Maya's POV
"That's impossible," I whisper, staring at Derek running from the burning building while Derek sits beside me in the car.
"Drive after him!" Ethan shouts at Derek. "Now!"
Derek doesn't move. He's frozen, staring at his own face disappearing into the shadows.
"That's not me," Derek says slowly. "I'm right here. I don't understand—"
"You have a twin?" Ethan demands.
"No! I'm an only child!" Derek's voice rises with panic.
I grab Derek's face and turn it toward me, studying his features carefully. This is Derek. I know his eyes, his scar above his left eyebrow from falling off his bike when he was twelve, the small chip in his front tooth.
"This is the real Derek," I tell Ethan. "I'm sure of it."
"Then who the hell was that?" Ethan jumps out of the car and runs toward the alley where the figure disappeared.
Derek and I follow, pushing through the crowd of firefighters and police. Smoke burns my lungs. Heat from the flames makes me sweat even from this distance.
"Stop! This area is restricted!" A police officer blocks our path.
"That's my grandfather's restaurant!" I shout. "I own this building!"
"Then you'll want to stay back, miss. The whole structure is coming down."
As he says it, part of the roof collapses inward with a terrible crash. Flames shoot higher into the night sky.
"My evidence," Ethan says desperately. "Everything we needed was inside that building."
"Who started the fire?" I ask the officer. "Did you catch anyone?"
"We're investigating. Someone reported seeing a person running from the building just before the fire started." The officer eyes us suspiciously. "You folks wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"No," Derek answers quickly. "We just got here."
Ethan pulls me aside, away from the officer. "That person who ran—they were carrying something. Documents, maybe files. They took the evidence before burning the place."
"But who? If it wasn't Derek, then who has his face?"
"I don't know. But we need to find them before they disappear." Ethan scans the crowd. "Split up. Check every street, every alley. Whoever that was can't have gotten far."
Derek grabs my arm. "Maya, don't go anywhere alone. This could be a trap."
"Everything is a trap," I snap, pulling free. "I'm starting to think my whole life is one giant trap."
I push through the crowd, searching faces. The person I saw had Derek's exact features. Not similar—exact. How is that possible?
Then I see him.
Standing across the street, watching the fire. Same face. Same build. But this Derek wears different clothes than the Derek I arrived with.
"There!" I point.
The figure sees me pointing and runs.
I chase him down the street, my pregnant body protesting every step. Behind me, I hear Ethan and Derek shouting, but I don't stop.
The figure ducks into a parking garage. I follow, my footsteps echoing off concrete walls.
"Stop!" I yell. "I just want to talk!"
The figure stops running. Slowly, he turns around.
It's Derek's face. But the eyes are different. Colder. Calculating.
"Who are you?" I demand.
"I'm Derek Walsh," he says in Derek's exact voice. "Just like the man you arrived with."
"That's impossible."
"Is it?" The stranger smiles. "Maya Chen, have you ever heard of identical cousins?"
My mind races. "James Walsh has a brother?"
"Had. Past tense. Uncle Michael died fifteen years ago in a convenient car accident." The fake Derek steps closer. "But before he died, he had a son. Me. Daniel Walsh. I'm Derek's cousin. We look exactly alike because our fathers were identical twins."
I back away slowly. "Why are you pretending to be Derek?"
"I'm not pretending. I'm replacing." Daniel pulls out a folder from inside his jacket. "My father died because James Walsh killed him. Just like he killed your mother. We're on the same side, Maya."
"Then why run? Why burn the restaurant?"
"I didn't burn it. I saved what I could before James's men destroyed everything." He holds out the folder. "These documents prove every crime James Walsh has committed for thirty years. Including my father's murder."
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because unlike my cousin Derek, I'm not in love with you. I have no emotional agenda. I just want justice for my father." Daniel's eyes are hard, cold. "Take the folder or don't. But decide fast. James's men are coming."
I hear car engines in the distance. Growing closer.
I grab the folder and run back toward the street. Behind me, Daniel Walsh disappears into the shadows like he was never there.
I burst out of the parking garage and nearly collide with Ethan and Derek.
"Did you find him?" Ethan asks.
"It's not Derek," I gasp, holding up the folder. "It's his cousin. Daniel Walsh. James's nephew."
