The temptation of my brother-in-law-Chapter 124 - One Hundred and Twenty-Four

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four

Malachi’s POV

Unlike everyone else, I was certain.

It was Tyler.

Isabella wasn’t hallucinating. Wasn’t confused. She’d seen him. Really seen him.

The question was why. Why would Tyler risk coming back after all these years? What could possibly be worth breaking his banishment?

I went straight to my room. Locked the door. Pulled up my laptop.

The mansion had security cameras. Dozens of them. Hidden. Discreet. Most of the family didn’t even know they existed.

But Tyler would know. He’d lived here long enough. Been involved in enough family business to understand how Pa Wood operated.

I pulled up the saved footage. Started scrolling through the timeline. Found the hallway where Isabella had collapsed.

There. A shadow. Just a flicker of movement. Then the camera went black.

Crashed.

I rewound. Watched it again. The shadow was deliberately positioned. Knew exactly where to stand to avoid a clear shot. Then something covered the lens. Or cut the feed.

"Damn it," I muttered.

Tyler definitely knew about the cameras. Had planned this. Wanted to be seen but not identified. Wanted to send a message without leaving evidence.

But what message? What was he looking for?

Revenge seemed obvious. Tyler had been banished. Cast out. Forbidden from ever returning. That kind of rejection bred anger. Resentment.

But revenge against who? Pa Wood? The whole family? Specific people?

And why now? After all these years?

I kept scrolling through footage. Different cameras. Different angles. Looking for anything else.

That’s when I saw Mario.

He was in his study. On the phone. Pacing. His face was red. Angry. He slammed his fist on the table.

I couldn’t hear what he was saying. But I could read his lips. Years of watching people. Of learning to pick up details others missed.

Tyler.

He’d said Tyler’s name. Clear as day.

I leaned closer. Watched Mario’s mouth move. Tried to catch more.

He was arguing with someone. Getting increasingly agitated. Then he said something that made my blood run cold.

"I told you to wait."

Wait for what? Wait to do what?

Were Mario and Tyler working together? Had Mario been in contact with his banished son this whole time?

That would explain a lot. Mario’s resentment toward me. His constant challenges. His attempts to undermine every decision Pa Wood made.

If Tyler was back and Mario was helping him, this was bigger than just a family grudge. This was a coordinated effort. A plan.

A headache started forming behind my eyes. I rubbed my temples. Tried to think.

Tyler and Mario. Working together. Against Pa Wood? Against the family? Against me specifically?

I needed more information. Needed to understand what they were planning.

My phone buzzed. Text from Dante.

Found a possible seller of that fabric. The scarf from Emily’s grave. High-end boutique in the city. They keep records of custom orders.

I stared at the message. Emily. The grave. The mysterious flowers. The expensive scarf.

Another piece of a puzzle I couldn’t quite see.

I texted back.

Handle it. Get me names. I want to know who’s been visiting.

His response came quickly.

On it.

I set my phone down. Opened a new browser window. Started searching.

Emily. Her father. Her family history.

I’d known the basics. Everyone did. Her father had worked for Pa Wood. They’d been close friends. Business partners. Then he’d died suddenly. Car accident on the way to a meeting.

Pa Wood had adopted Emily. Raised her as his own. Gave her everything.

But I’d never dug deeper. Never questioned the official story.

Now I needed to know more.

I found articles about her father’s death. Brief mentions in business journals. A small obituary. Nothing substantial.

Then I found something about Emily’s mother. She’d disappeared years before the father died. Just vanished one day. No explanation. No body. No closure.

The official story was that she’d left. Run away. Abandoned her family.

But mysterious disappearances didn’t just happen. Not in families connected to people like Pa Wood.

Emily’s father had given her everything money could buy. Private schools. Designer clothes. Every opportunity. Except his attention. Except his time.

He’d been consumed by work. By his partnership with Pa Wood. By whatever business dealings they’d been involved in.

Then he’d died. Conveniently. Right before a major meeting.

And Pa Wood had taken Emily in. Raised her. Made her part of our family.

I leaned back. Stared at the screen.

Could Pa Wood have had a hand in killing Emily’s father?

The thought felt impossible. Treasonous. Pa Wood was a lot of things. Ruthless. Calculating. Dangerous when crossed.

But he’d loved Emily. Everyone had seen it. He’d treated her like a daughter. Been devastated when she died.

Would he have killed her father?

I pulled up more articles. Started digging into Pa Wood’s past. His business dealings from decades ago.

That’s when I found it. References to connections. To organizations that operated in the shadows. To businesses that weren’t quite legal.

Pa Wood had been involved in mafia business when he was younger. Everyone in the family knew it. But no one talked about it. It was the foundation of our wealth. Our power. Our influence.

And people involved in that world didn’t get their hands dirty. They had people for that. They made problems disappear.

Emily’s father could have been a problem. Could have known too much. Could have threatened to expose something.

And Pa Wood could have eliminated that threat.

It was impossible not to believe he’d killed before. Men like Pa Wood didn’t build empires without getting blood on their hands.

But if he’d killed Emily’s father. If he’d taken Emily in out of guilt or strategy or both. If Emily had somehow found out.

What would that mean?

Would Emily’s death have been connected? Would someone have wanted revenge?

Would Tyler’s return be part of a larger plan?

My head was spinning. Too many questions. Too many possibilities.

I needed to talk to Pa Wood. Needed to confront him. Force him to tell me the truth.

But Pa Wood didn’t respond well to confrontation. He shut down. Refused to engage. Made it clear that some topics were off limits.

Emily’s father was clearly one of those topics. Every time I’d tried to ask, he’d changed the subject. Avoided. Deflected.

Which meant there was something to hide.

I closed my laptop. Stood up. Paced.

Tyler was back. Mario was involved. Emily’s past was connected somehow. And Pa Wood was keeping secrets that could destroy everything.

This was going to get worse before it got better.

I could feel it.

The pieces were moving. The game was starting.

And I needed to figure out the rules before someone got hurt.

Before Alicia got hurt.

That thought stopped me cold.

Alicia. She was in the middle of all this. Living in this mansion. Surrounded by secrets and lies and dangerous people.

I needed to protect her. Needed to keep her safe from whatever was coming.

Even if she didn’t know she needed protecting.

Even if she’d hate me for it.

My phone buzzed again. Another text from Dante.

Got a name. The boutique says the scarf was custom ordered five years ago. Buyer was a woman named Victoria Chen.

Chen. That name sounded familiar. Where had I heard it?

Then I remembered. David Chen. The son of the dead engineer. The one protesting. The one demanding compensation.

Chen wasn’t a common name in our circles. This couldn’t be a coincidence.

I texted back.

Find everything you can on Victoria Chen. And her connection to David Chen.

Already on it.

I set my phone down. Added another piece to the mental puzzle.

Victoria Chen. Emily’s grave. A custom scarf. A connection to the dead engineer’s family.

Everything was connected. I just couldn’t see how yet.

But I would figure it out.

I had to.

Because if I didn’t, everything I’d built. Everything I’d fought for. Everyone I cared about.

It would all come crashing down.