The first time they said Daniel's name, Rachel felt her heartbeat in her throat.
Daniel.
Her brother.
Fourteen. Innocent. The only soft thing left in her hard life.
She was standing in Raziel's office when his phone buzzed.
He didn't even look worried.
That scared her more.
He read the message once. Then twice.
Then his jaw tightened.
"Talk to me," Rachel whispered.
Raziel looked up slowly. Too slowly.
"They know."
Rachel's stomach dropped. "Know what?"
He stepped closer.
"They know you have a brother."
Silence.
Cold. Heavy. Dangerous silence.
Rachel's hand immediately went to her phone.
She called Daniel.
No answer.
She called again.
Still nothing.
Her fingers started shaking.
"Raziel."
He was already giving orders.
"Move the boy now." "Double the security." "No mistakes."
Rachel grabbed his shirt.
"If anything happens to him"
"It won't," Raziel said firmly.
But this time… he didn't sound 100% certain.
Daniel was walking home from school when the black car slowed beside him.
He frowned.
The window rolled down.
A man smiled.
"Daniel, right?"
He froze.
"How do you know my name?"
The man chuckled.
"Your sister talks a lot."
Lie.
Rachel would never.
Daniel took a slow step back.
"My sister doesn't talk to strangers."
The man's smile disappeared.
Smart boy.
The car door opened.
And that's when two black SUVs sped in from both sides.
Men stepped out.
Guns visible.
Raziel's men.
"Get in the car, Daniel," one of them said calmly.
Daniel didn't argue.
He just whispered,
"Did something happen to my sister?"
Back at the mansion, Rachel was pacing like a caged lion.
She hadn't felt fear like this since her waitress days — when she didn't know how she would pay school fees.
But this was worse.
Because this wasn't about her.
This was about Daniel.
The door opened.
Daniel walked in.
Alive.
Safe.
Rachel ran to him and hugged him so tight he almost choked.
"Rach! I can't breathe!"
She didn't care.
"You scared me," she whispered.
Daniel pulled back and looked at Raziel.
"So you're the guy."
Raziel raised a brow.
"The guy?"
"The rich, dangerous one my sister refuses to explain."
Rachel's eyes widened. "Daniel!"
He shrugged.
"I'm not stupid, Rach. You don't go from waitress to living in a mansion without story."
Raziel actually smirked.
"I like him."
Rachel glared at both of them.
"This isn't funny."
Daniel looked between them.
"Are we in danger?"
Silence.
Raziel answered.
"Yes."
Rachel shot him a look.
He continued.
"But no one touches my family."
Family.
Rachel felt that word hit deep.
Daniel folded his arms.
"So that makes you what? My brother-in-law?"
Rachel nearly fainted.
Raziel's lips curved slowly.
"Working on it."
"RAZIEL!"
Daniel burst out laughing.
For a moment…
Just a moment…
It felt normal.
But later that night
Raziel stood alone on the balcony.
His phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
"You move fast, Raziel. But not fast enough."
Raziel's eyes darkened.
"You touched the wrong bloodline."
The voice chuckled.
"No. I just reminded you… you can bleed."
The call ended.
Raziel crushed the phone in his hand.
Because this was no longer business.
This was personal
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
Rachel hadn't slept properly in three nights.
Her father's voice still echoed in her head.
"You must be stronger than me."
She stood in front of the mirror in Raziel's penthouse, staring at herself like she didn't recognize the girl looking back.
She had blood on her hands now.
Power in her veins.
Fear in her enemies.
But inside?
She was still that waitress paying school fees for a fourteen-year-old boy.
Daniel.
Her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then it buzzed again.
And again.
And again.
Her stomach tightened.
She answered.
Silence.
Then breathing.
Slow.
Calm.
Familiar.
And then
"Rachel."
Her world stopped.
That voice.
No.
Impossible.
Her lips trembled.
"…Mum?"
A soft laugh.
"You finally sound like my daughter."
Rachel's knees nearly gave out.
Raziel entered the room just in time to see the color drain from her face.
He caught her before she collapsed.
"Who is it?"
Rachel's hands were shaking violently now.
"She's… she's alive."
Raziel's eyes darkened.
"Who?"
Rachel swallowed.
"My mother."
Silence filled the room like smoke.
Raziel took the phone from her slowly.
"Speak."
The woman on the other end chuckled.
"So you're the famous Raziel."
That wasn't fear in her voice.
That was familiarity.
Raziel's jaw tightened.
"You were reported dead."
"And yet," she replied smoothly, "here I am."
Rachel grabbed the phone back.
"Where are you?! Why did you leave me?! Why didn't you come back after the soldiers
"Oh sweetheart," Isabella interrupted gently, "I never left."
Rachel froze.
"What do you mean?"
Another pause.
Then
"I was watching."
The words felt like ice water poured down her spine.
Raziel's expression shifted.
Watching.
Not hiding.
Watching.
"You let him die?" Rachel whispered.
"I let him choose," Isabella corrected. "Your father knew the price of weakness."
Rachel's breath became uneven.
"You abandoned us."
"No," Isabella said calmly. "I prepared you."
Something in Rachel cracked.
"You prepared me for what?!"
Silence.
And then the bomb dropped.
"For the truth."
Raziel's hand went to his gun instinctively.
Rachel didn't even notice.
Her voice came out barely audible.
"What truth?"
A soft inhale.
Then
"You are not your father's only daughter."
The world stopped again.
Rachel's heart pounded violently.
"What… are you saying?"
Isabella's tone changed now.
Colder.
Sharper.
"There is someone else."
Rachel's hands went numb.
"That's impossible."
"No," Isabella said softly. "What's impossible… is how long I kept you from her."
Her.
HER.
Rachel's breath hitched.
Raziel's mind was already calculating.
A hidden sister?
Or something worse?
Rachel whispered the question she was afraid to ask.
"Where is she?"
A pause.
Then
"She's been closer to you than you think."
And the line went dead.
Silence.
Heavy.
Deadly.
Rachel slowly looked up at Raziel.
Her eyes weren't soft anymore.
They weren't broken.
They were furious.
"She's been watching me."
Raziel's voice was ice.
"We will find her."
Rachel shook her head slowly.
"No."
Her lips curved into something dangerous.
"She found me first."
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, a message.
A photo.
Rachel opened it.
And dropped the phone.
Raziel picked it up.
His expression didn't change.
But his grip tightened.
It was Daniel.
Bound.
Unconscious.
And behind him
A woman standing in the shadows.
The caption read:
"Family reunion?"