"I don't have a cousin named Daniel," Derek insists.
"Your father had a twin brother. Michael. He died fifteen years ago."
Derek's face goes pale. "Uncle Michael. I barely remember him. I was seven when he died. My father never talked about him."
"Because James killed him," I say. "Just like he killed my mother. And Daniel has proof."
Ethan grabs the folder and flips through it. His eyes widen. "This is real. Financial records, emails, recordings—everything we needed."
"Where did Daniel go?" Derek asks.
"He disappeared." I look back at the parking garage. "He said James's men are coming. We need to leave now."
Black SUVs screech around the corner. Men in suits pour out, heading straight for us.
"Run!" Ethan shouts.
We sprint down the street. Behind us, gunshots crack the night air. People scream and scatter.
"This way!" Derek leads us into an alley between buildings.
We climb over fences, cut through backyards, duck under railings. My lungs burn. My legs shake. But fear keeps me moving.
Finally, we reach Derek's car several blocks away. We pile inside and Derek drives, checking the rearview mirror constantly.
"Did we lose them?" I ask between gasps for air.
"For now." Ethan clutches Daniel's folder like it's precious treasure. "But James knows we have this evidence. He'll come after us with everything he has."
"Let him come," Derek says grimly. "I'm done running from my father."
We drive to Ethan's safe house—the small apartment I was at earlier. Once inside, Ethan spreads the documents across the table.
"This is incredible," he breathes. "Bank accounts, wire transfers, payoff records. Daniel Walsh is thorough."
"Why would my cousin risk his life to gather this?" Derek asks.
"Because James killed his father," I say quietly. "The same reason we're all here. Revenge."
Derek picks up one document. His hands shake as he reads it. "This is my father's handwriting. Instructions for tampering with Uncle Michael's car brakes. The same way—"
"The same way he killed Maya's mother," Ethan finishes.
Derek sits down heavily. "My father murdered his own brother. His twin. Over money."
"Over control," Ethan corrects. "Michael Walsh was trying to expose James's crimes. So James killed him and made it look like an accident."
"And Daniel has been waiting all these years for a chance to prove it," I realize. "That's why he looks exactly like Derek. He's been preparing to take his place, to infiltrate the family."
"Which means he could already be inside the Walsh family operations," Ethan says with growing excitement. "If Daniel can impersonate Derek, he could access files, records, conversations—"
"Wait." Derek stands abruptly. "If Daniel looks exactly like me, how does anyone tell us apart?"
"They can't," I say slowly. "Which means he could be anywhere, doing anything, and everyone would think it's you."
"Including marrying Vanessa," Ethan adds.
Derek's face goes white. "Oh god. The wedding. I was drunk. So drunk I barely remember the ceremony. What if—"
"What if Daniel married Vanessa instead of you?" I finish the thought.
"That would make the marriage void," Ethan says. "You're not legally married if the groom was an imposter."
"But it also means Daniel has legal access to Vanessa and Patricia's secrets," I realize. "He's been living as Derek, gathering information from inside the family."
Derek pulls out his phone with shaking hands. "I need to call Vanessa. I need to know—"
"Don't," Ethan stops him. "If Daniel is impersonating you, a call from the real Derek will alert James that something is wrong."
"So what do I do? Just let my cousin pretend to be me?"
"For now, yes." Ethan's mind is clearly racing. "Daniel is our inside man. If James doesn't know he exists, we have a huge advantage."
My phone buzzes. Text from unknown number—probably Daniel.
"Meet me tomorrow. Noon. The old library on Fifth Street. I have something else to give you. Come alone. Tell no one. Not even Ethan or Derek."
I show the text to the others.
"It's a trap," Ethan says immediately.
"Maybe," I agree. "But Daniel saved evidence from that fire. He risked his life to give it to us. Maybe he really is on our side."
"Or maybe James sent him to gain our trust," Derek argues. "My father is capable of anything."
"Including creating a fake cousin to infiltrate us?" I ask skeptically.
"You don't know my father like I do." Derek's voice is dark. "He's been planning moves decades in advance. Killing his own brother. Forcing me to marry Vanessa. Everything is calculated."
Ethan's phone rings. He answers, listens, and his face goes grim.
