CHAPTER 11: THE GROOM'S SECRET
Ethan stood beneath the rain with the gun pointed directly at me.
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
The man I had trusted.
The man who had held Sophie's hand at the wedding.
The man who had helped us escape the ballroom.
The man who had promised Margaret he would protect her.
He had been standing at the center of every lie.
My mother was bleeding beside me.
Ava was frozen behind the chapel door.
And Ethan was smiling.
“Now you finally know,” he said.
I stared at him.
“You killed Michael.”
Ethan lowered the gun slightly.
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“You just admitted it.”
“I admitted that I know the truth.”
“Then tell me.”
He took a step forward.
“I didn't kill Michael.”
“Then why are you holding a gun?”
“Because someone has to stop Victoria.”
Ava stepped out from behind the door.
“Don't believe him.”
Ethan's eyes moved toward her.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Ava's face hardened.
“My mother warned me about you.”
“Your mother lied to you.”
“My mother knew you were David's son.”
Ethan's expression changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
“You knew?”
He looked at me.
“Of course I knew.”
My stomach turned.
“Then Margaret knew too.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she marry you?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because she was trying to save her family.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in this family uses that excuse.”
Ethan's eyes hardened.
“You think this is about money?”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
He pointed the gun toward the estate.
“This is about what your father left behind.”
“Michael.”
“Yes.”
“What did he leave?”
Ethan looked at the memory card in my hand.
“The truth.”
I held it tighter.
“You want this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it proves who owns the Blackwood fortune.”
I stared at him.
“And who is that?”
Ethan smiled.
“You.”
I froze.
“What?”
“You are Michael's legal heir.”
My mother tried to sit up.
“Don't listen to him.”
Ethan looked at her.
“She knows.”
My mother shook her head.
“He's manipulating you.”
Ethan continued.
“Your mother altered your birth records.”
I looked at her.
“Did you?”
Silence.
“Mom?”
She looked away.
Ethan stepped closer.
“She erased Michael's name.”
My mother whispered:
“To protect you.”
“To protect me from what?”
“From David.”
Ethan laughed.
“David was afraid of Michael.”
My mother looked at him.
“You don't know what happened.”
“I know everything.”
“No.”
“You know what you were told.”
My mother stared at him.
“And you know what your father told you.”
Ethan's smile vanished.
“Don't mention him.”
I noticed the change.
“Your father.”
He looked at me.
“David.”
Ethan tightened his grip on the gun.
“You shouldn't say that name.”
“Why?”
“Because he's dead.”
“So was Michael.”
“He isn't.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
Ethan's eyes flicked toward the forest.
“Michael is alive.”
My mother gasped.
“No.”
Ethan smiled.
“You've been lied to.”
I looked at my mother.
“Is he alive?”
She didn't answer.
“Mom!”
She finally whispered:
“I don't know.”
Ethan laughed.
“Exactly.”
Ava stepped forward.
“My mother saw him.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Where?”
“She said he came to her.”
Ethan raised the gun toward Ava.
“Stop.”
I stepped between them.
“Don't.”
Ethan lowered the weapon.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“Put the gun down.”
Ethan froze.
We all turned.
My uncle stood at the edge of the forest.
His shirt was torn.
Blood covered one side of his face.
But he was holding a gun too.
“Ethan.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You survived.”
My uncle smiled coldly.
“You should know better than to shoot me.”
I looked between them.
“You two know each other.”
My uncle nodded.
“Better than you think.”
Ethan slowly turned.
“You should have stayed dead.”
My uncle's face hardened.
“You were supposed to be a child.”
“What?”
Ethan looked confused.
My uncle said:
“David didn't have a son.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“My father is David.”
“No.”
My uncle shook his head.
“David died before you were born.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“What are you saying?”
My uncle looked at me.
“Ethan isn't David's son.”
I stared.
“Then who is he?”
My uncle answered:
“Michael's.”
The world stopped.
Ethan's face went pale.
“No.”
My mother whispered:
“That's impossible.”
My uncle continued.
“Michael had four children.”
I stared at him.
“Four?”
“Victoria.”
“Emily.”
“You.”
“And Ethan.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
My uncle looked directly at him.
“You were hidden because your mother knew Michael's enemies would kill you.”
I looked at Ethan.
He was trembling.
“Who was my mother?”
My uncle didn't answer.
Ethan screamed:
“WHO?”
My uncle finally said:
“Elena.”
My mother.
I felt like the ground had disappeared.
Ethan looked at my mother.
“You're my mother?”
She started crying.
“Yes.”
Ethan staggered backward.
“No.”
“I thought you died.”
“I had to disappear.”
“You let me believe I was David's son.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Ethan's gun dropped slightly.
I stared at my mother.
“You had another child.”
She nodded.
“Before me?”
“No.”
“After?”
She looked at Ethan.
“Before Emily.”
I couldn't process it.
Michael.
Four children.
Victoria.
Ethan.
Me.
Emily.
A family destroyed by inheritance.
A family erased by lies.
Then Ethan looked at me.
His expression changed.
He lowered the gun.
“I didn't know.”
I believed him.
For the first time that night, he looked genuinely broken.
Then a gunshot cracked through the forest.
Ethan's body jerked.
Blood appeared across his chest.
“ETHAN!”
Margaret's scream came from behind us.
She ran from the chapel.
She dropped beside him.
“Ethan!”
He collapsed into her arms.
I looked toward the trees.
Another shot.
My uncle pulled me down.
“Get inside!”
“Who shot him?”
He didn't answer.
Ava dragged my mother into the chapel.
I followed.
Margaret stayed beside Ethan.
“Come on!”
She shook her head.
“I can't leave him.”
“Margaret!”
She looked at me.
“He was trying to protect you.”
I froze.
“What?”
Margaret looked toward the forest.
“Ethan knew they were coming.”
“Who?”
She whispered:
“The people who have been controlling this family for decades.”
Then Ethan suddenly grabbed her wrist.
His eyes opened.
“Margaret…”
“I’m here.”
He coughed.
“Tell her.”
“Tell her what?”
He looked at me.
“The card…”
I stepped closer.
“What about it?”
He struggled to breathe.
“It's not the evidence.”
I froze.
“Then what is it?”
Ethan's eyes moved toward my mother.
“It's a key.”
“A key to what?”
He whispered:
“The original recording.”
My uncle's face changed.
“Where?”
Ethan's hand trembled.
He pointed toward the chapel.
“Under the altar.”
Margaret stared.
“What?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Michael recorded everything.”
“Everything?”
“The murder.”
My blood ran cold.
“Whose murder?”
Ethan swallowed.
“His own.”
Then his eyes closed.
Margaret screamed his name.
I rushed toward the altar.
My uncle grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“Because if the recording is there…”
He looked toward the chapel doors.
“They'll come for it.”
Ava suddenly shouted:
“Someone's coming!”
We all turned.
A black SUV emerged from the trees.
Then another.
Then another.
Three vehicles.
Headlights cut through the rain.
Doors opened.
Men stepped out.
And at the center of them was a woman in a black coat.
She slowly removed her hood.
Silver hair.
Cold eyes.
Victoria.
She looked directly at me.
Then at Ethan lying in Margaret's arms.
Her expression didn't change.
She simply said:
“I'm sorry, little sister.”
I stared at her.
“For what?”
Victoria raised a handgun.
May you like
“For what I'm about to do.”
Then she pointed the weapon at my mother.
