CHAPTER 13 — THE WAR FOR THE LAURENT EMPIRE
The door opened slowly.
Everyone inside the small countryside house froze.
Alexander stood in front of Isabelle.
His body was tense.
His eyes were focused.
For fifteen years, he had lost everything because he trusted the wrong people.
He would not make that mistake again.
The person standing outside stepped into the dim light.
And Alexander's expression changed.
Not because he was afraid.
Because he was shocked.
"Sebastian..."
His brother stood there.
The same man who had attended family dinners.
The same man who had comforted him after Adrian disappeared.
The same man who had spent years pretending to search.
But tonight...
There was no smile.
No kindness.
Only guilt.
And desperation.
Isabelle immediately stepped back.
"You."
Sebastian looked at her.
"You should have stayed hidden."
Alexander's anger exploded.
"You knew."
Sebastian didn't answer.
"You knew where she was."
Silence.
"You knew where my son was."
Another silence.
And that silence was enough.
Alexander walked closer.
"You let me suffer."
Sebastian looked away.
"I didn't have a choice."
Alexander laughed bitterly.
"Everyone always says that."
He pointed toward Isabelle.
"She had no choice."
He pointed toward Lucas.
"My son had no choice."
Then he looked directly at Sebastian.
"But you did."
Sebastian entered the room.
The years between the brothers stood there with them.
"You don't understand."
Alexander stared.
"Then explain."
Sebastian took a deep breath.
"I was never supposed to inherit anything."
The confession surprised him.
"What?"
Sebastian looked around the room.
"The Laurent Empire."
His voice became bitter.
"It was always about blood."
Alexander frowned.
"You're my brother."
"But I was never the heir."
Sebastian looked at him.
"You were."
A pause.
"Then Adrian."
His eyes hardened.
"And after him... Lucas."
For years, Sebastian had lived in Alexander's shadow.
Alexander was the golden child.
The successful one.
The chosen one.
The future leader.
Even after Sebastian helped build parts of the company, he remained second.
Always second.
And when Adrian was born...
The future became even clearer.
The Laurent legacy would never belong to him.
So when Adrian disappeared...
Sebastian saw an opportunity.
A chance to finally become important.
But he underestimated one thing.
The cost.
"You created the trust account."
Alexander's voice was cold.
Sebastian looked down.
"Yes."
"You paid the hospital administrator."
"Yes."
"You changed my son's records."
Sebastian closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Every answer was another wound.
Alexander looked like he had been hit.
"Why?"
Sebastian whispered:
"Because I was tired of being invisible."
The room became silent.
Even Lucas listened.
Because this was the truth he had been searching for.
The person who stole his childhood.
The person who changed his identity.
The person who made him believe he had nobody.
Was standing right in front of him.
Lucas stepped forward.
"Why?"
Everyone looked at him.
Sebastian stared.
Lucas's voice trembled.
"Why did you do that to me?"
For the first time...
Sebastian looked uncomfortable.
Because Lucas wasn't asking as an heir.
He wasn't asking about money.
He was asking as a child.
A child who lost fifteen years.
"I didn't know what would happen."
Lucas shook his head.
"No."
His voice became stronger.
"You knew."
Sebastian looked away.
"You knew someone would lose their family."
Then Isabelle spoke.
"You don't know the whole story."
Everyone turned.
She looked at Sebastian.
"Tell him what happened after Adrian disappeared."
Sebastian became silent.
Alexander noticed.
"What happened?"
Isabelle answered.
"Sebastian wasn't alone."
A cold feeling entered the room.
Alexander understood.
"There was someone else."
Isabelle nodded.
"The person who planned everything."
Sebastian looked at her.
"You promised."
Isabelle's eyes hardened.
"I promised to protect my son."
The truth came out.
After Adrian disappeared, Sebastian believed he had won.
But someone else had been controlling him.
Someone more powerful.
Someone who knew how to manipulate everyone.
Victoria Laurent.
At first, Victoria supported Sebastian's plan.
She wanted Adrian removed from the family.
But after discovering what Sebastian truly intended...
She changed.
Because Sebastian didn't want control.
He wanted destruction.
He wanted the Laurent bloodline to disappear.
Alexander looked stunned.
"Victoria helped you?"
Sebastian nodded.
"At first."
"Then?"
"Then she realized I was willing to destroy everything."
Sebastian laughed bitterly.
"She tried to stop me."
Elena's photograph flashed through Alexander's mind.
The message:
"She helped me save him."
Now everything made sense.
Victoria wasn't innocent.
But she wasn't the monster they thought she was either.
She had created the fire.
Then spent fifteen years trying to put it out.
Suddenly...
A loud sound came from outside.
Car doors.
Multiple vehicles.
Sebastian's expression changed.
"What?"
Isabelle looked terrified.
"They found us."
Alexander moved toward the window.
Outside were several black cars.
Men standing in the rain.
Not police.
Not family.
Danger.
Sebastian whispered:
"They're not here for me."
Alexander looked at him.
"Who are they?"
Sebastian looked at Lucas.
And answered:
"The person who started all of this."
A figure stepped out of the first car.
Everyone froze.
Because the person walking toward the house was someone they never expected.
Someone who had been missing from the Laurent family story.
Someone whose name had never appeared in the investigation.
Someone who had been controlling everything from the shadows.
Alexander's face turned pale.
"No..."
Isabelle whispered:
"That's impossible."
The person approached the door.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Then knocked.
Three times.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
The sound echoed through the house.
Sebastian looked at Lucas.
"Now you understand."
Lucas stared.
"Understand what?"
Sebastian whispered:
"The reason your mother hid you wasn't because she was afraid of losing you."
A pause.
"She was afraid they would finish what they started."
The door handle moved.
Everyone held their breath.
The door opened.
May you like
And standing there...
Was someone who should have been dead for fifteen years.
