Chapter 415 Betrayal and Threat

Chapter 415 Betrayal and Threat

Atlas heard the name Eric spoke, and his pupils contracted sharply, though his face betrayed nothing.

"Jonathan, has losing your wife to the police rattled your mind so badly you cannot even remember my name?" Atlas let out a cold, derisive laugh, his eyes locked on Eric.

Eric smirked, stepping away from the balcony toward him. "Daniel, do you not hear the absurdity in your own words? Or have you worn your brother's face for so long that you have forgotten who you really are?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about. If you are losing your grip on reality, I can recommend a few excellent psychiatric clinics." Atlas's voice was icy as he turned to head upstairs, unwilling to waste another breath.

Eric's voice suddenly rose, cutting through the air. "Daniel, do you remember Samuel? Thirty years ago, you murdered him and his wife. You even tried to kill their newborn. Did it ever occur to you that the dead might come back for vengeance?"

Atlas froze mid-step, his back stiffening. He whipped his head around to glare at Eric, his pupils trembling violently, his fingers clutching the banister in a white-knuckled grip. "You... are you...?"

His gaze bored into Eric, and with each heartbeat, the man before him seemed to merge with the face of a business prodigy from three decades past.

Eric's eyes burned with hatred. "You finally see it, do you? Does this face haunt you when you wake in the dead of night?" He ground the words out through clenched teeth.

Atlas's lips quivered. "Impossible. I killed you myself. Strangled you and threw you into the sewers. You cannot be alive."

"Fool. The one you dumped into the sewer was Jonathan. I was the one Christopher took away." Eric's tone dripped with contempt.

"What do you mean you are not Jonathan? Christopher...?" Atlas's pupils trembled again. 

His mind raced back to the day Jonathan was attacked. In a rush, the truth hit him.

"You are not Jonathan. You are Samuel's other child. Christopher swore to kill that baby, but he never did. And you never lost your memory—you have been pretending all along. You used Patricia. What is it you really want?"

A violent shudder went through Atlas as the pieces fell into place. Patricia had been nothing but a pawn. Eric's true target had always been him.

Eric advanced slowly, each step deliberate. Atlas retreated up the stairs, step by step, under the weight of that gaze.

"I could have had a family. Parents. A brother. But you destroyed it all. You killed Samuel. You murdered their first child. Jonathan and I survived. But why was he taken in by the Berkeley Family, living in wealth, while I was locked away, treated like an animal?" Eric's voice cracked into a roar, the sound slamming into Atlas like a physical blow.

Atlas slipped, collapsing onto the stairs.

"So I swore I would make you pay. All of you. For every sin you committed." Eric seized Atlas by the collar, his bloodshot eyes boring into him.

"What are you going to do? Let me go! Eirlys, kill him!" Atlas snapped his head toward Eirlys, but the woman who had obeyed him without question stood silent.

Atlas's eyes widened in disbelief. "Eirlys... you too? Have you forgotten who saved you?"

Eric's laughter rang out, sharp and mocking. "Mr. Stewart, allow me to introduce her properly. Eirlys was bought for me by Christopher from the black market. She was meant to watch me. But she chose to betray him and side with me. Without her, I would not have survived an encounter with Christopher's children."

Atlas stared at Eirlys, shock hollowing his face. "You knew each other all along... then when I saved you—"

"—was nothing but theater," Eric cut in, his voice like acid. "A hitwoman on the run from her own people, 'rescued' by a rich man, only to end up as his pet assassin. Tell me that doesn't sound like something ripped straight out of a bad Hollywood script."

Atlas's face drained of color. If Eirlys had been a plant from the beginning, then every secret he had was already exposed.

Eric released him, his interest fading. Atlas sat slumped on the stairs, staring blankly.

"My plan was simple," Eric said. "Marry Patricia, dismantle the Stewart Family piece by piece. After all, you killed your brother to become head of the family. Under your leadership, the Stewarts flourished."

Eric tilted his head, a dark curiosity in his eyes. "I do wonder, though—when you killed your brother, did he know his first child was not his own?"

Atlas's head snapped up. "How could you possibly know that? Even Eirlys does not—"

"I noticed you slipping off to the convent, getting close to Theron's mother. I grew suspicious, planted a bug, and overheard the truth. You even mentioned Henry's identity." Eirlys's voice was calm, almost detached.

Atlas shook with rage, pointing at her, but no words came.

Eric's smile turned cold. "Mr. Stewart, you have already lost one son. Do you want to lose the other as well?"