Maya's POV
I don't sleep. How can I, knowing Ethan is hiding something that will "destroy all of us"?
At dawn, I give up trying and walk into the living room. Derek sits on the couch, still awake, staring at Vanessa's medical folder like it contains the secrets of the universe.
"Did you decide?" I ask quietly.
He looks up, his eyes red and exhausted. "No. Every choice leads to someone getting hurt. Use the evidence and Daniel dies. Don't use it and I stay trapped in a fake marriage forever."
"Maybe there's a third option."
"What third option?"
"We wait. We don't use the evidence yet. We let James think he's won while we gather more proof through Daniel." I sit beside him. "Your cousin has been impersonating you, which means he's seen things, heard conversations, learned secrets. If we expose him now, we lose that advantage."
Derek considers this. "So I stay married to Vanessa temporarily?"
"Until we have enough evidence that James can't escape. Then we use everything at once—the medical fraud, the money laundering, the murders. We bury him so deep he can never claw his way back."
"That's smart." Derek looks at me with something like admiration. "When did you become so strategic?"
"When I realized no one else was going to save me. I had to save myself."
Ethan emerges from his bedroom, already dressed. "We leave for the library in two hours. Maya, you need to eat something first. The baby needs nutrition."
Derek's eyes widen. "Baby? You're pregnant?"
I freeze. I forgot Derek doesn't know. We never told him.
"Yes," I say simply. "Eight weeks."
"Is it—" Derek's voice cracks. "Is it mine?"
"Yes."
He stands up, pacing the small room. "You're carrying my child and you didn't tell me?"
"When was I supposed to tell you? At your wedding to my stepsister? During your press conference? While running from your father's men?"
"At any point!" Derek's voice rises. "Maya, this changes everything! We're having a baby together!"
"You're having a baby," Ethan corrects coldly. "Maya is having a baby. Your involvement is optional."
"The hell it is!" Derek turns on Ethan. "That's my child. My responsibility."
"You lost the right to claim responsibility when you abandoned her at the altar," Ethan shoots back.
"Stop!" I stand between them. "Both of you stop treating me like a prize to be won. This is my body, my baby, my choice. Derek, you'll be involved as much as I decide you'll be involved. Ethan, you don't get to speak for me or my decisions. Clear?"
Both men nod, chastened.
"Good. Now we have a meeting to prepare for." I grab my jacket. "Derek, you're coming with us to the library. If Daniel is really your cousin, you need to see him face to face."
"What if my father has people watching the library?" Derek asks.
"He probably does," Ethan admits. "Which is why we're going in prepared."
He opens a closet and pulls out three bulletproof vests.
"You're joking," I say.
"I never joke about survival." Ethan hands me the smallest vest. "Put it on. Under your jacket. If James's men start shooting, this might save your life."
The vest is heavy and uncomfortable, but I put it on anyway. Derek and Ethan do the same.
We drive to the library in tense silence. The building is old and beautiful, with stone columns and wide steps leading to the entrance. People come and go—students, researchers, regular citizens using public resources.
"He said to meet inside," I remind them. "You two stay out here and watch."
"No way," Derek protests. "If that's really my cousin in there, I need to talk to him."
"He said come alone," I argue.
"And you're pregnant with my child," Derek counters. "I'm not letting you walk into danger alone."
"Then we all go," Ethan decides. "Together. If Daniel doesn't like it, he can leave."
We enter the library. It's quiet except for the rustling of pages and soft footsteps. We scan the rows of books and study tables.
Then I see him. Daniel Walsh sits in a corner reading a newspaper. He looks exactly like Derek—same hair, same face, same everything.
"That's impossible," Derek whispers. "It's like looking in a mirror."
We approach slowly. Daniel lowers the newspaper and smiles.
"Maya. You brought company. I told you to come alone."
"Plans changed," I say. "Daniel, meet your cousin Derek. Derek, meet your doppelganger."
The two identical men stare at each other. The resemblance is uncanny, terrifying even.
"Uncle Michael was Dad's twin," Daniel finally says. "We got the same genes. Same face. Same everything except the life we lived."
"Why didn't I know about you?" Derek asks.
"Because my father kept me hidden. After James killed him, my mother took me away. Changed my name. Raised me in secret." Daniel's voice is bitter. "She died two years ago. Cancer. Her last words were 'Make James pay for what he did to your father.'"
"So you've been planning this revenge for two years?" Ethan asks.
"Longer. Since I was eighteen and my mother finally told me the truth about how my father really died." Daniel pulls out another folder. "This contains everything you need to know. Security codes for James's office. Passwords for his personal accounts. Locations of his hidden safe houses."
"How did you get all this?" Derek demands.
"By being you." Daniel smiles coldly. "I've been impersonating you for six months. Walking into your father's office. Attending family meetings. Sleeping next to your wife."
Derek's face goes purple with rage. "You've been sleeping with Vanessa?"
