Chapter 13 - BLACKWOOD FALLSThe truth was worse than any lie.
Victor had not merely controlled our family.
He had constructed parts of it.
Isabella's birth certificate had been altered.
Her adoption records had been altered.
Her foundation had been designed around an identity Victor could eventually exploit.
Jasper had married her for access.
The money followed.
The assets followed.
The legal control followed.
And everyone believed Isabella was the beneficiary.
But legally, she had been turned into the perfect financial doorway.
Jasper finally confessed everything.
Not because he had grown a conscience.
Because Victor had tried to kill him.
"I met Victor when I was twenty-four," Jasper said.
We were sitting inside a secure interrogation room.
"He told me the Blackwood company was failing."
"So you joined him?"
"I joined the money."
"Then you married Isabella."
He looked at the table.
"Yes."
Isabella stood outside the glass.
She heard every word.
Jasper continued.
"I didn't expect to care about her."
Isabella's face hardened.
"You hurt me."
"I know."
"You tried to kill me."
"I know."
"You don't get to say you cared."
Jasper lowered his head.
"I know."
Then he told us something unexpected.
Victor had one weakness.
A missing transfer.
An account only Jasper knew about.
The money had been moved years earlier and hidden under another company.
"Where?"
Jasper looked at me.
"The Blackwood tower."
The family headquarters.
We entered after midnight.
Thirty-seven floors.
Glass walls.
Private elevators.
Security everywhere.
Jasper gave us the access code.
We reached the executive floor.
Victor was waiting.
He stood beside the windows.
"Impressive."
I raised my weapon.
"Hands where I can see them."
Victor smiled.
"You still think this ends with me being arrested."
"It ends with your network exposed."
He laughed.
"Exposure changes nothing."
He touched a tablet.
The building lights turned red.
Then every screen displayed a bank transfer.
Thirty million dollars.
Moving.
Isabella looked at the numbers.
"He's draining the foundation."
She ran to the central terminal.
"Caleb!"
I moved beside her.
Victor watched.
"You're too late."
We couldn't stop the transaction.
Unless we had the master authorization.
Isabella opened the ledger.
There it was.
Her identity.
Her biometric authorization.
She placed her hand on the scanner.
Nothing.
Victor smiled.
"You need the original key."
Mother looked at me.
The brass key.
I inserted it.
The system unlocked.
The money froze.
Victor's smile disappeared.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
I stared at the screen.
"You're finished."
Then the elevator doors opened.
Police.
Federal investigators.
Agents flooded the floor.
Victor raised both hands.
He smiled.
"You think you've won."
I watched him carefully.
"Have I not?"
He looked at Isabella.
"No."
Then he pressed a hidden button.
The entire tower lost power.
Darkness.
An emergency door slammed somewhere behind us.
When the lights returned, Victor was gone.
But he had left one thing behind.
A photograph.
Elena.
Holding a newborn baby.
May you like
On the back:
SHE IS STILL ALIVE.
