Chapter 2: The Brother Who Never Died
I spent the next five minutes convincing myself I was trapped inside a nightmare.
Because the truth was impossible.
My father had been dead for three years.
I had watched his funeral.
I had stood beside his grave.
I had held my mother’s hand while she cried.
But my brother was sitting in front of me, alive, starving, and telling me our dead father had visited my house.
“Michael,” I whispered, “start from the beginning.””
He looked toward Vanessa.
She immediately stepped forward.
“Mark, please. Let me explain.””
Michael grabbed my arm.
“No.””
His voice was weak, but there was something desperate behind it.
“Don’t let her change the story.””
Vanessa wiped her tears.
“You don’t understand what happened.””
I stood up.
“Then make me understand.””
The room became silent.
Lily stood beside me, holding the small piece of bread she had saved.
My daughter had known about this.
For how long?
The question made my stomach twist.
I looked at her.
“Sweetheart, how did you find Uncle Michael?””
Lily lowered her head.
“By accident.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Lily…”
“No,” I said.
“She tells me.””
My daughter looked nervous.
“I heard crying.””
“When?””
“A few months ago.””
My heart sank.
“A few months?””
She nodded.
“I thought it was an animal at first. Then I heard someone say my name.””
Michael looked at her.
“You were the only person who heard me.””
Lily stepped closer to him.
“I brought you food because you sounded hungry.””
I turned toward Vanessa.
“You knew?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
That was enough.
“You knew my daughter was feeding a man trapped behind a wall?””
Her face broke.
“I was trying to protect her.””
“Protect her from what?””
She looked terrified.
Before she could respond, Michael spoke.
“From your father.””
The words hit the room like a weapon.
I shook my head.
“No.””
Michael leaned against the wall.
“When I disappeared, everyone thought I ran away. Then they found a burned car near the highway.””
I remembered.
The phone call.
The police report.
The funeral.
Everything.
“They said my body was inside,” Michael continued.
“But they lied.””
“Who lied?””
He looked directly at me.
“Dad.””
I felt my anger rising.
“My father loved you.””
Michael laughed weakly.
“Your father loved control.””
I wanted to argue.
I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
But I remembered things I had ignored.
The way my father always decided what was best for everyone.
The way nobody questioned him.
The way Michael disappeared after their last argument.
“What happened that night?”” I asked.
Michael looked down.
“I found out what he was doing.””
“What was he doing?””
He hesitated.
Then he said:
“He was hiding money.””
I frowned.
“That’s it?””
“No.””
Michael’s hands shook.
“He was using our family business to move money through fake accounts. When I found proof, I told him I was going to the police.””
The room became colder.
“My father wouldn’t hurt you,” I whispered.
Michael looked at me sadly.
“You still believe that?””
I had no answer.
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
“Mark, your brother is telling the truth.””
I turned.
“What?””
She walked closer.
“I wanted to tell you.””
“Then why didn’t you?””
Her eyes filled with shame.
“Because I was scared.””
“Of my father?””
She nodded.
“He threatened me.””
I stared at my wife.
“What did he threaten you with?””
Vanessa looked at Lily.
Then she whispered:
“He knew where our daughter went to school. He knew her schedule. He knew everything.””
A wave of anger went through me.
I looked back at Michael.
“How did he keep you here?””
Michael swallowed.
“After the accident, he told everyone I died. But I was alive.””
My hands clenched.
“He brought me here.””
“Why?””
Michael’s voice cracked.
“Because he needed me gone.””
I walked toward the hidden room again.
Eight years.
My brother had spent eight years in that space.
Eight years while I believed he was dead.
Then I noticed something on the floor.
A small metal object.
I picked it up.
It was an old watch.
Michael looked at it.
His expression changed.
“That’s mine.””
I turned it over.
There was an engraving on the back.
A date.
And two initials.
M.M.
Michael reached for it.
“That watch disappeared the night I was taken.””
I stared at the object.
Then Vanessa suddenly gasped.
“What?””
I looked at her.
“What is it?””
She pointed at the watch.
“That was found in your father’s office.””
My blood ran cold.
“Found when?””
Vanessa’s face turned pale.
“Yesterday.””
The room went silent.
“Yesterday?”” I repeated.
She nodded.
“That’s why I was afraid.””
Michael looked at me.
“Mark…”
A sound interrupted him.
A phone ringing.
Everyone froze.
The ringtone came from the hidden room.
Michael looked terrified.
“That phone shouldn’t be here.””
I slowly stepped inside.
Under the mattress was an old black phone.
It was ringing.
After eight years.
Someone was calling the room where my brother had been imprisoned.
I picked it up.
“Hello?””
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then a familiar voice spoke.
A voice I had heard my entire childhood.
A voice that should have been impossible.
“Mark.””
My fingers went numb.
May you like
The voice continued.
“You finally found him.””
