Chapter 6 - The Ghost of Ethan
That evening, after the children were safely tucked into their beds and the house had settled into a quiet, nocturnal hush, I walked down to the estate’s private wine cellar on the lower level.
It was dark, cool, and smelled of aged oak and rich earth.
In the far corner of the cellar, behind a row of vintage Bordeaux racks, was a heavy oak chest that had belonged to my older brother, Ethan. When his estate was cleared out, I had brought his personal belongings here—his college journals, his old books, and a box of photographs from our childhood before our paths diverged into two entirely different worlds.
I knelt down, unlatched the brass clasps, and lifted the lid.
A wave of old paper and cedar dust drifted up into the air.
I picked up a framed photograph from our college graduation day at the University of Texas. Ethan stood beside me, wearing his cap and gown, smiling proudly with his arm thrown around my shoulder. Even then, he looked like the sun, while I looked like the shadow trailing behind him.
Beneath the photograph lay a thick, leather-bound notebook with my name written across the front cover in Ethan’s messy, hurried handwriting: For Thomas.
I frowned, carefully opening the cover.
It wasn't a journal. It was a letter, dated just six weeks before his sudden heart attack.
Dear Thomas,
If you’re reading this, it means something went wrong, and I didn't wake up.
You always thought I hated your world, didn't you? You thought I looked down on you because you chose the sword and I chose the classroom.
I never hated you, brother. I was just terrified of you becoming what the world forced you to be. But more than that... I knew something you didn't.
Rebecca isn't who she pretends to be. Six months ago, I found financial records in her private study linking her family’s old debts to a syndicate in Dallas. When I threatened to file for divorce and take full custody of Leo and Maya, she smiled at me and whispered that if I ever tried to leave, she would make sure my children paid the price for my betrayal.
I tried to secure protection, but her connections run deep into corporate and legal circles. I couldn't trust the police. I couldn't trust the courts.
There was only one person in this world ruthless enough, powerful enough, and terrifying enough to protect my children if I fell.
You.
I’m sorry I didn't tell you while I was alive. I was too proud to ask for your help when I needed it most. But I’m leaving my children in your hands, Thomas, because I know that while the rest of the world sees a monster... I know the man beneath the shadow.
Keep them safe.
— Ethan.
The paper trembled slightly in my grip.
A heavy, suffocating lump rose in my throat, threatening to choke me. For three months, I had carried the guilt of believing I had failed my brother by staying away—by respecting a boundary he never actually wanted me to keep.
He hadn't pushed me away to protect his children from me.
He had pushed me away because he was saving me as his ultimate, final insurance policy. He knew that when the storm finally broke, I was the only storm fierce enough to sweep the filth away.
May you like
I closed the notebook, pressing my forehead against the cool leather cover, and for the first time in over a decade, I let the tears fall in the dark.
“I got them, Ethan,” I whispered into the empty cellar walls. “You can rest now. I’ve got them.”
