Chapter 29 - The Secret in the Lead Box
Ethan cracked open the seal on the folder right there in the cold winter wind.
Inside were high-resolution photographs taken an hour ago by the forensic demolition crew. They showed a heavy, lead-lined security box that had been buried three feet beneath the concrete slab of the mansion’s lower foundation—completely shielded from the heat of the gas explosion.
Inside the safe were three items:
A thick cassette tape from 1989.
A lock of dark, curly hair tied with a faded blue ribbon.
And an original, handwritten birth certificate from Chicago General Hospital.
Ethan’s brow furrowed as he read the name on the birth certificate. I leaned in, reading the faded ink over his shoulder:
*Child: Julian Richard Carter.*
*Date of Birth: November 14, 1988.*
*Mother: Victoria Medina-Carter.*
*Father: UNKNOWN.*
"Julian?" I whispered, my heart skipping a beat. "Ethan... you never told me you had an older brother named Julian. You only ever talked about Thomas."
Ethan didn't answer. His hands began to shake—a sight that terrified me more than the explosion at the mansion. In all the years I had known Ethan, through every crisis, every threat, he had remained an immovable rock.
Now, his fingers trembled so violently that the paper fluttered in the wind.
"Richard..." Ethan turned to his father, his voice cracking into a ragged whisper. "Who is Julian?"
Richard looked at the birth certificate in Ethan’s hands.
The color drained from the older man’s face until he looked like a walking corpse. He took two steps back, his chest heaving, his hand clutching at his heart.
"No..." Richard whimpered, his eyes filled with a sudden, overwhelming horror that eclipsed anything we had seen during Victoria’s reign. "No, she told me she aborted it. She told me the pregnancy ended in Switzerland before we were married..."
"Father," Ethan barked, his voice laced with panic. "WHO IS THIS?"
"Julian was her firstborn," Richard whispered, his voice trembling so hard he could barely form the syllables. "The son she had with the cartel banker she worked for before she met me. The man whose money built the foundation of Medina Holdings."
Richard looked at Ethan with eyes full of sheer, unadulterated terror.
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"She didn't hire that demolition contractor to kill you, Ethan. She didn't want the estate for herself."
***
