THE SON THEY BURIED WAS THEIR ONLY HEIR

Chapter Sixty Five:The Witness

When they got back to Ashcroft Manor, it had already started raining.

Damian parked away from the main entrance.

No lights were visible in the east wing.

That bothered him.

The manor was never completely dark.

“Are you sure this is the place?” Daniel asked.

Benedict picked up the key that Mara had forgotten.

“This is what she wanted us to find.”

Jonathan looked toward the upper windows.

“Or what someone wanted us to find.”

Benedict glanced at him.

“You're becoming very suspicious.”

“I'm trying to stay alive.”

Damian opened the car door.

“Then stay close.”

They crossed the grounds.

The east wing had been closed for years.

Victor had always told Damian it was structurally unsafe.

It slowly dawned on Damian that he had likely been deceived once again.

Benedict inserted the key into the side entrance.

The lock turned immediately.

Too easily.

Jonathan noticed it too.

“Someone has used this recently.”

Benedict pushed the door open.

Dust covered the hallway.

But there were fresh footprints across the floor.

Daniel stared at them.

“Someone's been here.”

Benedict followed the footprints.

They stopped at an old wooden door.

There was no handle.

Only a small brass plate.

Benedict touched it.

A hidden mechanism clicked.

The door opened.

The room was small and narrow, with shelves lining the walls, packed tightly with old files.

Damian looked around.

“Another archive.”

Benedict picked up one folder.

Most of the labels were dates.

Twenty-six years ago.

Twenty-five years ago.

Twenty-four.

He pulled one out.

The title made him stop.

SUCCESSION WITNESS — CONFIDENTIAL.

Daniel moved beside him.

“Open it.”

Benedict did.

The first page contained a photograph.

A young woman.

Damian stared.

“I know her.”

Benedict looked at him.

“Who?”

Damian's face had gone pale.

“She worked for my father.”

Jonathan stepped closer.

“What's her name?”

Damian swallowed.

“Grace Mercer.”

Benedict studied the photograph.

“She was here twenty-five years ago?”

“Yes.”

Daniel frowned.

“Then she may know what happened.”

Damian turned the page.

A handwritten note appeared.

Witness refuses to validate the altered succession.

Benedict's eyes hardened.

“Your grandfather tried to force her.”

Damian continued reading.

Subject transferred to East Wing under protective custody.

Daniel looked around.

“Protective custody?”

Jonathan shook his head.

“That's what they called it.”

“What was it really?”

“Prison.”

Silence filled the room.

Benedict turned another page.

The final entry was dated twenty-five years ago.

Witness removed. Location unknown.

Damian stared at the words.

“She disappeared.”

“Yes,” Benedict said.

Daniel pointed toward the bottom.

“There is another name.”

Benedict looked.

Underneath the entry was a handwritten note.

Transferred under orders of E.V.

Benedict froze.

“Evelyn.”

Daniel looked at him.

“Your mother?”

Benedict nodded.

“That means she knew about the Witness.”

“And she moved her.”

“Why?”

Benedict kept reading.

Another line was added below the first one.

There's evidence to show that the original order of things is still legitimate.

Damian's eyes widened.

“So the original succession was never destroyed.”

“No,” Benedict said.

“It was hidden.”

Jonathan looked at the files.

So, it seems the Witness still has a way to show who really should get the inheritance.

Daniel's expression tightened.

“Which means Magnus needs her.”

Benedict closed the folder.

“And so do we.”

A faint sound came from the hallway.

Everyone turned.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Measured.

Coming toward them.

Damian reached for his phone.

“No signal.”

Jonathan moved toward the door.

“Stay here.”

Benedict stopped him.

“No.”

The footsteps stopped outside.

Nobody breathed.

Then the door opened.

A woman stood in the hallway.

She was older now.

Her hair was gray.

Her face was lined with age.

But Damian recognized her immediately.

“Grace.”

The woman looked at him.

Then at Benedict.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“You finally came.”

Benedict stepped forward.

“You know me?”

Grace gave a sad smile.

“I knew you when you were six.”

Daniel's face changed.

“You knew both of us?”

“Yes.”

She looked between the brothers.

“I was there the night they separated you.”

Benedict's voice became quiet.

“Then tell us the truth.”

Grace looked toward the corridor.

“Not here.”

“Why?”

“Because your grandfather wasn't the only person who knew about the succession.”

She stepped inside and closed the door.

"For years, someone else has been keeping the secret safe."

Benedict stared at her.

“Who?”

Grace looked directly at him.

The one who took my place as the Witness after I vanished.

Daniel frowned.

“There was another Witness?”

Grace nodded.

“And that person is still inside this family.”

Benedict stared at Grace.

“Someone inside the family became the Witness?”

Grace nodded.

“After I disappeared.”

“Who?”

Grace looked toward the door.

“I cannot say the name here.”

Damian frowned.

“Why?”

“Because the Witness's identity was never supposed to be recorded.”

Jonathan stepped forward.

“But you know who it is.”

“I know.”

Benedict's voice hardened.

“Then tell me.”

Grace met his eyes.

“Your mother trusted this person.”

Benedict went still.

“Evelyn?”

“Yes.”

“Then why hide the identity?”

“Because your grandfather was searching for the Witness.”

Daniel stepped closer.

“What did he want?”

“The original succession document.”

Benedict looked at the folder in his hand.

“And the Witness had it?”

Grace nodded.

“Not the document itself.”

“Then what?”

“The verification seal.”

Damian frowned.

“What does that do?”

Grace answered carefully.

“It proves whether the succession document is genuine.”

Jonathan's expression changed.

“So without the seal, nobody can prove the original inheritance.”

