CHAPTER 5: THE WOMAN WHO NEVER EXISTED
The line erupted into chaos.
More gunshots.
Men shouting orders.
The crackle of radios.
Victor remained perfectly still.
Only his eyes changed.
They became cold enough to silence an army.
"Report."
The single word cut through the noise.
The guard on the other end struggled to catch his breath.
"Three men disguised as paramedics arrived at the south gate."
"They presented hospital transfer papers."
"We checked the documents..."
"They were fake."
Victor's voice remained calm.
"And Serena?"
The guard swallowed.
"The fake paramedics opened fire."
"They weren't trying to fight us..."
"They were buying time."
Victor already knew what came next.
"Continue."
"While we engaged them, someone detonated a smoke device inside the west wing."
"The cameras went offline for forty-two seconds."
"When visibility returned..."
"...Miss Serena was gone."
The call ended.
The room fell silent.
Victor slowly looked at his security chief.
"Lock every road."
"Every airport."
"Every private dock."
"Every border crossing."
"No one leaves Chicago."
The chief nodded immediately.
"Yes, Boss."
Within seconds, dozens of encrypted messages spread across the Blackwood network.
Every safe house.
Every checkpoint.
Every trusted informant.
One order echoed through the underworld.
Find Serena. Alive.
Lily stared at Victor.
"She planned this..."
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the forged passport lying on the table.
The photograph was unmistakably Serena.
Yet everything else was false.
Name.
Birthplace.
Nationality.
Date of birth.
Even the signature.
Nothing matched the woman the world believed they knew.
The forensic technician cleared his throat.
"Sir..."
Victor looked up.
"I've accessed government records."
"And?"
"There aren't any."
"What do you mean?"
The technician typed rapidly.
"I searched twenty-three years of tax records."
"School records."
"University enrollment."
"Medical files."
"Driver's licenses."
"Nothing."
Lily frowned.
"That's impossible."
The technician slowly shook his head.
"It's worse than impossible."
He enlarged the screen.
"The woman known as Serena Montigue..."
"...didn't exist before five years ago."
The room became deathly quiet.
Five years.
It was exactly when Victor had first met her at a charity gala.
Victor remembered that evening with uncomfortable clarity.
She had been elegant.
Kind.
Intelligent.
Everything the newspapers adored.
Everything his advisers encouraged.
"A respectable fiancée will help legitimize the Blackwood name."
He had never questioned her past.
He had ordered background checks.
They came back spotless.
Too spotless.
Now he understood.
Someone hadn't hidden her history.
Someone had manufactured one.
Across the city...
An abandoned textile factory stood in darkness.
Rain drummed against broken windows.
A steel door creaked open.
Serena stepped inside.
Her expensive white dress was stained with smoke and dust.
A tall man waited beside an old wooden table.
He wore black gloves.
His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of a hood.
"You were followed."
His voice carried no emotion.
"I wasn't."
Serena removed her high heels and rubbed one aching foot.
"The Blackwood guards are better than expected."
The man looked toward her.
"You failed."
She smiled.
"Not entirely."
"You were supposed to eliminate the child."
"I said I'd handle it."
"You had months."
Serena's smile slowly disappeared.
"You've never lived with Victor."
"You've never watched him."
"He notices everything."
"One mistake..."
"...and you're dead."
The hooded man remained silent.
She continued.
"I needed him to believe Ethan was naturally weak."
"Sick."
"Fragile."
"Not murdered."
The man stepped closer.
"You've become attached."
Serena laughed.
"Attached?"
She pulled a pistol from her handbag and laid it on the table.
"If I were attached..."
"...would I carry this?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he placed a folder before her.
Inside were photographs.
Victor.
Ethan.
Lily.
And several members of the Blackwood organization.
Each face had a red circle drawn around it.
Targets.
Serena looked at Lily's photograph.
"She's a problem."
The hooded man nodded.
"Then solve it."
Meanwhile...
Back at Blackwood Memorial Hospital...
Victor entered Ethan's private recovery room.
Machines beeped softly.
The little boy slept beneath warm blankets.
His tiny arm rested inside a cast.
Bruises still covered his fragile skin.
Victor approached slowly.
He had negotiated billion-dollar deals.
Ordered executions.
Survived wars between criminal empires.
Yet standing beside his sleeping son felt strangely unfamiliar.
He realized something that hurt more than any bullet ever had.
He didn't know Ethan's favorite toy.
He didn't know what songs helped him sleep.
He didn't know why the child cried during thunderstorms.
Someone else knew.
Lily.
Victor looked toward the chair beside the bed.
She had fallen asleep sitting upright.
One hand still rested gently against Ethan's blanket.
Even in sleep...
She hadn't let go.
A nurse quietly entered the room.
"Mr. Blackwood..."
He raised a finger.
She immediately lowered her voice.
"The police are here."
Victor looked toward the hallway.
Two homicide detectives waited outside.
The older detective introduced himself.
"Detective Samuel Ross."
"We're investigating child abuse allegations."
Victor nodded once.
Ross looked uncomfortable.
"We'll need statements."
"You'll have them."
"And we'd like to question Miss Serena."
Victor's eyes remained fixed on the detective.
"So would I."
Ross hesitated.
"We've been informed she's missing."
Victor said nothing.
The detective continued.
"If she leaves the state..."
Victor interrupted.
"She won't."
Ross frowned.
"You sound confident."
Victor finally looked directly at him.
"Because she'll never get that far."
The detective wasn't sure whether that was reassurance...
Or a threat.
An hour later...
The digital forensics team finished reconstructing every deleted file from Lily's phone.
Most contained photos.
Bruises.
Scratches.
Short video clips.
Nothing unexpected.
Then...
The software detected one hidden file.
Corrupted.
Partially erased.
Timestamp:
Yesterday.
The technician called Victor immediately.
"Sir..."
"We recovered something."
Victor entered the lab.
The video began.
The picture was blurry.
Lily had apparently hidden the phone inside Ethan's toy box.
The nursery came into view.
Serena stood near the window.
She wasn't alone.
The same hooded man from the earlier recordings stood with his back to the camera.
His face remained hidden.
Only his voice could be heard clearly this time.
"The council has approved Phase Two."
Serena nodded.
"And Victor?"
"He dies after the child."
Victor's expression never changed.
The hooded man continued.
"There can be no Blackwood heir."
"No Blackwood bloodline."
"No Blackwood empire."
Then...
He removed one glove.
Only for a moment.
Just long enough to shake Serena's hand.
Lily gasped.
"So what?"
The technician froze the frame.
Zoomed in.
Enhanced it.
Victor stepped closer.
On the man's right hand...
Was an unmistakable ring.
Black gold.
A crimson serpent wrapped around a silver crown.
Victor's breathing stopped.
He knew that ring.
There were only twelve in existence.
Each belonged to one member of the secret criminal council that controlled billions of dollars across North America.
Victor whispered a name.
"No..."
The technician looked at him.
"You recognize it?"
Victor didn't answer.
Because if he was right...
The man standing beside Serena wasn't just an enemy.
He was someone Victor had trusted for nearly twenty years.
Someone who had eaten at his table...
Held Ethan in his arms...
And called himself...
May you like
Family.
END OF CHAPTER 5