"Relax. I haven't touched her. The marriage was never consummated. I've been giving her sleeping pills every night and telling her the stress of her 'illness' is affecting my performance." Daniel's smile widens. "She believes everything because she wants to believe it. She thinks she's won."
"Six months," I repeat. "You've been pretending to be Derek for six months? But Derek and I were together until two weeks ago."
"Wrong. I was the one who broke up with you," Daniel says. "The real Derek was locked in my basement during that conversation."
Derek stumbles backward like he's been shot. "That's impossible. I remember breaking up with Maya. I remember everything."
"Do you?" Daniel stands and walks to his cousin. "Or do you remember what I told you happened? I kept you drugged for three days. When you woke up, I told you everything you'd supposedly done. Your guilt filled in the rest."
"You're lying," Derek whispers.
"Am I?" Daniel pulls out his phone and shows us a video. "This is from two weeks ago."
The video shows Derek unconscious in a basement, chained to a wall. Daniel's voice narrates: "Day three. Subject remains sedated. Father's plan is proceeding perfectly."
My blood runs cold. "Father's plan? You mean James Walsh's plan?"
"No." Daniel turns to me, his eyes suddenly cold and calculating. "I mean my adoptive father. The man who raised me after my real father died. The man who trained me for this mission. Detective Marcus Webb."
The world stops spinning.
"Marcus?" I whisper. "The detective who warned me about Ethan?"
"The same. Except he's not really a detective. He worked for James Walsh twenty years ago. He's the one who tampered with your mother's brakes. He's the one who killed my father. And he's been playing all of you like puppets." Daniel's smile is cruel now, triumphant. "Everything—the press conference, the evidence, the fire at the restaurant—all part of Marcus's plan to take control of James Walsh's empire once you destroy him."
Ethan pulls his gun. "Don't move."
"Too late." Daniel presses something on his phone.
The library's front doors slam shut. Security guards—not real security, hired muscle—block every exit.
"Marcus wants to meet you all," Daniel says calmly. "So we're going to take a little trip. The three of you, me, and the evidence you've so helpfully gathered."
"We're not going anywhere with you," I say.
"Yes, you are. Because if you don't, Marcus will kill Ethan's sister. For real this time." Daniel shows us another video on his phone—live footage of Ethan's sister in her hospital bed, with a man holding a pillow over her face.
"Stop!" Ethan shouts.
"Come with me quietly, and he'll let her breathe," Daniel says. "Fight back, and she suffocates in the next sixty seconds."
Ethan's hand shakes on his gun. He's trapped and he knows it.
"Put the gun down," Daniel orders. "Or watch your sister die on live video."
Ethan lowers the gun slowly. His face is anguished, defeated.
"Good choice." Daniel gestures to his men. "Restrain them. We're going to see Marcus."
The guards grab us roughly. They zip-tie our hands behind our backs and lead us toward a back exit.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask Daniel desperately. "Marcus killed your father!"
"Marcus killed the man who contributed DNA to my existence," Daniel corrects. "But he raised me. Trained me. Gave me purpose. He's more of a father than Michael Walsh ever was."
"You're insane," Derek says.
"No. I'm loyal." Daniel pushes us into a waiting van. "There's a difference."
As the van doors close, I see Sophie standing across the street, watching. She has her phone out, recording everything.
Our eyes meet for just a second. She nods slightly.
She's calling for help. She's not going to let them take us without a fight.
But will help arrive in time?
The van starts moving. Daniel sits across from us, smiling like he's won the greatest game ever played.
"Where are you taking us?" Ethan demands.
"To meet your maker," Daniel says. "Or at least, to meet the man who's been making all your decisions for you. Marcus has been looking forward to this reunion."
"Reunion?" I ask. "What reunion?"
"You'll see." Daniel's smile widens. "Maya, your mother wasn't the saint you think she was. And Ethan, your father wasn't the victim you believe him to be. Marcus has truths to tell you both. Truths that will destroy everything you thought you knew about your families."
"I don't believe you," I say.
"You will." Daniel leans back, relaxed and confident. "In about thirty minutes, when Marcus shows you the evidence, you'll wish you'd stayed in the dark. Some truths are worse than lies."
My phone buzzes in my pocket. The guards didn't search us yet. I carefully angle my body so they can't see as I read the screen.
Text from Derek's phone: "This isn't the real Derek. I'm the real Derek. Daniel switched places with me three hours ago at the safe house. Don't trust anything he says. I'm tracking your location. Hold on. I'm coming to save you."
My heart stops. If that's true, then the Derek sitting beside me is actually Daniel. And the real Derek is somewhere out there, trying to rescue us.
But how do I know this text is real? How do I know which Derek is which?
I look at the man sitting beside me. He meets my eyes and I see something there—a plea for me to trust him, to believe he's really Derek.
But Daniel would know to make that same expression. He's been studying Derek for months.
I don't know which one is real anymore.
And in thirty minutes, we'll meet Marcus Webb—the man who might be pulling everyone's strings, the man who might have answers to questions I didn't even know to ask.
The man who might kill us all once he gets what he wants.