Chapter 12 - The private archive was behind a false wall beneath the boardroom.Ethan unlocked it.
Inside were shelves of documents.
Decades of Blackwood history.
Corporate acquisitions.
Political donations.
Private medical records.
Birth certificates.
Death certificates.
Identity transfers.
Marcus searched rapidly.
“Here.”
A file marked:
BLACKWOOD TWINS
Ethan opened it.
The first page contained the original birth record.
Two infants.
Both alive.
Time of birth:
1:30 A.M.
1:50 A.M.
Mother:
Amelia Blackwood
Father:
Ethan Blackwood
Then a second document.
The times had been altered.
1:50 A.M.
2:10 A.M.
A third document listed only one surviving child.
LILY BLACKWOOD
Ethan stared.
“Which one is mine?”
Marcus frowned.
“Both.”
“No. Which one is Lily?”
He flipped the pages.
No answer.
The archive had been designed to erase the distinction.
Then he found a handwritten note.
It was Amelia’s handwriting.
The firstborn wears the silver bracelet.
Ethan remembered the photograph.
Lily had worn the silver bracelet.
The second girl had not.
He suddenly remembered the fake child at the board meeting.
She had not been wearing a bracelet.
The real Lily was.
“Then the real girl is the firstborn.”
Marcus nodded.
“But Daniel said Victor changed the order.”
Ethan searched again.
There was another note.
If the bracelet changes hands, identity changes with it.
Ethan froze.
Victor had a strategy.
He did not need to prove which child was born first.
He only needed to place the bracelet on the girl he wanted recognized.
The trust could be manipulated.
The daughters could be switched legally.
And Lily’s own testimony might be dismissed because she had been hidden for years.
Ethan looked at the files.
Then he saw something strange.
A photograph.
The two girls at age five.
Older.
Standing side by side.
Identical.
Except one had the crescent birthmark.
The other had a tiny scar on her chin.
Ethan stared.
He knew the real Lily.
The girl in his safe house had no scar on her chin.
The fake girl at the board meeting did.
He smiled bitterly.
Victor had created a replacement.
But the replacement had come from somewhere.
He looked at Marcus.
“Find every medical record for the scar.”
Marcus searched.
One result.
ELENA VALE.
Ethan’s heart pounded.
The supposed dead woman had not merely been an identity cover.
She had been part of the operation.
A child had been raised under that identity.
Then a thought struck him.
“If Elena Vale died three years ago…”
Marcus finished the sentence.
“The girl became disposable.”
A sound came from behind them.
Clapping.
Victor stepped out of the shadows.
“I knew you’d understand eventually.”
Ethan raised his gun.
“Where are my daughters?”
Victor smiled.
“Which one?”
Ethan moved forward.
“Both.”
Victor shook his head.
“You still think this is about the girls.”
“What else is it about?”
Victor stepped closer.
“Your father.”
Ethan frowned.
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“He didn’t build the trust to protect you.”
He lifted a file.
“He built it to protect a secret.”
“What secret?”
Victor tossed the file onto the table.
Ethan opened it.
A photograph fell out.
His father standing beside Amelia.
And another woman.
A woman Ethan had never seen.
Victor whispered:
“She was your father’s first wife.”
Ethan stared.
Then he saw the name.
Margaret Blackwood.
And underneath it:
MOTHER OF ADRIAN BLACKWOOD.
Ethan looked up.
Victor smiled.
“Adrian was never your half-brother.”
Silence.
“He was your full brother.”
The lights flickered.
A scream came from above.
May you like
Lily.
Ethan ran.