“Correct.”

Benedict looked at Grace.

“Where is it?”

Grace hesitated.

“Safe.”

“Where?”

“With the Witness.”

Daniel stepped forward.

“Then take us to him.”

Grace shook her head.

“You don't understand.”

“Then make me understand.”

“The Witness has spent twenty-five years hiding because anyone connected to the original succession became a target.”

Damian looked at Benedict.

“That's why people disappeared.”

Grace nodded.

“Some were killed. Some ran. Others changed their identities.”

Benedict's eyes hardened.

“And my mother?”

Grace lowered her gaze.

“Your mother knew she might not survive.”

Daniel's face tightened.

“She knew?”

“Yes.”

“What did she do?”

“She made me promise something.”

“What?”

Grace looked at Benedict.

"If either of you made it through, my job was to keep the Witness safe until the two brothers were back together again."

Silence.

Daniel stared at her.

“And now?”

“Now you're together.”

Benedict stepped closer.

“So the promise is over.”

Grace nodded.

“Yes.”

“Then tell us where the Witness is.”

Grace's eyes filled with tears.

“Here.”

Damian looked around.

“Here?”

Grace nodded.

The Witness has been trapped inside Ashcroft Manor for what feels like an eternity, with years ticking by slowly.

Benedict's expression changed.

“Who?”

Before Grace could answer, the lights went out.

Damian reached for his phone.

Nothing.

Jonathan whispered,

“Someone cut the power.”

A door slammed somewhere down the corridor.

Then another.

Someone was moving through the east wing.

Grace's face went pale.

“They found us.”

Benedict moved toward the door.

“Who?”

Grace grabbed his arm.

“Not Magnus.”

“Then who?”

She whispered,

“The family.”

Footsteps approached.

Damian looked at Benedict.

“What do we do?”

Benedict's expression became cold.

“We don't run.”

The door opened.

Victor stood there.

Two security officers were behind him.

Damian stared.

“Father?”

Victor looked at Grace.

His expression changed.

“You shouldn't have come back.”

Grace stepped away from Benedict.

“You knew.”

Victor nodded.

“For twenty-five years.”

Benedict's eyes narrowed.

“You knew she was alive?”

“Yes.”

“And you knew about the Witness?”

Victor hesitated.

“Yes.”

Damian's voice rose.

“How many secrets are you still hiding?”

Victor looked at him.

“More than I can explain tonight.”

Benedict stepped forward.

“Then start with the truth.”

Victor looked at Daniel.

Then at Benedict.

“You were never supposed to find each other.”

Daniel's expression hardened.

“Why?”

When your grandfather and you were finally together again, he thought that would be the moment when the original plan for who would take over would start to happen.

Benedict frowned.

“Would it?”

Victor looked at Grace.

She answered.

“Yes.”

Silence.

Damian looked between them.

“Then what's stopping it?”

Grace slowly reached into her coat.

She removed a small metal seal.

The same symbol appeared on its surface.

Benedict stared.

“The verification seal.”

Grace nodded.

“I have protected it for twenty-five years.”

Victor's face tightened.

“Give it to me.”

“No.”

“You don't understand what will happen.”

“I understand perfectly.”

Grace looked at Benedict.

"When this seal is applied to the original document that shows who gets what, it makes everything official and true in the eyes of the law."

Benedict's eyes narrowed.

“Then we need the original document.”

Victor stepped forward.

“You don't know what you're asking for.”

Benedict looked at him.

“I've spent my entire life paying for decisions I never made.”

His voice became colder.

“I'm done letting other people decide what I deserve to know.”

Victor stopped.

Then a phone rang.

Everyone looked at Jonathan.

His phone.

He answered.

“Hello?”

A distorted voice spoke.

Jonathan's face changed.

“Where?”

He listened.

Then slowly lowered the phone.

Damian looked at him.

“What happened?”

Jonathan looked at Benedict.

“Magnus has the original succession document.”

Silence.

Benedict's jaw tightened.

“Where?”

Jonathan swallowed.

“He wants you to come for it.”

Grace shook her head.

“No.”

Benedict looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because that is exactly what he wants.”

Daniel stepped beside Benedict.

“Then we don't go.”

Benedict looked at his brother.

“No.”

Daniel frowned.

“We don't?”

Benedict shook his head.

“We go together.”

Victor's eyes widened.

“Benedict, listen to me.”

“No.”

He looked at Daniel.

“This time, nobody separates us.”

Daniel nodded.

Grace closed her fingers around the verification seal.

“Then you need to know something.”

“What?”

“The original document does not name one heir.”

Benedict froze.

“What does it name?”

Grace looked at both brothers.

“Two.”

Damian's eyes widened.

“Both of them?”

Grace nodded.

“The succession was always designed for two heirs.”

Benedict looked at Daniel.

For twenty-five years, the family had made them believe they were rivals.

Actually, the idea was never to pick just one option from the start.

It had been to unite them.

Grace's voice became quiet.

“And that's the one thing Magnus cannot allow.”

A sudden explosion shook the manor.

The windows rattled.

Everyone ducked.

Victor shouted,

“Get down!”

Another blast followed.

Then the emergency lights came on.

Red light flooded the room.

Benedict looked toward the windows.

Smoke was rising from the main courtyard.

Damian turned to Victor.

“They're attacking the manor.”

Victor nodded grimly.

“Yes.”

Benedict looked at Daniel.

Then at Grace.

“The war has started.”

Grace tightened her grip around the seal.

“No.”

She looked toward the burning courtyard.

“The war started twenty-five years ago.”

She looked back at the brothers.

"This is the first time you're on the same team, and it's happening tonight."