Chapter 16 - THE HALF-BROTHER
We found Julian working in a small bookstore in the city. He was twenty years old — quiet, intense, with dark hair and eyes that held the same look of quiet determination I had seen in Mia. He looked nothing like Sebastian. He looked like his mother.
When we walked into the store, he looked up from the book he was pricing and immediately set his pen down.
“You’re late,” he said. “Grace told me you would be coming.”
We stared at him.
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“You knew?” Elena asked.
“Grace visited me every year,” Julian said, wiping his hands on his apron. “She told me who I was. Who my father was. Who Mia was. She told me — one day — you would come
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Chapter 16 - THE HALF-BROTHER (Continued)
Chapter 17 - THE ALLIANCEWe brought Julian back to the estate before dusk. He walked through the house with quiet awe, his eyes lingering on the photos of Grace and Lila along the hallway walls. When he paused before a portrait of Lila, he reached out and touched the frame with trembling fingers.
Chapter 18 - THE VAULTThe Halewood estate stood silent and imposing at dawn. Stone walls stretched for acres; iron gates stood open, as if expecting us. Sebastian had not turned us away. He had known we would come.
Chapter 19 - THE CONFESSIONThe signing took three hours. Lawyers arrived — neutral, independent, summoned by David. Page after page Sebastian signed without reading, his hand trembling, his eyes fixed on nothing but the floor. When it was done, he placed his pen upon the final document and looked up at Mia.
Chapter 20 - THE TWENTY-FIFTH BIRTHDAYFive years passed. Time softened the sharp edges of grief and healed the wounds of the past.
