Chapter 10 - THE ROOM BENEATH THE HOUSE
North Ridge sat forty miles outside the city.
The old estate had belonged to Dominic’s grandfather.
Nobody had lived there in twenty years.
At least officially.
Dominic arrived before dawn.
Marcus had called in a trusted team.
Only six men.
All personally vetted.
No house security.
No family employees.
No police radios.
Dominic no longer knew who could be trusted.
Serena sat in the back seat under guard.
Her hands were restrained.
She stared through the window.
Dominic looked at her.
“Where is the entrance?”
“Cellar.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
Serena hesitated.
“Julian brought me here once.”
“When?”
“Before I met you.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“So this began long before our engagement.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
Serena looked at him.
“Years.”
Dominic said nothing.
The gates to North Ridge were rusted open.
The main house appeared through the trees.
Dark.
Massive.
Rotting.
Dominic remembered visiting as a child.
His father had hated the place.
Now he understood why.
Marcus entered first.
No lights.
No movement.
They cleared the ground floor.
Then the second.
Nothing.
Serena led them toward the kitchen.
A trapdoor was hidden beneath an old pantry rug.
Marcus lifted it.
Stone stairs descended into darkness.
Dominic turned toward Serena.
“You go first.”
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
“You said you know the way.”
“I’m scared.”
“So is Lily.”
Serena looked down.
Then stepped onto the stairs.
They descended.
The air became colder.
The cellar walls were stone.
Old pipes ran along the ceiling.
At the end of the corridor stood an iron door.
Serena stopped.
“There.”
Dominic moved past her.
Marcus checked the lock.
Recently used.
He opened it.
Inside was a room.
Not a cellar.
A bedroom.
Old wallpaper.
A narrow bed.
A desk.
A mirror.
And hundreds of marks scratched into one wall.
Dominic stepped closer.
Dates.
Names.
Numbers.
At the center, carved deeply into the plaster—
EVELYN.
Dominic stared at it.
His chest tightened.
Marcus walked toward the desk.
“There are letters.”
Dominic opened one.
The handwriting was young.
Shaky.
Dominic,
If you ever find this, I need you to know I tried to come back.
Dad said you were safer if you believed I was gone.
He said he would hurt you if I ran again.
Dominic stopped reading.
His hands trembled.
Marcus looked at him.
Dominic continued.
I’m pregnant.
He doesn’t know yet.
I have to get away before he finds out.
If I don’t, protect my baby.
Please.
Dominic lowered the letter.
Serena stared at him.
“That’s Lily.”
Dominic looked toward the wall.
His sister had been imprisoned here.
Pregnant.
Afraid.
By their father.
A noise came from the corridor.
Marcus raised his weapon.
Everyone turned.
A door slammed somewhere below them.
Dominic looked toward Serena.
“There’s another level?”
She nodded.
“Under the wine cellar.”
They moved.
Fast.
At the end of the corridor, Marcus found a hidden stairwell.
They descended.
Then stopped.
A cry echoed through the darkness.
Female.
Weak.
Dominic’s heart pounded.
“Lily!”
Silence.
Then again.
“Dominic!”
He ran.
Marcus shouted after him.
Dominic ignored him.
He reached a steel door.
Locked.
He fired at the mechanism.
Once.
Twice.
The lock broke.
Dominic kicked the door open.
Lily was inside.
Tied to a chair.
Blood on her lip.
One eye bruised.
Alive.
Dominic crossed the room.
“Lily.”
Her face broke.
“You came.”
He cut the restraints.
She collapsed into him.
Dominic caught her.
“It’s okay.”
“No.”
Lily grabbed his coat.
“It’s not.”
“What happened?”
“Victor.”
“Where is he?”
She looked toward the back wall.
“Gone.”
Dominic stared at her.
“How?”
“There’s a tunnel.”
Marcus entered.
“Search it.”
Two men moved toward the passage.
Dominic helped Lily stand.
Her legs shook.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
Then she saw Serena.
Her expression changed instantly.
Serena stepped back.
Lily stared at her.
“You.”
Serena looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily laughed in disbelief.
“Sorry?”
“I didn’t know they would take you.”
“You kicked me.”
“I know.”
“You hurt Ethan.”
Serena began crying.
“I know.”
Lily stepped toward her.
Dominic caught her arm.
“Not now.”
Lily looked at him.
“He was going to kill Ethan.”
“I know.”
“He said Ethan had to die before the wedding.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“What else did Victor say?”
Lily looked around the room.
“He told me who my mother was.”
Dominic nodded.
“I know.”
“You do?”
“I found her letters.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“He said she was your sister.”
Dominic looked at her.
“My half-sister.”
Lily swallowed.
“So you’re…”
“Your uncle.”
The words felt strange.
Impossible.
Lily stared at him.
Dominic’s expression softened.
Only slightly.
“I’m sorry you found out like this.”
Lily shook her head.
“There’s more.”
Dominic’s face tightened.
“What?”
“Victor said my mother didn’t die in an accident.”
Dominic waited.
“He said your father killed her.”
Serena looked up sharply.
Dominic said nothing.
Lily continued.
“He said she escaped North Ridge.”
“She tried to expose him.”
“She had documents.”
“What documents?”
“Proof that your father was laundering money through medical charities.”
Marcus looked at Dominic.
Lily continued.
“She planned to testify.”
“What happened?”
Lily swallowed.
“Victor said your father stopped her before she reached federal investigators.”
Dominic’s face emptied.
“He killed her?”
Lily nodded slowly.
“And then he hid me.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Where?”
“Foster care.”
Silence.
Lily began crying.
“He erased her.”
“He erased me.”
Dominic’s jaw clenched.
Then footsteps came from the corridor.
One of Marcus’s men entered.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We found the tunnel exit.”
“And?”
“Fresh tire tracks.”
Dominic looked toward the clock.
5:17 a.m.
Sunrise was less than an hour away.
Then his phone rang.
Hospital.
Dominic answered.
“Blackwood.”
The nurse was crying.
“Mr. Blackwood…”
Dominic’s blood ran cold.
“What happened?”
“We had a security breach.”
He stopped breathing.
“Where is Ethan?”
The nurse did not answer fast enough.
Dominic’s voice exploded.
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
Lily froze.
Serena covered her mouth.
Marcus stared at Dominic.
Finally, the nurse whispered.
“He’s gone.”
Dominic’s face turned white.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“Someone took him from the pediatric wing.”
Dominic looked at Serena.
She shook her head wildly.
“I didn’t know.”
Dominic’s eyes burned.
“When?”
The nurse answered.
“Seven minutes ago.”
Dominic ended the call.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lily whispered.
“Victor.”
Dominic looked at the clock again.
5:18 a.m.
The deadline.
Sunrise.
Marcus checked his phone.
“There’s a message.”
Dominic looked at him.
Marcus turned the screen around.
A photograph appeared.
Ethan.
Wrapped in a blanket.
Alive.
In the background stood a man.
Silver hair.
Black-stone ring.
Victor.
Beneath the photograph were six words.
BRING LILY.
May you like
COME ALONE.
OR HE DIES.
