FAMILY DESPAIR

FAMILY DESPAIR
The hideout was unnervingly still.

Outside, the wind rustled through the trees like a whispered warning, brushing past the boarded windows of the old barn-turned-sanctuary Ethan had secured. Inside, the air was thick—stale with anxiety, fear, and a gnawing helplessness I couldn’t quite shake. We were safe—for now—but safe didn’t mean free.

Ethan was hunched over his laptop, eyes darting across lines of code, rerouting signals and scrubbing any trace of our escape from the clinic. Every so often, he muttered under his breath, frustration and fatigue twisting in his voice like thorns. He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, and I hadn’t dared to ask when he last ate. We couldn’t afford to rest, not with Victoria tightening her grip.

Adrian lay on the cot in the corner, still and pale, the light blanket rising and falling with his breath. His face was no longer as lifeless as it had been in the clinic, but there was a hollowness there—like his soul hadn’t quite caught up with his body. I sat beside him, fingers fidgeting in my lap, eyes locked on his profile.

The weight of everything we hadn’t said yet crushed the space between us.

We had so little time.

“So… what now?” I whispered without turning to Ethan.

He didn’t answer immediately. The clack of keys slowed, then stopped.

“I don’t know,” he said. “For the first time in this whole mess… I really don’t know.”

I looked over my shoulder at him. His face was drawn, shoulders slumped like the fight was starting to drain from his bones too. That terrified me more than anything. If Ethan gave up—Ethan, the only one who’d stuck with me through every twist in this nightmare—then what was left?

“I know we can’t run forever,” I murmured.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “We can’t.”

I sighed and turned back to Adrian. “But we can’t move forward without him.”

The words had barely left my mouth when I saw it.

A flicker.

His hand twitched.

I leaned forward, heart slamming against my chest as I reached out and touched his arm. “Adrian?”

His eyes fluttered. Slow. Disoriented. But alive.

I stood up quickly. “Ethan,” I whispered harshly. “He’s waking up.”

Ethan rushed over, crouching beside me.

Adrian groaned, blinking at the ceiling, his lips parting to form dry words that didn’t come. His gaze bounced around the dim room until it landed on me.

At first… nothing. Just confusion.

Then panic.

His body jolted weakly as he tried to sit up, dislodging the blanket. “Where the hell am I?” he rasped. “Who—who are you?”

I froze. My heart dropped.

“It’s me,” I said quickly. “Anna, it’s me.”

He sat up, swaying like the world was tilting around him. “Don’t touch me,” he barked, eyes wild, darting between me and Ethan. “Where the hell am I?! Who the hell is he?!”

“Adrian—please—”

He swung his legs off the bed, staggering to his feet, fists clenched, nostrils flaring. “What did you do to me? Where is Victoria? What is this place?!”

“You were in a coma,” I said gently, taking a cautious step forward. “You were in a clinic. Victoria put you there. But she didn’t want to help you—she was keeping you hidden. I found you. I got you out.”

He froze mid-step.

Ethan stayed silent behind me, watching with a tension I could feel in the air.

“Think,” I said. “You had an accident. Your car. Silvercrest bend. That night—do you remember?”

He blinked. Confusion still clung to him like static, but something in his eyes softened. “Car… I was driving. Late. There was… something. Bright lights. And then…” His face contorted. “Pain.”

“You’ve been unconscious for days,” I said, voice softer now. “We only just escaped.”

He swayed again and I rushed forward to steady him. He didn’t push me away this time. He let me guide him back to the cot. His chest heaved with exhaustion, but his eyes never left mine.

“Anna,” he said. This time, the name came softer. Familiar.

I smiled through the sting of tears. “Yes. It’s me. I swear you’re safe now.”

His hand trembled as it reached up and brushed against my cheek. Then his eyes filled, and the dam broke. The shock, the confusion, the anger—it all poured out in a raw sob as he leaned into me.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tightly. “It’s okay,” I whispered. “You’re here. You’re alive. And I’m not leaving you again.”

We stayed like that for a while, just breathing, just surviving in the silence.

Then Ethan cleared his throat. “I hate to ruin this… but this might be the best time to tell him everything.”

I pulled back slightly, looking at Adrian’s face. His eyes were bloodshot, but clear now.

“No,” I said gently. “He needs rest. He just came back—”

“I don’t need rest,” Adrian interrupted, his voice hoarse. “I need answers.”

I hesitated. “It’s a lot.”

“Then start with one,” he said, looking at me. “What do you mean Victoria put me there? What the hell is going on?”

I looked down. “She’s not who you think she is.”

His jaw tightened. “What does that mean?”

“She’s trying to take over the company,” I said. “Right now. She’s already named herself interim CEO. She told the world you were kidnapped. Possibly dead.”

Adrian didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink.

“I always knew she pulled strings behind my back,” he said quietly. “That she manipulated the board. But this… she staged my death?”

“Yes,” I said. “And more.”

Ethan stepped forward. “That’s not all.”

Adrian looked between us.

“What else do I need to know?”

I swallowed hard.

“There’s something about Victoria… something you never knew.”

He waited. Silent. Bracing.

“She’s not your aunt,” I said. “She’s your mother.”

He stared at me.

The words hung in the air like smoke. Heavy. Suffocating.

Adrian didn’t speak. His breath came in shallow gasps. He looked between me and Ethan, searching for a sign—anything—that this was a joke. A lie.

But it wasn’t.

“Impossible,” he said. “It can’t be true.”

I stepped forward. “We found the birth records. Ethan decrypted the files himself. It’s all there. She was a teenager. The family forced her to pretend you were her nephew. They built a lie to preserve their image.”

“No,” Adrian said again, shaking his head. “No. You don’t understand. She raised me. She protected me. She—”

“She controlled you,” I said gently. “She isolated you. She sabotaged every relationship you ever had. She gaslit you your whole life. You know this, Adrian. You’ve always known something wasn’t right.”

His breathing grew faster. He stood abruptly, backing away from me.

“This… this is insane,” he said. “Why now? Why tell me all this?”

“Because it’s time,” I said. “Because she’s going to destroy everything if we don’t stop her.”

“She’s still my family,” he muttered, his voice breaking.

“She killed my father,” I said. “She destroyed my family. And now she’s trying to do the same to you.”

Adrian stared at the floor, shoulders trembling.

I reached out, placing a hand on his chest. “But you don’t have to let her win.”

Silence.

Then he turned his eyes to mine.

And he asked, “She killed your father…who is your father?”