Chapter 12 - The Man Behind the Blackwood FamilyIsabella stared at the photograph.
Her uncle.
Ethan Hart.
She hadn't seen him since childhood.
Her father had always called him a traitor.
He had disappeared after a financial scandal.
Everyone believed he had fled the country.
But the photograph proved otherwise.
He was alive.
And he was standing beside Ava.
Isabella looked at Nathan.
“Where is he?”
Nathan shook his head.
“We don't know.”
“Then find him.”
“We've been trying.”
“Try harder.”
Nathan looked toward the hospital window.
“You need to know something first.”
“What?”
“Your uncle isn't running Eclipse alone.”
“Who is helping him?”
Nathan's voice dropped.
“My father.”
Isabella froze.
“He's alive too.”
“No.”
Nathan nodded.
“He's been dead publicly for five years.”
“But secretly, he runs the financial side.”
Isabella stared.
“And Voss?”
“Voss handles operations.”
“Victoria?”
“Family enforcement.”
“And Adrian?”
“Medical control.”
Isabella's stomach twisted.
“Everyone.”
“Yes.”
“What about you?”
Nathan looked at her.
“I was the inside man who was supposed to become the successor.”
She stared.
“You were going to run Eclipse.”
“Yes.”
“And you refused.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan's answer was quiet.
“Because of you.”
Isabella looked away.
She didn't know whether to believe him.
Then the hospital lights flickered.
A loudspeaker activated.
A message played.
“Mrs. Blackwood.”
Isabella recognized the voice.
Ethan.
“Your daughter is safe.”
Isabella stepped forward.
“Let me speak to her.”
“You will.”
“Where is she?”
“Somewhere your husband can't reach.”
Nathan grabbed the microphone.
“Ethan.”
A laugh echoed.
“You finally found your courage.”
“You won't hurt her.”
“Her?”
“No.”
Ethan laughed.
“She's worth more alive than dead.”
Isabella grabbed the microphone.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Not my money?”
“Money is irrelevant.”
“Then what?”
Ethan's voice turned cold.
“The ledger.”
“I don't have it.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“It was transferred to you the moment you became pregnant.”
Isabella glanced at Nathan.
“What does he mean?”
Nathan shook his head.
Ethan continued.
“Your father embedded the ledger inside the trust.”
“That's why the trust required your child's genetic marker.”
“That's why they watched your pregnancy.”
“And that's why your mother died.”
Isabella's hands shook.
“How do I get the ledger?”
“You already have the key.”
“Where?”
Ethan laughed.
“Your wedding ring.”
Isabella looked down.
The diamond ring on her finger.
The same ring they had used to frame her.
She suddenly understood.
The ring wasn't merely valuable.
The ring was designed to unlock something.
But Victoria had taken it.
Then Nathan had opened the box.
He had removed a memory card.
Was the ring itself still important?
Ethan answered as if reading her thoughts.
“The stone isn't the key.”
“The setting is.”
Isabella immediately removed the ring.
Inside the gold band was a tiny symbol.
A symbol she had never noticed.
Marcus entered.
He looked at the ring.
“That symbol.”
“It's the same one from the basement.”
Ethan laughed through the speaker.
“Bring it to the Hartwell vault.”
“Then you'll get your daughter.”
“Where is the vault?”
“Your father built it beneath the city.”
“Where?”
Ethan gave an address.
An abandoned train station.
Nathan stared.
“That's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because it was demolished.”
Ethan laughed.
“Only the public station was.”
The transmission ended.
Marcus immediately began organizing a team.
Isabella looked at Nathan.
“You're coming.”
“Yes.”
“Victoria too.”
Nathan frowned.
“Why?”
“She knows the Blackwood security system.”
They found Victoria in another room.
She looked exhausted.
Isabella placed the ring on the table.
“Tell me what this is.”
Victoria stared at it.
Her expression changed instantly.
“You found it.”
“You knew.”
Victoria nodded.
“My father told me never to touch it.”
“Why?”
“Because it opens the Hart vault.”
Isabella's eyes hardened.
“And what happens when it opens?”
Victoria whispered,
“You'll see what your father was really hiding.”
The train station was empty.
They entered through a rusted tunnel.
The vault door appeared beneath the tracks.
Isabella placed the ring against the scanner.
The system recognized her.
HEIR VERIFIED.
The door opened.
Inside was a vast underground archive.
Thousands of files.
Hard drives.
Ledgers.
Photographs.
Then one enormous metal cabinet.
At its center was a message.
THE TRUTH HAS NEVER BEEN IN THE MONEY.
Isabella opened it.
Inside was a single book.
The ledger.
She touched the cover.
Then stopped.
A photograph was tucked inside.
It showed Ethan.
Her father.
Her mother.
Nathan's father.
And a fourth person.
Isabella stared.
She recognized him immediately.
It was her grandfather.
But beneath his photograph was a handwritten sentence.
THE FIRST BETRAYAL CAME FROM INSIDE THE HART FAMILY.
Suddenly the vault doors slammed shut.
Red lights flashed.
A voice came through the speakers.
Ethan.
“Thank you, Isabella.”
“You found it for me.”
Then another voice spoke beside him.
A familiar voice.
Nathan.
Except Nathan was standing right beside her.
Isabella turned.
A recording played.
Nathan's voice said:
“I'll bring her to the vault.”
Isabella stared at her husband.
The message continued.
“And after I do, you'll release my daughter.”
Nathan's face went pale.
“That recording is fake.”
Ethan laughed.
“No.”
“It's from tonight.”
Then the vault lights went out.
A second later, Victoria screamed.
Someone had grabbed the ledger.
May you like
And when the lights came back...
Nathan was gone.
