Chapter 5 - THE MOTHER’S SECRETEleanor Blackwood lived in a small house far from the Blackwood mansion.
Lily expected something grand.
Instead, Eleanor’s home was quiet.
Warm.
Ordinary.
Books covered the shelves.
A fireplace burned in the living room.
There were family photographs everywhere.
Victor as a child.
Victor’s parents.
A woman Lily assumed was Victor’s mother.
Eleanor opened the door before Lily could knock.
She was in her late sixties.
Silver hair.
Sharp blue eyes.
She looked directly at Victor.
“You finally came.”
Victor stepped inside.
“Hello, Aunt Eleanor.”
She hugged him.
Victor stiffened.
Lily noticed.
Eleanor smiled.
“You still hate hugs.”
“I don’t hate them.”
“You tolerated that one.”
Then Eleanor looked at Lily.
“And you must be Lily.”
Lily blinked.
“How do you know who I am?”
Eleanor smiled.
“Margaret called me.”
Victor’s face changed.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
Lily stared.
“Where is she?”
Eleanor’s smile disappeared.
“I thought she was with you.”
Victor immediately reached for his phone.
“She called you?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Eleanor looked at Lily.
“She said Serena hurt Ethan.”
Lily stopped breathing.
Victor’s face hardened.
“And?”
“She said she had proof.”
Thomas, who had just entered behind them, froze.
“What proof?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“She wouldn’t say.”
“Where was she?”
“She was frightened.”
Victor walked toward the window.
“She’s missing.”
Eleanor’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Lily quickly explained.
Eleanor listened.
Her face grew pale.
When Lily finished, Eleanor whispered, “No.”
Victor turned.
“What?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“This is worse than I thought.”
Lily stared.
“What do you mean?”
Eleanor walked toward a cabinet.
She removed an old wooden box.
Victor watched her carefully.
“Aunt Eleanor.”
“I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
She placed the box on the table.
“About Serena.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Eleanor opened the box.
“But I knew someone would come after Ethan.”
Lily stared.
The room became silent.
Victor walked closer.
“What are you talking about?”
Eleanor removed an old photograph.
It showed Victor’s father standing beside another man.
Lily did not recognize him.
“Who is that?”
Victor asked.
Eleanor looked at the photograph.
“Adrian Varga.”
Thomas suddenly looked up.
“Varga?”
Victor stared at him.
“You know the name?”
Thomas nodded.
“Elena Varga.”
Lily felt cold.
Eleanor slowly looked at Thomas.
“You found her real identity.”
Victor said, “Tell me.”
Eleanor sat.
“Your father had enemies.”
Victor laughed without humor.
“I’m aware.”
“No.”
Eleanor looked directly at him.
“You don’t know all of them.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“Adrian Varga was your father’s business partner.”
Victor’s face changed.
“Before he died.”
“Yes.”
Lily watched Victor carefully.
He looked genuinely surprised.
“My father never mentioned him.”
“Because your father betrayed him.”
The room became completely silent.
Victor whispered, “What?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“Adrian and your father built part of the Blackwood empire together.”
Victor stepped back.
“But eventually, they turned against each other.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Eleanor laughed bitterly.
“It is always money.”
Lily looked at the photograph.
“What happened to Adrian?”
Eleanor answered.
“He disappeared.”
Thomas whispered, “Like the accountant.”
Victor looked at him.
“Are you suggesting Serena is connected to Adrian?”
Eleanor slowly nodded.
“If Serena is Elena Varga…”
Lily finished the thought.
“Then Adrian was her husband.”
Eleanor looked at her.
“Yes.”
Victor’s face became pale.
“But the police believed Elena killed him.”
Eleanor nodded.
“That’s what everyone believed.”
Lily whispered, “What if she didn’t?”
No one answered.
Victor stared at the old photograph.
Then Eleanor opened the box again.
She removed a letter.
“This came to your mother years before she died.”
Victor took it.
“Why didn’t you show me?”
“Because your mother asked me not to.”
He read silently.
Then stopped.
His hands tightened.
“What does it say?”
Lily asked.
Victor looked at Eleanor.
“She knew Adrian was alive.”
Lily’s blood turned cold.
“What?”
Victor read aloud.
“‘If anything happens to me, Victor must never trust the woman who comes asking about Ethan.’”
Lily stared.
Ethan had not even been born when Victor’s mother died.
Eleanor understood her confusion.
“This letter was written after your wife became pregnant.”
Victor’s face changed.
Lily knew Victor’s late wife had died after Ethan’s birth.
But Eleanor had just revealed something impossible.
Victor’s mother had known about Ethan.
And she had known someone would come.
“The woman?”
Victor whispered.
Eleanor nodded.
“Your mother never told me who.”
Thomas’s phone rang.
He answered.
Then his face changed.
“Victor.”
Victor looked at him.
“What?”
Thomas listened.
Then ended the call.
“Margaret’s taxi was found.”
Lily’s heart stopped.
“Where?”
“Abandoned.”
Eleanor stood.
“Was she inside?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Victor looked at Thomas.
“Any blood?”
“No.”
“Then she may be alive.”
Lily whispered, “Serena took her.”
Thomas looked uncertain.
Victor did not.
“Find Serena.”
His voice was colder than Lily had ever heard.
Then Eleanor spoke.
“Victor.”
He turned.
“You need to protect Ethan.”
Victor nodded.
“He’s at the hospital.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
Lily stared.
“What?”
Eleanor looked directly at Victor.
“Your father once told me something.”
Victor waited.
“If Adrian Varga ever came back, he wouldn’t come for money.”
The room was silent.
“What would he come for?”
Eleanor’s eyes moved toward Lily.
“Blood.”
Lily felt the meaning before anyone said it.
Ethan.
Adrian—or Serena—did not simply want revenge.
They wanted Victor’s heir.
And suddenly Lily understood why Serena had hurt Ethan.
Why she had tried to blame Lily.
Why the security cameras had been manipulated.
Why armed men had attacked the nanny.
Serena had not been trying to get away.
She had been preparing the mansion.
Removing obstacles.
Removing witnesses.
And Lily was an obstacle.
Margaret was an obstacle.
May you like
Ethan was not.
Ethan was the prize.
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