Chapter 6 - The Brother Behind the Gate
Ethan hated the mansion immediately.
"It looks like a museum where somebody got murdered," he whispered when Hannah met him at the front doors.
Despite everything, she almost laughed.
Then she saw how pale he was.
She crouched and pulled him against her.
"Did anyone touch you?"
"No. Mr. Walter scared my math teacher, though."
"I'm sure he did."
Ethan looked over Hannah's shoulder at Nicholas.
"Is that the rich guy?"
Nicholas raised an eyebrow.
"Apparently."
"You look less scary than the internet."
"Ethan," Hannah warned.
Nicholas almost smiled.
Walter arranged a secure guest suite and posted guards outside. Hannah hated every part of the plan, but the threat meant sending Ethan back to Berwyn alone was worse.
That night Nicholas found her in the library staring at the lake.
"You can leave," he said.
"That's what they want."
"I'm not asking what they want."
"Then why are you asking me?"
"Because your brother isn't part of my war."
Hannah turned.
"You keep calling it your war like that makes the rest of us civilians. Somebody photographed an eight-year-old because I noticed your pills. That's not a private war anymore."
Nicholas looked away.
"I can pay for Ethan's surgery."
"No."
"I wasn't offering charity."
"Then what were you offering?"
He had no answer she would accept.
Hannah softened only slightly.
"My job comes with insurance. Let me earn what I can earn."
Nicholas nodded once.
"Stubborn."
"Difficult interpersonal conduct," she said.
That got the first real laugh she had heard from him.
Later, while Ethan slept, Hannah returned to Nicholas's room for his evening assessment.
He was holding an old phone.
"Rebecca was my sister," he said.
Hannah stopped.
"The name you called me."
"She was twenty-nine. Smart. Loud. Annoying. She hated Claire before I knew Claire well enough to hate anybody."
"What happened to her?"
His face emptied.
"She died from what the coroner called an accidental overdose."
"Was she using drugs?"
"No. At least I didn't think so."
He unlocked the phone.
"She left me a voicemail three days before she died. I listened to the first ten seconds and deleted it from my regular inbox because I was angry. It stayed in the cloud backup."
Hannah sat beside him.
Nicholas pressed play.
Rebecca's voice filled the room, breathless and furious.
"Nick, stop trusting Claire with anything that has your signature on it. I saw her with Dominic. They were talking about the trust, the company, and something they called phase two. Call me back. Please."
Nicholas paused the message.
His hand was trembling.
"Dominic is my cousin. He runs half my legitimate companies while I'm in this chair."
Hannah looked at him.
"Play the rest."
Nicholas did.
May you like
Rebecca's voice became quieter.
"And Nick... if something happens to me, don't let Walter bury it. He already knows too much."
