Chapter 14 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER LEFT
Dominic had spent twenty years believing his mother was dead.
Now he stood outside Ethan’s hospital room holding a letter written three days earlier.
The handwriting belonged to her.
Margaret Blackwood.
Marcus had found the letter inside a safe deposit box connected to the original trust.
Dominic stared at the first line.
My son,
If you are reading this, Richard has finally come out of hiding.
Dominic sat down.
Lily stood near the window.
Ethan slept inside the room.
Doctors had examined him.
No new fractures.
No internal injuries.
Exhaustion.
Fear.
But he would recover.
Lily looked at Dominic.
“Read it.”
He unfolded the page.
My greatest failure was allowing your father to convince me that silence would protect you.
It did not protect Evelyn.
It did not protect you.
And it nearly cost Lily her life.
Dominic stopped.
Lily looked down.
He continued.
Evelyn was not my biological daughter.
She was Richard’s daughter from a relationship before our marriage.
When her mother died, she came to live with us.
I loved her as my own.
Richard never did.
When Evelyn discovered what Richard had built beneath the legitimate Blackwood companies, she tried to expose him.
He imprisoned her at North Ridge.
I helped her escape.
Dominic closed his eyes.
Memories returned.
His mother crying.
His father shouting.
A teenage girl running down the hall.
A car outside at night.
He kept reading.
Evelyn gave birth to Lily while hiding.
For almost a year, we kept them safe.
Then Richard found Evelyn.
I arrived too late.
Dominic’s hand tightened.
Lily turned away.
Evelyn was dead.
Lily was gone.
Richard told me the baby had died too.
I believed him for sixteen years.
Then I found her.
Lily covered her mouth.
Dominic looked up.
“You were sixteen.”
She nodded.
“I was in foster care.”
“Did anyone contact you?”
“No.”
“Not directly.”
Dominic continued reading.
I could not approach Lily without leading Richard’s people to her.
So I watched from a distance.
I paid for school programs anonymously.
I made sure she had medical care.
I tried to give her opportunities without giving Richard a trail.
Lily began crying.
She remembered things.
A scholarship she had never understood.
A dental bill mysteriously paid.
College tuition assistance from an anonymous foundation.
A landlord who suddenly withdrew an eviction notice.
Someone had been there.
Invisible.
Dominic continued.
When Victor’s people found Lily, I knew hiding her was no longer enough.
She needed to be somewhere Richard could not easily reach.
Near you.
Dominic stopped.
Lily stared.
“So she sent me to you.”
He nodded.
The letter continued.
I altered the household recruitment system and restored Lily’s application after Julian intercepted it.
I knew Serena was dangerous.
I did not know how dangerous.
For that, I am sorry.
Dominic stood.
“Where is she?”
Marcus entered.
“We know.”
Dominic looked at him.
“Where?”
“St. Catherine’s Hospice.”
Dominic stared.
“Hospice?”
Marcus nodded.
“She’s dying.”
Two hours later, Dominic stood outside a small private room.
He had faced armed men without hesitation.
He could not make himself open the door.
Lily stood beside him.
“You don’t have to do it alone.”
Dominic looked at her.
Neither mentioned how strange their relationship still felt.
Nanny.
Employer.
Uncle.
Niece.
Family.
All in less than one night.
Dominic opened the door.
Margaret Blackwood lay in bed.
She was seventy-three.
Thin.
Pale.
Oxygen beneath her nose.
But her eyes were exactly as Dominic remembered.
She looked at him.
Then smiled.
“My boy.”
Dominic stopped.
Twenty years of anger rose inside him.
“Don’t.”
Margaret’s smile faded.
“You’re angry.”
“I buried you.”
“I know.”
“You let me.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me believe I had nobody.”
Tears filled Margaret’s eyes.
“I know.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because Richard would have killed you if he knew I was alive.”
“He almost killed my son anyway.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I failed.”
Dominic stared at her.
She opened them again.
“I thought distance was protection.”
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
She looked toward Lily.
“Hello, Lily.”
Lily froze.
Margaret smiled weakly.
“You look like her.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Margaret almost laughed.
“She would have liked you.”
“You knew my mother?”
“I loved your mother.”
Lily stepped closer.
“Then tell me something real.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Not about trusts.”
“Not about Richard.”
“Not about how she died.”
Lily’s voice trembled.
“Tell me something about her.”
Margaret smiled.
“She sang badly.”
Lily blinked.
“What?”
“Terribly.”
Margaret laughed softly.
“She thought she could sing.”
“She could not.”
Lily laughed through her tears.
Margaret continued.
“She hated tomatoes.”
“She loved thunderstorms.”
“She slept with the window open even in winter.”
“And whenever she was scared, she cleaned.”
Lily’s face changed.
“I do that.”
“I know.”
Margaret reached toward her.
Lily hesitated.
Then took her hand.
Margaret closed her fingers around it.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily cried silently.
Dominic looked away.
His phone rang.
Detective Collins.
He answered.
“What happened?”
Her voice was tense.
“Julian Vale is missing.”
Dominic’s expression changed.
“What?”
“He wasn’t recovered from the harbor.”
“You searched?”
“Every body.”
“Every exit?”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward Lily.
Collins continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“Serena is gone.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“No.”
“She left the hospital ten minutes ago.”
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
Dominic looked toward the door.
Then at Margaret.
“Where would Julian go?”
Margaret stared at him.
“What?”
“Julian.”
Her face changed.
“You know him?”
Margaret slowly released Lily’s hand.
“That isn’t his real name.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who is he?”
Margaret looked terrified.
“His name is Alexander.”
Dominic waited.
Margaret swallowed.
“Alexander Blackwood.”
Silence.
Lily stared.
Dominic’s face went cold.
“Whose son?”
Margaret’s answer came in a whisper.
“Victor’s.”
Dominic immediately called Marcus.
“Lock down Ethan’s floor.”
Marcus answered.
“Already moving.”
Dominic turned toward Lily.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Lily.”
“Ethan.”
“He has security.”
“So did he before.”
Dominic could not argue with that.
They ran.
At St. Matthew’s, Marcus reached Ethan’s room first.
Two guards stood outside.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
Marcus opened the door.
The crib was empty.
His heart stopped.
Then he heard laughter.
A baby’s laugh.
From the bathroom.
Marcus drew his weapon.
He approached.
Slowly.
He kicked the door open.
Serena stood inside.
Ethan was in her arms.
Marcus aimed.
“Put him down.”
Serena was crying.
“Wait.”
“Put Ethan down.”
“I’m protecting him.”
“From whom?”
She looked behind Marcus.
His expression changed.
Too late.
A gun pressed against the back of his head.
May you like
Julian Vale smiled.
“From me.”
