The realization slammed into Max like a punch to the gut.
He felt like a complete fool, how had he not seen it earlier? Now, piece by piece, everything was starting to fit together.
Someone the old Max had trusted enough to leave a video for... yet hadn't shared any details with?
It could have only been another family member.
And considering that Max had already lost his parents, there wasn't much family he had left in the world, of course he would have cherished someone like Aron.
Cherished him so much that he hadn't wanted Aron tangled up in all of this mess.
At the end of the day, there wasn't just one target that the Stern family could strike at, there were two.
"My brother?" Max finally said, voice low with disbelief. "But… wait, a Stern wouldn't just work as a security guard. Does that mean…?"
"I was adopted," Aron explained, his tone calm but heavy.
"Which means I am not truly a member of the Stern family.
