I Caught My Fiancée Dragging Our BLOODY Housekeeper at Midnight—Then She Whispered My DEAD Brother's Name!

I crossed the room before I knew I was moving. Nicholas caught me, and for several seconds neither of us spoke. I punched his shoulder once, hard, then grabbed him again. My brother let me. He did not defend himself or make an excuse. His face crumpled in a way I had never seen, and suddenly I was not a CEO or a man trying to solve a crime. I was just the older brother who had spent seven birthdays wondering whether Nicholas had died alone in the dark.

"You were alive," I said. "You let me bury an empty coffin."

His eyes filled. "I know."

"I called your phone every night for a year."

"I heard some of them."

I stepped back. "You heard them?"

Nicholas looked away. "The people who pulled me from the water took my phone. They knew your number. They told me if I contacted you, Rose and the baby would be killed."

He explained that Elias had hidden him in the coast clinic. When he recovered, he learned that Camila and Richard were telling everyone he had stolen company money and fled. A warrant was being prepared. His evidence had vanished, and anyone who helped him was threatened.

"I thought I could build a case from the outside," he said. "I thought I could get close enough to expose them without putting Rose and Matthew in danger."

"You should have trusted me."

"I know. I was wrong."

He took a folded photograph from his pocket. It showed Matthew asleep against Rose's shoulder.

"I saw him last week," he whispered. "He has your mother's eyes.

I asked what Nicholas had told him about me. Matthew said his father had described a brother who could fix anything except a broken promise. He had told Matthew that I used to build forts out of sofa cushions and let Nicholas win at chess when he was little. I laughed, then felt the laugh catch in my throat. My brother had kept pieces of our childhood alive for a boy I had never known."

I couldn't hold back the tears.