Chapter 13 - EddieEdward Shaw had been twenty-two when his brother Thomas died.
According to public records, Eddie disappeared ten months later while sailing off Maine.
No body recovered.
Adrian almost laughed when the detective told him.
In this family, apparently no body meant nothing.
Richard contacted an old private investigator.
Scarlett searched legal archives.
By afternoon they found Edward's trail.
He had changed his name.
Daniel Mercer.
Worked in Canada.
Returned to the United States twelve years ago.
No criminal record.
No obvious connection to Sterling Holdings.
Until six months earlier.
Daniel Mercer purchased a small block of Sterling corporate debt through an investment vehicle.
Then more.
Then more.
Enough that if Sterling Holdings defaulted under certain covenants, Mercer Capital could force asset liquidation.
Adrian stared at the numbers.
“He's been preparing.”
Scarlett nodded.
“To attack the company financially.”
Richard looked at the screen.
“Edmund knew.”
“Of course he knew.”
Adrian looked toward the police interview room where Edmund had voluntarily remained.
Father and son.
Edmund and Eddie.
Both carrying twenty-six years of rage over Thomas's death.
But their goals differed.
Edmund wanted the Sterling family exposed.
Eddie wanted something else.
Control.
Adrian requested to speak with Edmund.
Police allowed it with investigators present.
Edmund looked exhausted.
“Where is your son?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you know he was alive?”
“Yes.”
“For twenty-five years?”
“Yes.”
Adrian laughed.
“Another fake death.”
Edmund looked down.
“I helped him disappear.”
“Why?”
“Catherine was afraid he would expose Thomas's death.”
Catherine.
Again.
“Did she threaten him?”
“Yes.”
“And Vivian?”
“She paid him to stay away.”
Adrian stared.
“How much?”
“Five million initially.”
“Initially?”
“Then annual payments.”
Scarlett frowned.
“Blackmail.”
Edmund shook his head.
“Compensation.”
Adrian almost admired the family's vocabulary.
“Why did the payments stop?”
Edmund looked at him.
“When you became CEO.”
Adrian frowned.
“I didn't know about them.”
“Exactly.”
Vivian had concealed them as consulting expenses.
Adrian's financial cleanup eliminated the shell company.
Eddie lost his money.
“So he came back.”
“Yes.”
“Why tonight?”
“Because Vivian was moving the trust.”
“Did you tell him?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Edmund hesitated.
“Catherine.”
Adrian felt tired.
“Why?”
“Ask her.”
Catherine was still at Sterling Manor under police supervision.
When Adrian confronted her by phone, she didn't deny it.
“I needed leverage.”
“For what?”
“Against Vivian.”
“Everyone uses everyone.”
Catherine laughed bitterly.
“Welcome to the Sterlings.”
“Don't.”
Adrian's voice sharpened.
“My son was used as leverage tonight.”
Silence.
Catherine softened.
“I didn't know Eddie would go near Noah.”
“But you brought him into this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Vivian was going to erase Lucas again.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Catherine had only just discovered Lucas was alive, but apparently she'd suspected for weeks.
“How?”
“I found letters.”
“Where?”
“Father's archive.”
“What letters?”
“Vivian writing to Edmund about Lucas.”
Adrian stared.
“She knew where he was.”
“For decades.”
Of course.
Catherine continued.
“I thought if Eddie appeared with proof of the financial crimes, Vivian would be forced to abandon the succession plan.”
“So you told him about the gala.”
“Yes.”
“Did you give him the lion ring?”
“No.”
“He already had it.”
“From Edmund?”
“I assume.”
Edmund denied it.
“Father gave Eddie the ring when he was eighteen.”
“Why?”
“Thomas had become close to Richard Sr.”
Edmund looked pained.
“He treated my sons like family.”
Richard muttered:
“Until one threatened him.”
“Yes.”
Adrian rubbed his face.
“Did Eddie give Noah the bread?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he burn the papers?”
“No.”
“Why was he in Vivian's office?”
“Likely looking for proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Edmund looked at him.
“Thomas didn't die because Catherine locked him in.”
Adrian stared.
“What?”
Edmund's eyes filled.
“For twenty-six years, I've blamed her.”
“And now?”
“Eddie believes Thomas was murdered before the fire.”
Scarlett went still.
“By whom?”
Edmund shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Finally, an honest answer.”
The DNA results arrived the next morning.
Adrian delayed opening them.
He sat beside Noah, who had been discharged and was now staying with Adrian at a private apartment in Boston.
No Sterling Manor.
No Vivian.
No family staff except people Adrian personally trusted.
Scarlett came over.
Richard remained elsewhere.
The report lay on the table.
Scarlett stared at it.
“Ready?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
Adrian opened it anyway.
Finding one:
Adrian and Scarlett shared a biological mother.
Evelyn Vale.
Confirmed.
Adrian closed his eyes.
Scarlett took his hand.
Sibling.
Not through Richard.
Through Evelyn.
Finding two:
Richard Sterling was not Adrian's biological father.
Richard stared at the result later without speaking.
Adrian felt strangely hollow.
The man he'd mourned.
Then hated.
Then rediscovered.
Not his biological father.
But that still left the question.
Who was?
The report included a comparative match against an archived sample from Edmund Shaw.
Probability of biological relationship consistent with—
Adrian stopped.
Scarlett leaned over.
“What?”
Adrian couldn't speak.
She read.
Probability of parent-child relationship between Edmund Shaw and Adrian Sterling: 99.999%.
Scarlett staggered backward.
Adrian stared at the page.
Edmund.
Vivian's family attorney.
The man who had served Sterling for decades.
The man who claimed his son died because of them.
The man who'd just engineered their destruction.
Was Adrian's biological father.
And if Edmund was Adrian's father…
Thomas Shaw had been Adrian's half-brother.
Edward Shaw—
the man now stalking the family—
was his half-brother too.
Adrian sat motionless.
Noah entered from the hallway carrying a toy truck.
“Dad?”
Adrian looked at him.
“Yeah?”
Noah pointed toward the report.
“More family?”
Scarlett laughed despite herself.
Adrian covered his face.
“Yes.”
Noah nodded seriously.
“We have too much.”
That made Scarlett laugh harder.
Adrian finally laughed too.
For ten seconds, the absurdity broke through the horror.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Adrian.”
A male voice.
Not old.
Late fifties.
Steady.
“You have my father's DNA results now.”
Adrian went still.
“Eddie.”
A pause.
“I prefer Edward.”
“What do you want?”
“What Vivian stole.”
“Which is?”
“Our father.”
Adrian frowned.
“Edmund is alive.”
“Not for long.”
Adrian stood.
“What did you do?”
Edward laughed softly.
“Ask the police where he went.”
Adrian called immediately.
Edmund Shaw had left the station seventeen minutes earlier.
Voluntarily.
No charges yet.
No reason to detain him.
Adrian returned to the call.
“Where is he?”
Edward answered:
“Where Thomas died.”
The old Sterling records warehouse.
Then:
“If you want the truth about your mother, come alone.”
The call ended.
Scarlett stared at Adrian.
“You're not going.”
Adrian looked toward Noah.
He remembered the rain.
The bread.
His son shaking.
Every adult in this family believed secrecy gave them power.
Adrian was done playing by their rules.
May you like
“No,” he said.
“I’m not going alone.”
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