CHAPTER 9: THE SECRET BENEATH BLACKWOOD MANSION
The message on Adrian Cross’s phone changed everything.
For years, Victor Blackwood believed the greatest threats came from outside.
Rival families.
Enemies fighting for territory.
People who wanted his power.
But he had been wrong.
The most dangerous battles were never fought at the gates.
They were fought inside the walls.
And now someone was inside his home.
Someone who knew the Blackwood mansion better than anyone.
Victor looked at the message again.
"The final piece is inside the Blackwood mansion."
His expression hardened.
“What final piece?”
Nobody answered.
Because everyone in the warehouse understood the meaning.
This was not just about revenge.
This was a plan.
A plan that had been waiting fifteen years to complete.
Victor turned toward Richard.
“You knew.”
Richard looked calm.
“I knew many things.”
“You knew someone else was involved.”
Richard smiled slightly.
“Did you really think I was the only person who wanted justice?”
Victor stepped closer.
“Where is Ethan?”
Richard looked toward the child.
“He is safe.”
“That is not an answer.”
“It is the only answer you need right now.”
Victor’s patience disappeared.
“You took my son.”
Richard’s expression changed.
“I protected him from a future you created.”
Victor stared at him.
“You keep saying that.”
A pause.
“But you never explain.”
Richard looked away.
“Because the truth is not simple.”
Victor laughed coldly.
“Truth is never simple when people are trying to hide it.”
Thomas stepped forward.
“Victor.”
Victor looked at him.
“Do you know what he is talking about?”
Thomas remained silent.
That silence hurt more than any answer.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“Everyone knew something.”
He looked around.
“My father.”
“Thomas.”
“Adrian.”
“Richard.”
His voice grew colder.
“And I was the only person who knew nothing.”
Nobody spoke.
Victor looked at Ethan.
His son was tired.
Confused.
Scared.
That was enough.
The past could wait.
His son could not.
“We’re leaving.”
Richard did not stop him.
Instead, he said something that made Victor freeze.
“If you go back now…”
A pause.
“You won’t find the mansion you left.”
Victor turned slowly.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked at him.
“I didn’t.”
A dark expression crossed his face.
“But someone else did.”
Twenty minutes later, the Blackwood convoy returned to the mansion.
But something was wrong immediately.
The lights were on.
The gates were open.
The guards were missing.
Victor stepped out of the vehicle.
Every instinct screamed danger.
“Stay behind me.”
Lily nodded.
Thomas carried Ethan.
For the first time, Victor noticed something strange.
Thomas held Ethan naturally.
Like he had done it before.
Like he had spent years caring for children.
Victor noticed.
But said nothing.
Not yet.
They entered the mansion.
The foyer looked untouched.
Exactly the same.
The marble floor.
The chandelier.
The paintings.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
Victor slowly walked forward.
Then stopped.
A sound.
A quiet ticking.
He looked down.
A small clock sat on the table.
It was not there before.
Victor picked it up.
Behind it was a hidden compartment.
Inside was an old key.
Lily looked confused.
“What is that?”
Victor stared at it.
“I don’t know.”
Thomas walked closer.
The moment he saw the key, his expression changed.
“Where did you find that?”
Victor looked at him.
“You know it?”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“That key belonged to your father.”
Silence.
Again.
Victor was beginning to hate that word.
His father.
Every answer led back to him.
“What does it open?”
Thomas looked toward the floor beneath them.
“The room nobody was supposed to find.”
Victor followed his gaze.
“The room?”
Thomas nodded.
“Your father built it under the mansion.”
Victor frowned.
“I lived here my entire life.”
“He built it before you were born.”
Thomas looked serious.
“He wanted a place where the truth could survive.”
Victor held the key tightly.
“Where?”
Thomas pointed.
“Below the library.”
The hidden entrance was behind an old bookshelf.
Victor had walked past that shelf thousands of times.
Never knowing.
Never questioning.
Because sometimes secrets do not hide in dark places.
Sometimes they hide in places you see every day.
The key turned.
The bookshelf slowly moved.
A hidden staircase appeared.
Cold air rushed upward.
Lily looked down.
“What is this place?”
Victor answered quietly.
“My father’s secret.”
They descended.
The underground room was small.
But inside were hundreds of documents.
Photos.
Files.
Recordings.
Evidence.
A lifetime of secrets.
Victor stepped inside.
On the wall was a single photograph.
His father.
Thomas Hale.
Adrian Cross.
And another man.
A man Victor had never seen.
Lily moved closer.
Her face changed.
“That’s…”
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
“My father knew him.”
“Who is he?”
Lily touched the photograph.
“My father called him the beginning of everything.”
Victor looked at the name written below.
Daniel Voss.
The name meant nothing to him.
But Thomas reacted immediately.
“Impossible.”
Victor turned.
“You know him?”
Thomas looked terrified.
“He was supposed to be dead.”
Victor stared.
“Who is Daniel Voss?”
Nobody answered.
Finally Adrian spoke.
“The man who created the Blackwood empire.”
Victor frowned.
“That was my grandfather.”
Adrian shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“Your grandfather created the name.”
He looked around the room.
“But Daniel Voss created the machine behind it.”
Victor’s expression darkened.
“What machine?”
Adrian looked at him.
“The network.”
The realization came slowly.
The Blackwood empire was not just a criminal organization.
It was something older.
Something bigger.
Something built from secrets and influence.
Victor picked up another document.
It was a list.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Then he saw one name.
His own.
Next to it was a note.
"Subject: Victor Blackwood. Prepare him for leadership. Remove emotional weaknesses."
Victor froze.
“What is this?”
Nobody answered.
Lily looked over his shoulder.
Her face became pale.
“Victor…”
He turned the page.
The next line made his blood run cold.
"The child must never discover the truth about his mother's death."
Victor stopped breathing.
His mother.
A subject he never discussed.
A wound from childhood.
Everyone had told him his mother died from illness.
A tragic accident.
But now…
Another lie.
“What does this mean?”
Adrian looked away.
Victor’s voice became dangerous.
“What happened to my mother?”
The room stayed silent.
Then Thomas spoke.
“Your mother was not sick.”
Victor turned.
Thomas looked devastated.
“She was murdered.”
The world stopped.
Victor stared.
“Who?”
Thomas hesitated.
Then said the words that changed everything.
“Your father.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because the impossible had just become real.
Victor looked at the documents.
At the secrets.
At the lies.
His entire life had been built on stories.
Stories designed to control him.
Then the underground room lights suddenly flickered.
Everyone turned.
A speaker hidden in the wall activated.
A familiar voice filled the room.
Serena Montigue.
“Congratulations, Victor.”
His face changed.
“You finally found the truth.”
Lily stepped back.
“She’s alive?”
Serena laughed through the speaker.
“You spent so much time looking for enemies outside your family.”
A pause.
“You never questioned the people who created you.”
Victor walked toward the speaker.
“Where is Ethan?”
Her voice became colder.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“You’ll find him.”
A pause.
“But first…”
The speaker crackled.
“You need to know what your father really was.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
Serena answered:
“The monster you have spent your life trying not to become…”
A pause.
“He was already inside you.”
The speaker turned off.
The room became silent.
Victor stood frozen.
Because for the first time…
He was not afraid of losing his empire.
He was afraid of discovering he had inherited something worse.
His father’s sins.
His family’s secrets.
And the darkness that created the Blackwood name.
Above them, somewhere inside the mansion…
Ethan was still waiting.
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And Serena Montigue had just started the final game.
Hết Chapter 9. Mình sẽ viết tiếp Chapter 10: “The Truth About Victor’s Father” ở phần tiếp theo.