"What?" I ask when he hangs up.
"That was Detective Marcus. James Walsh was just released from custody. His lawyers got him out on a technicality. He's free."
"What about Derek's press conference?" I demand. "The accusations?"
"Without hard evidence, it's just allegations from a troubled son," Ethan says bitterly. "James's lawyers are already spinning it as Derek having a mental breakdown."
"But we have evidence now!" I grab Daniel's folder. "This proves everything!"
"This evidence was obtained illegally," Derek points out. "Daniel broke into my father's private files. Any lawyer will get it thrown out of court."
"So we're back to nothing," I say, my voice hollow. "James walks free. We're still in danger. Nothing has changed."
"Something has changed," Ethan says quietly. "We know about Daniel. We know James has a weakness he doesn't even know about—his own nephew working against him."
"If Daniel really is working against him," I say.
"That's what you'll find out tomorrow at the library," Ethan says. "You're going to that meeting."
"Alone? After you both said it could be a trap?"
"Not alone. Derek and I will be there, watching from a distance." Ethan's eyes are hard. "If Daniel is genuine, we gain an ally. If he's working for James, we eliminate a threat."
"Eliminate?" I repeat. "What does that mean?"
Neither man answers, which is answer enough.
I look down at the folder of evidence. Documents that prove James Walsh is a murderer. Proof that could finally bring him to justice.
But obtained by a man I don't know, who looks exactly like my ex-fiancé, who may or may not be trying to help me.
"Derek," I say slowly. "Daniel mentioned he has proof that Vanessa isn't really dying."
"What?" Derek's head snaps up.
"He said this folder contains evidence about Vanessa's fake illness. Medical records, I think."
Derek frantically searches through the documents until he finds it—a medical file with Vanessa's name.
His hands shake as he reads. His face goes from pale to red to purple with rage.
"She lied," he whispers. "There's no heart condition. No terminal illness. It was all fake. Every single doctor's appointment, every treatment, every tear—all lies."
"We already suspected that," I point out.
"But I didn't have proof!" Derek slams the folder on the table. "I couldn't get her medical records. Patient privacy laws protected her. But Daniel—Daniel somehow got everything."
He looks at me with desperate, painful eyes. "If I use this to prove Vanessa lied, the marriage is invalid. It's fraud. I can annul it immediately."
"But?" I sense there's more.
"But my father will know someone betrayed him. Someone accessed private files. He'll investigate. He'll discover Daniel." Derek's voice cracks. "Using this evidence will expose my cousin and get him killed."
"So you have to choose," Ethan says coldly. "Your freedom or Daniel's life."
Derek looks at the medical records, then at me. "Maya, if I don't annul this marriage, I'm tied to Vanessa and my father forever. But if I do, I'm signing Daniel's death warrant."
"What do you want me to say?" I ask.
"Tell me what to do." Derek grabs my hands. "You're the only person whose judgment I trust. Should I save myself or save my cousin?"
I pull my hands free. "This isn't my choice to make, Derek. It's yours. For once in your life, make a decision without asking someone else what to do."
"But I don't know what's right!"
"Then figure it out." I stand up, exhausted. "I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow I'm meeting Daniel at the library. After that, we'll decide what to do with this evidence."
I head toward the bedroom, leaving Derek and Ethan to argue about strategy.
As I'm about to close the door, Derek's voice stops me.
"Maya? This proves Vanessa isn't dying. But if you use it, my father will know I betrayed him."
I turn back. Derek holds up the medical folder, his eyes pleading for guidance.
"The choice is yours," I repeat. "Not mine. Not Ethan's. Yours."
I close the door on his desperate face.
But through the door, I hear Ethan say something that makes my blood freeze.
"It doesn't matter if you use that evidence or not, Derek. Because tomorrow at the library, Daniel is going to tell Maya something that will destroy all of us. And there's nothing any of us can do to stop it."
"What are you talking about?" Derek demands.
"You'll find out tomorrow. Just like Maya will."
"Tell me now!"
"No. Because if I tell you, you'll try to stop it. And we need it to happen. Even if it destroys everything."
What is Ethan talking about? What does Daniel know? And why does Ethan sound like tomorrow will be the end of everything?