Chapter 7 - THE NAME SHE NEVER KNEW
Lily stared at the man.
Her breathing became shallow.
“What did you say?”
The man walked toward her.
Slowly.
Calmly.
As if they were meeting for coffee.
“You look like Evelyn.”
Lily’s eyes widened.
“My mother’s name wasn’t Evelyn.”
The man smiled.
“That’s what they told you.”
“I don’t know who you are.”
“Yes, you do.”
He lifted his hand.
The black-stone ring caught the light.
Lily remembered the hospital footage.
Dominic’s reaction.
Victor Blackwood.
“That ring.”
The man looked down at it.
“This old thing?”
“Who are you?”
He pulled a chair toward her.
Then sat.
“Victor Blackwood.”
Lily’s blood ran cold.
“You’re dead.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“What do you want?”
Victor leaned back.
“From you?”
He studied her face.
“Very little.”
“Then let me go.”
“No.”
Lily pulled against the restraints.
Pain shot through her ribs.
Victor watched.
“You always were stubborn.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t know me.”
Victor smiled.
“I knew you before Dominic did.”
Lily froze.
Victor leaned forward.
“I knew you before you were born.”
Back at Blackwood Mansion, Dominic stood in his father’s old study.
The succession agreement lay open across the desk.
Serena sat in a chair near the window.
Marcus stood beside the fireplace.
Detective Collins remained near the door.
Dominic looked at Serena.
“Start from the beginning.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“You don’t understand.”
Dominic leaned both hands on the desk.
“Then make me understand.”
Serena stared at him.
Finally, she spoke.
“Three years ago, I was working in Monaco.”
Dominic said nothing.
“I met a man.”
“Name.”
“He called himself Julian Vale.”
Marcus looked up.
Dominic noticed.
“You know it?”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
Serena continued.
“He paid me to get close to you.”
Dominic’s expression remained blank.
“I was supposed to meet you.”
“Make you trust me.”
“Make you fall in love with me.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
Serena looked down.
“At first, that was all.”
“And then?”
“They gave me documents.”
“The succession agreement?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Dominic looked toward Marcus.
Exactly when Lily had begun working at the mansion.
“Who gave them to you?”
“Julian.”
“And Victor?”
Serena swallowed.
“I never met Victor.”
“You reacted to his name.”
“I heard it.”
“From Julian?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Serena hesitated.
Dominic’s voice sharpened.
“What did he say?”
“That Victor wasn’t dead.”
Dominic looked toward the dark window.
“And my father?”
Serena began to tremble.
“That came later.”
“How much later?”
“Two months.”
Dominic faced her again.
“What were you told?”
“That your father survived.”
Dominic laughed once.
A cold sound.
“I buried him.”
“You buried a body.”
Dominic’s stare changed.
Serena continued.
“You never saw his face.”
Dominic remembered.
The explosion.
The burned car.
The sealed casket.
The DNA report.
He looked toward Marcus.
Marcus knew what he was thinking.
“That report was handled by your father’s people.”
Dominic’s eyes darkened.
Serena saw it.
“They told me your father staged his death.”
“Why?”
“To protect the Blackwood empire.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“That sounds dramatic.”
“It’s true.”
“No.”
He walked around the desk.
“My father would never abandon control.”
Serena looked directly at him.
“That’s exactly why he did it.”
Dominic stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“He wanted to control everything without being seen.”
Silence.
Serena continued.
“He needed someone to inherit publicly.”
“You.”
“Then he needed a way to take everything back.”
Dominic stared at her.
“And Ethan?”
Serena looked away.
Dominic’s voice dropped.
“What about my son?”
She began crying again.
“I was never supposed to hurt him.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“They said he only needed to be removed from the succession line.”
Dominic’s face went rigid.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know.”
“No.”
“You dragged him across the floor.”
“I lost control.”
Dominic’s voice rose for the first time.
“You fractured his wrist.”
Serena flinched.
“I know.”
“You dislocated his shoulder.”
“I know!”
“And you want me to believe you didn’t know what they intended?”
Serena stood.
“I was supposed to convince you to send him away.”
“Where?”
“A boarding school.”
“He’s fourteen months old.”
“When he was older.”
Dominic stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
Serena looked trapped.
Because it didn’t.
Dominic saw it.
“You’re still lying.”
She shook her head.
“You are.”
“No.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“You were supposed to get Ethan out of the way before the wedding.”
“No.”
“And when that failed, you started hurting him.”
“No!”
Serena backed away.
Dominic stopped.
Then he said something softly.
“Lily saw too much.”
Serena froze.
“That’s why you threatened her.”
No answer.
“That’s why her credentials were cloned.”
Serena’s eyes filled.
“And that’s why she was taken.”
“I didn’t order that.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Who did?”
Serena whispered.
“Julian.”
Marcus immediately pulled out his phone.
Dominic continued.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“Different places.”
“Give Marcus every one.”
Serena nodded.
Then Dominic asked the question that mattered most.
“Why Lily?”
Serena looked confused.
“What?”
“Why frame her?”
“Because she was convenient.”
Dominic studied her.
Something felt wrong.
“Was she?”
Serena said nothing.
Dominic stepped closer.
“You didn’t choose Lily.”
Serena looked away.
“They did.”
Dominic’s pulse changed.
“Who?”
Serena said nothing.
“Who chose her?”
Finally, Serena answered.
“Julian.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic stared at her.
Serena swallowed.
“He gave me her employment file before she ever applied.”
The room went silent.
Dominic looked toward Marcus.
Marcus looked back.
“Before?”
Serena nodded.
“Two weeks before.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Lily was planted here.”
“No.”
Serena shook her head.
“She didn’t know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Julian hated her.”
Dominic felt something cold move through him.
“Why?”
Serena’s lips parted.
Then she whispered.
“Because of her mother.”
Across the city, Victor placed a photograph on the table in front of Lily.
It was old.
Creased.
Faded.
A young woman stood beside a black car.
She had Lily’s eyes.
Lily stared at the picture.
Her chest tightened.
“That’s…”
Victor nodded.
“Your mother.”
Lily could barely speak.
“Who is she?”
Victor leaned forward.
“Evelyn Blackwood.”
Lily stared at him.
The name seemed impossible.
May you like
Victor smiled.
“And she was Dominic’s sister.”
