Chapter 4 - By sunrise, the Blackwood name was everywhere.News vans surrounded the estate.
Cameras filled the gates.
Reporters shouted questions.
“Mr. Blackwood, is your daughter really alive?”
“Was your family involved in her disappearance?”
“Who is the little girl?”
Ethan stood behind the armored glass of the second-floor office.
His hands were clenched.
The headline had spread before he could respond.
Victor had released a carefully edited story.
A missing child.
An abused girl.
An unnamed witness claiming the child had died during the night.
The implication was obvious.
Lily was either dead or an impostor.
Either way, the board had a reason to question her identity.
Ethan looked at the files on his desk.
Birth records.
Hospital records.
DNA reports.
Amelia’s medical file.
Lily’s photograph.
Everything could be forged.
Except blood.
“We need a DNA test.”
Amelia nodded from the wheelchair.
She was awake now but weak.
“Victor will challenge it.”
“Then we use three laboratories.”
“He’ll challenge all three.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
“Then we make it public.”
Amelia shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor has something worse than money.”
Ethan waited.
“People inside the hospital.”
She explained that after the fire, she had been moved to a private clinic.
Victor had kept her sedated for months.
When she resisted, he threatened Lily.
“She was used to control me.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“For seven years?”
Amelia nodded.
“Every time I tried to escape, he reminded me that he could make her disappear.”
Lily sat quietly nearby.
Ethan knelt beside her.
“You’re safe now.”
Lily looked up.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated.
“You said that yesterday.”
Ethan’s heart sank.
Yesterday, she had nearly watched him die.
He understood then that safety was not a word.
It was proof.
He stood.
“We’re going to get proof.”
Security chief Marcus Hale entered.
“We found Nora.”
“Where?”
“Trying to cross the northern border.”
Ethan moved immediately.
“Bring her back.”
Marcus nodded.
“There’s more.”
He placed a file on the desk.
A hospital security photograph from seven years ago.
Timestamped.
02:13 A.M.
The image showed Amelia being wheeled from the maternity wing.
And beside her was Victor.
Alive.
Calm.
Holding a newborn baby.
Ethan stared.
“That was after the fire began.”
“Yes.”
“Who took this?”
“A nurse.”
“Where is she?”
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Missing.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“Find her.”
Marcus placed another photograph on the desk.
The nurse had been caught later on a traffic camera.
She was carrying a suitcase.
Standing beside a man.
A man Ethan recognized.
His father’s former attorney.
“Daniel Cross.”
Amelia whispered his name.
“You know him?”
“He helped create the trust.”
Ethan looked toward her.
“Why would he work for Victor?”
“Because he was there when the trust was written.”
Amelia’s eyes filled with fear.
“He knows every loophole.”
A phone rang.
Marcus answered.
His face changed.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“The DNA lab is on fire.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Of course.
Victor had anticipated everything.
Marcus continued.
“And we found something in the ashes.”
He handed Ethan a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a small blood sample tube.
The label was half-burned.
PATIENT: AMELIA BLACKWOOD
But underneath it was another label.
INFANT: FEMALE
Ethan’s heart pounded.
Lily stepped closer.
“That’s mine.”
Ethan looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because Mommy told me.”
Amelia stared at the tube.
Then whispered:
“There’s something else you need to know.”
She looked directly at Ethan.
“The fire was started from inside the maternity wing.”
“By Victor?”
“No.”
Ethan frowned.
“Then who?”
Amelia swallowed.
“The person Victor trusted most.”
Before Ethan could ask another question, the office door exploded inward.
A bullet struck the wall behind Lily.
Marcus tackled her to the floor.
Another shot shattered the window.
Ethan looked toward the roof.
A sniper.
Then Lily screamed.
“Daddy!”
She pointed at the street.
A black van was accelerating away.
Someone had taken the evidence.
The blood sample was gone.
May you like
And hanging from the rear window was a hand-written message.
YOU FOUND THE WRONG GIRL.
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