CHAPTER 10: THE LETTER WRITTEN BY THE ENEMY
The name at the bottom of the page seemed to burn into Emily's eyes.
Eleanor Blackwell.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
The woman who had spent the entire night hiding behind shadows.
The woman who had controlled Alexander's life.
The woman who had just declared war on the Carter family.
Had written part of her father's final letter.
The question was impossible to ignore.
Why?
Why would Richard Carter allow his greatest enemy to write a message meant for his daughter?
Why would Eleanor know something about his final moments?
And why did her father trust a woman who wanted to destroy everything he built?
The ballroom remained silent.
Even the injured Jonathan Reed seemed forgotten.
Because every person in that room understood one thing.
This was no longer a divorce scandal.
No longer a family dispute.
This was a war between two of the most powerful families in the world.
And Emily Carter was standing directly in the middle of it.
"Give me that."
Victor's voice suddenly cut through the silence.
Emily looked up.
He was staring at the letter.
Not with curiosity.
With fear.
And that was enough.
She pulled the paper closer.
"No."
Victor stopped.
"Emily."
"No."
Her voice was sharper.
"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore."
The room watched.
Because the woman who arrived at the party as Alexander Blackwood's wife was gone.
This Emily was different.
She was no longer asking for answers.
She was demanding them.
Victor took a breath.
"That letter is dangerous."
Emily smiled coldly.
"Everything about tonight is dangerous."
She looked around.
"My husband lied to me."
"Your family manipulated me."
"My father hid the truth from me."
She held up the letter.
"So forgive me if I don't immediately trust the man who suddenly appears claiming he is my protector."
Victor said nothing.
Because he knew she was right.
Emily looked back at the letter.
Then at the signature.
Eleanor Blackwell.
"Play her recording again."
Everyone looked confused.
"What?"
Emily looked at the security team.
"The video from earlier."
Nobody moved.
Then one of the technicians quickly restored the footage.
The giant screen came back alive.
Eleanor's face appeared.
Calm.
Elegant.
Unreachable.
Emily watched carefully.
Not as a victim.
As an investigator.
Eleanor had said something important.
Something everyone missed.
"Richard believed protecting his daughter meant keeping her ignorant."
At the time, Emily thought it was an insult.
But now...
She heard something else.
Regret.
Eleanor wasn't mocking Richard.
She was mourning him.
Emily turned toward Victor.
"You said Eleanor wanted my father's empire."
Victor nodded.
"She did."
"But you never said she hated him."
Victor became quiet.
Emily noticed.
"You never said she wanted him dead."
Another silence.
And that silence told her everything.
"Tell me the truth."
Emily stepped closer.
"What was Eleanor and my father to each other?"
Victor looked away.
Alexander suddenly spoke.
"Emily..."
She turned.
"What?"
Alexander hesitated.
Then he said:
"They loved each other."
The entire room froze.
Victor looked at him.
"Alexander."
But it was too late.
Emily stared.
"My father..."
She could barely speak.
"And Eleanor?"
Alexander nodded.
"Before they became enemies..."
"They were partners."
The revelation shook her.
Not because of romance.
Because it explained everything.
The obsession.
The betrayal.
The hatred.
The unfinished war.
"How?"
Emily asked.
Alexander continued.
"They met when they were young."
"Both brilliant."
"Both ambitious."
"They believed they could change the financial world."
A bitter smile appeared.
"But they wanted different things."
"My father believed power should create freedom."
Alexander looked toward the screen.
"Eleanor believed power should create control."
Emily looked at the letter.
"So they created the Carter-Blackwell alliance."
"Yes."
"And then it failed."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Alexander looked at her.
"Because Eleanor wanted ownership."
"Your father wanted partnership."
The difference was simple.
But it destroyed everything.
Emily looked down.
Her father had never told her.
Not one word.
Then she saw something.
A small mark on the letter.
Near Eleanor's signature.
A symbol.
The same symbol that appeared on the Carter family documents.
"What is this?"
Jonathan, still weak, opened his eyes.
Everyone turned.
The doctor tried to stop him.
But Jonathan forced himself up.
"That..."
His voice was barely audible.
"That symbol is not a signature."
Emily moved closer.
"What is it?"
Jonathan looked terrified.
"It's a warning."
A chill moved through the room.
"A warning from Richard."
Emily stared.
"Against Eleanor?"
Jonathan shook his head.
"No."
"Against someone else."
Everyone froze.
Emily looked at the letter.
"What someone?"
Jonathan swallowed.
"The person who caused their war."
A pause.
"The person who manipulated both of them."
The room became silent.
Emily felt the pieces shifting again.
There was another player.
Someone above Eleanor.
Above Victor.
Above Alexander.
"Who?"
Jonathan closed his eyes.
"I don't know."
The answer was terrifying.
Because if Jonathan Reed didn't know...
Who could?
Then suddenly...
One of the security guards rushed into the ballroom.
"Mrs. Carter."
Everyone turned.
The guard looked nervous.
"We found something."
Emily stood.
"What?"
The guard handed her a tablet.
"Security footage from the parking area."
She watched.
A black car arriving.
A person stepping out.
The image was blurry.
But familiar.
Emily's blood ran cold.
Because the person entering the building before the attack...
Was someone she knew.
Someone who had been standing beside her all night.
Someone everyone thought was only a witness.
The footage zoomed in.
The face became clearer.
Emily stopped breathing.
Alexander whispered:
"No..."
Because the person on the screen was:
Richard Carter.
Her dead father.
Alive.
Walking into the Royal Astoria hotel...
Three hours before the attack.
The room erupted.
Impossible.
A dead man.
A hidden recording.
A secret alliance.
Everything Emily believed about her father's death was collapsing.
She looked at Alexander.
Then Victor.
Then the screen.
And for the first time that night...
She asked the question nobody wanted to answer.
"If my father was alive..."
Her voice shook.
"Who died fifteen years ago?"
Nobody spoke.
May you like
Because the truth was finally approaching.
And it was more terrifying than any lie they had ever told her.
