "I don't know, but—" He stops, staring at his screen. "There's a message. From an unknown number."
He shows me:
"The boy is not at the safe house where you think. He's been moved. Find the jade pendant your mother left you. It's the key to everything. You have 12 hours before they find him. The clock is ticking. —A Mother's Ghost"
My blood freezes. "My mother's been dead for twenty years. Who would sign a message like that?"
Dominic's hand trembles as he scrolls through more messages. "Isla... there are photos here. Of your mother and my mother together. Recent photos. Dated from last month."
"That's impossible," I whisper.
But when he shows me the screen, I see two women laughing in a café. One looks exactly like my mother from old photos—just aged by twenty years.
And she's very much alive.