Chapter 7: The Brother Behind the Betrayal
Chapter 7: The Brother Behind the Betrayal
I stared at the photograph for what felt like an eternity.
Alexander Hart.
My brother.
The person who had taught me how to ride a bicycle when I was six.
The person who sat beside my hospital bed when Lily was born because Grant had been too overwhelmed to sleep.
The person who hugged me before my last mission and said:
"Come home, Ev. Lily needs you."
My mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
"No."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
Agent Sloan watched me carefully.
"I know this is difficult."
"No." I pushed the file away. "You don't understand."
She remained silent.
"Alexander would never do this."
Daniel looked at the evidence.
"Evelyn, the information trail leads back to him."
I shook my head.
"There has to be another explanation."
My father, who had been standing near the window, finally spoke.
His voice was quieter than usual.
"Your brother has been different lately."
I turned toward him.
"What do you mean?"
Marcus Hart looked away.
"Six months ago, he started asking questions about your work."
"Everyone asks questions."
"Not like this."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What kind of questions?"
My father hesitated.
Then:
"He wanted to know your assignments. Your travel schedules. The people you worked with."
I felt something inside me break.
Because suddenly everything connected.
The timing.
The betrayal.
Grant knowing details he shouldn't have known.
Vanessa appearing exactly when I disappeared.
Someone had opened the door.
And my husband walked through it.
I closed the folder.
"I want to talk to him."
Agent Sloan immediately shook her head.
"Not yet."
"He's my brother."
"And that is exactly why you can't approach him emotionally."
I looked at her.
"I don't get emotional."
She gave me a knowing look.
"You are a mother first, Evelyn."
The words stopped me.
Because she was right.
The old Evelyn would have confronted him.
The agent.
The soldier.
The investigator.
But Lily needed me to be smarter.
Not faster.
Smarter.
That night, after Lily fell asleep, I stood outside her bedroom door.
Watching her breathe.
I remembered every birthday I missed.
Every bedtime story I couldn't read.
Every moment I chose duty because I believed I was protecting her future.
And now I wondered if I had protected the world while failing to protect my own home.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
You should have stayed away.
My entire body went still.
Another message appeared.
You don't know what your family is capable of.
I stared at the screen.
Then I typed one reply.
Neither do you.
Three dots appeared.
Then disappeared.
Whoever was watching me expected fear.
They expected me to run.
They didn't know me.
They forgot one thing.
I survived eight weeks undercover because I knew how to wait.
May you like
And now...
I was waiting.
