Chapter 5 - For the first time since the fire, Ethan Blackwood felt genuinely afraid.Not for himself.
For Lily.
The message had been clear.
Someone wanted him looking in one direction while the real secret remained hidden somewhere else.
Marcus ordered the estate sealed.
No phones.
No outside visitors.
No movement without clearance.
But Ethan knew the estate was no longer safe.
Victor had infiltrated it once.
He could do it again.
He walked into the study where Amelia was sitting beside Lily.
“I’m taking you somewhere else.”
Amelia shook her head.
“Where?”
“A place Victor doesn’t know.”
“You don’t have one.”
“I do now.”
Marcus had prepared a secure house beneath an abandoned vineyard owned by an old Blackwood corporation.
No public records.
No employees.
No digital footprint.
For the next six hours, they remained underground.
Lily slept.
Amelia rested.
Ethan stood in a concrete corridor reviewing everything they knew.
Victor had wanted Lily dead.
Victor had concealed Amelia.
Someone inside the hospital helped him.
Daniel Cross knew the trust.
And someone had deliberately destroyed the DNA evidence.
Marcus entered.
“We found Nora.”
“Where?”
“Three hours east.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Bring her here.”
“She’s talking.”
Ethan turned.
“What did she say?”
Marcus handed him a recording.
Nora’s voice came through the speaker.
“I didn’t know she was his daughter.”
Ethan stared.
Nora continued.
“They told me Lily was a surrogate child.”
“Who told you?”
“I never saw Victor directly.”
A pause.
“Then who?”
Nora began crying.
“Adrian.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Adrian Blackwood.
His younger half-brother.
A man presumed dead in a boating accident five years ago.
Ethan looked at Marcus.
“Adrian is dead.”
Marcus shook his head.
“Officially.”
Silence.
Nora continued.
“Adrian said the girl had to stay hidden until Ethan signed the transfer.”
Ethan sat down.
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
“You knew?”
“I knew she was important. I didn’t know why.”
“Why poison Ethan now?”
“Victor said the trust was about to open.”
Ethan looked at Amelia.
She had gone pale.
“Adrian worked for Victor?”
Amelia shook her head.
“No.”
She stood.
“Adrian hated Victor.”
“Then why would he help him?”
Amelia stared at the speaker.
“He didn’t.”
Ethan waited.
“He was trying to protect Lily.”
A new silence.
“Then why hide her from me?”
“Because he believed Victor had someone inside your house.”
Ethan looked around the underground room.
His security detail.
His driver.
His staff.
His own people.
Someone close.
Someone who had been watching them for years.
Marcus suddenly stiffened.
“We found a camera.”
“Where?”
“In this room.”
Everyone froze.
Marcus moved quickly.
He tore open a ceiling panel.
A tiny lens stared down at them.
Ethan looked at Lily.
She was asleep.
The camera had been watching her.
A red light blinked once.
Then disappeared.
Marcus traced the signal.
“It’s transmitting now.”
“To where?”
He followed the connection.
His face turned white.
“Blackwood Tower.”
Ethan understood.
Victor was inside the corporate headquarters.
But why?
The board meeting.
The trust.
The vote.
Ethan grabbed his coat.
“We go now.”
Amelia caught his arm.
“Don’t.”
“I have to.”
“They want you there.”
“For the board vote?”
“No.”
She pointed toward Lily.
“They want you to leave her unprotected.”
Ethan stopped.
Amelia whispered:
“The poison was never the real plan.”
Ethan stared.
“Then what was?”
Amelia’s eyes filled with fear.
“The poison was a distraction.”
She looked at Lily.
“The real target has always been our daughter.”
A sound came from the doorway.
A soft click.
Everyone turned.
The underground lights died.
In the darkness, a child’s voice whispered from the corridor.
“Daddy?”
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
It sounded exactly like Lily.
But Lily was still asleep behind him.
Then the voice spoke again.
“You should have checked who came with you.”
May you like
The emergency lights turned red.
And Marcus disappeared.
Related Stories
