Chapter 5 - No one spoke.Dr. Shaw stared at the phone.
It rang again.
And again.
Emily whispered:
“Answer it.”
The doctor looked at Raymond.
Raymond nodded.
Dr. Shaw pressed accept.
He said nothing.
A man's voice came through.
“Is she there?”
Emily's heart pounded.
Dr. Shaw swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then listen carefully.”
The voice sounded calm.
Older.
Controlled.
“Everything they told Emily is a lie.”
Emily stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then:
“Your father.”
Emily felt the world tilt.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You died.”
“I was declared dead.”
Raymond stepped forward.
“Lucas.”
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
“Still protecting her, Raymond?”
Raymond's face hardened.
“You should be dead.”
“So should Margaret.”
Emily's breath caught.
“What did you do to my mother?”
“Nothing.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe.”
“Tell me where.”
“You're not ready.”
Emily almost screamed.
“I've been lied to for sixteen years! Don't tell me what I'm ready for!”
The voice softened.
“You have your mother's temper.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Lucas Black.”
Raymond closed his eyes.
“And I am your father.”
Emily stared at Raymond.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And you lied.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Emily turned away.
The call continued.
Lucas said:
“There are people in that hospital who will kill you before sunset.”
Emily looked toward the hallway.
“Victoria?”
“No.”
“Dr. Shaw?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
The voice became quieter.
“Someone you have been calling family.”
Emily froze.
Raymond's expression changed.
Before she could ask, the call ended.
Immediately, every emergency light flickered.
The security team checked their weapons.
Emily looked at Raymond.
“Who in my family?”
He didn't answer.
“Uncle.”
“No.”
“Tell me.”
Raymond's voice was barely audible.
“Your aunt.”
Emily frowned.
“I don't have an aunt.”
Raymond looked at her.
“You do.”
“Who?”
He hesitated.
“Victoria's mother.”
Emily stared.
“You're saying Richard Hayes had a wife who was related to my mother?”
Raymond nodded.
“Your mother's younger sister.”
Emily's mind raced.
“Then Victoria…”
“Is your cousin.”
Silence.
The revelation landed like a bomb.
Victoria wasn't just tormenting her.
She was family.
And suddenly, Emily understood the confidence.
The entitlement.
The certainty that she could control everything.
But another question remained.
“If Victoria is my cousin, why does she hate me?”
Raymond looked away.
“Because she believes your mother stole something from her family.”
“What?”
“An inheritance.”
Emily frowned.
“She hated me over money?”
“No.”
Raymond's expression became grim.
“Over a company.”
Emily stared.
“What company?”
“Blackwell Medical.”
Emily knew the name.
It was one of the largest private healthcare corporations in the country.
Worth billions.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Raymond answered quietly.
“Your mother founded it.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
“She owned fifty-one percent before disappearing.”
“And the other forty-nine?”
“The Hayes family.”
Emily finally understood.
The fight wasn't about a pregnancy.
It wasn't about a hospital.
It wasn't even about Victoria.
It was about ownership.
Her mother had been the controlling shareholder.
And Emily was the legal heir.
Raymond continued:
“Your pregnancy changes everything.”
“Why?”
“Because if you give birth to a child, that child becomes the next protected heir.”
Emily looked at him.
“So someone wants my baby dead because of an inheritance?”
Raymond shook his head.
“Not only the inheritance.”
He reached into his jacket.
Pulled out a document.
And handed it to her.
Emily read it.
Her face became pale.
The document was a legal agreement.
Signed sixteen years earlier.
Her mother had transferred controlling rights in Blackwell Medical...
to Emily.
Effective on the day Emily turned twenty-one.
Emily was twenty.
Her birthday was six months away.
Raymond said:
“You become the largest shareholder in six months.”
Emily stared at the document.
“And my baby?”
“If you're alive when the transfer happens, your child becomes part of the succession plan.”
Emily whispered:
“So they want to stop me before then.”
Raymond nodded.
“Exactly.”
A gunshot exploded upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Another followed.
Security moved immediately.
Raymond grabbed Emily's arm.
“Stay behind me.”
But Dr. Shaw suddenly ran.
“Doctor!”
He pushed through the door.
Emily stared.
“He’s escaping.”
Raymond shouted:
“Stop him!”
Security chased him.
Thirty seconds later, the corridor was silent again.
A guard returned.
He was holding Dr. Shaw's phone.
“He left this behind.”
Emily stared at the screen.
One message was open.
From an unknown number.
GET EMILY OUT OF THE HOSPITAL.
WE NEED HER ALIVE.
Emily looked at Raymond.
“They don't want me dead.”
Raymond nodded.
“They want you alive.”
“Why?”
Before Raymond could answer, Dr. Shaw's voice echoed through the hospital intercom.
“Emily!”
Everyone looked up.
His voice was trembling.
“Do not trust Raymond Black!”
Then the speakers went silent.
Emily slowly turned toward her uncle.
May you like
For the first time...
she wondered whether Raymond had been lying too.
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