Chapter 6 - THE ABDUCTION PLANVictor moved Ethan before sunset.
No one knew where.
Not Thomas.
Not Eleanor.
Not Lily.
Only Victor and two men from his most trusted inner circle knew the location.
Lily hated it.
“Where is he?”
Victor stood near Eleanor’s fireplace.
“Safe.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s enough.”
“No.”
Lily crossed her arms.
“I’m the one who has been taking care of him.”
Victor looked exhausted.
“And that is exactly why Serena wants you gone.”
Lily stopped.
“What?”
Victor’s voice became quieter.
“She knows Ethan trusts you.”
The words frightened Lily.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Victor stared into the fire.
“Everything.”
Lily waited.
Victor continued.
“If Serena takes Ethan, she needs someone to keep him calm.”
Lily felt sick.
“She wants me alive?”
“For now.”
Thomas entered the room.
“We found something.”
Victor turned.
Thomas placed a folder on the table.
“Serena’s financial records.”
Lily walked closer.
Thomas opened the folder.
“Over the last eighteen months, Serena received money from several shell companies.”
Victor frowned.
“How much?”
Thomas named the amount.
Lily’s eyes widened.
“Who sent it?”
“We don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Thomas nodded.
“There’s more.”
Victor looked at him.
“One of the companies is connected to a pharmaceutical research firm.”
Lily frowned.
“Why?”
Thomas turned toward her.
“Because Serena bought medical equipment.”
Lily felt cold.
“What kind?”
Thomas answered.
“Equipment used for blood testing.”
Victor stared.
“Whose blood?”
Thomas shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
Eleanor spoke from across the room.
“Ethan’s.”
Everyone turned.
Victor looked at his aunt.
“What?”
Eleanor’s face was pale.
“She wants to prove something.”
Lily whispered, “What?”
Eleanor looked at Victor.
“Paternity.”
The room became silent.
Victor’s face hardened.
“That makes no sense.”
“Does it?”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“Your mother’s letter.”
Victor stared.
“The blood.”
Thomas added.
“The attacks.”
Lily looked between them.
“What are you saying?”
Eleanor whispered, “Maybe Ethan isn’t the person Serena believes he is.”
Victor slammed his hand against the table.
“He is my son.”
Eleanor did not move.
“I know.”
“Then what?”
Eleanor took a breath.
“Your father had secrets.”
Victor looked away.
Lily suddenly remembered something.
Ethan’s mother.
Victor’s late wife.
She had never met her.
But the staff sometimes spoke about her.
Quietly.
“She was afraid,” Lily said.
Victor turned.
“What?”
“Ethan’s mother.”
Lily swallowed.
“Margaret once told me she became afraid near the end of her pregnancy.”
Victor stared.
“Of what?”
“She didn’t say.”
Eleanor slowly sat.
“Oh, God.”
Victor looked at her.
“You know something.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I thought she was protecting Victor.”
Lily felt her heart race.
“Who?”
“Ethan’s mother.”
Victor’s voice became sharp.
“What did she tell you?”
Eleanor looked at him.
“She came to see me once.”
Victor waited.
“She was pregnant.”
The room became completely silent.
“And she told me…”
Eleanor’s voice broke.
“She was afraid someone wanted the baby.”
Victor stared at her.
“Who?”
“She didn’t know.”
Lily whispered, “Serena.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Serena didn’t meet Victor until months after Ethan was born.”
Victor’s face changed.
Lily understood.
Serena had not started this.
She had continued it.
Someone had been watching Ethan before Serena entered Victor’s life.
Thomas’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face went pale.
“Victor.”
“What?”
Thomas listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“The hospital was breached.”
Lily screamed.
“Ethan!”
Victor grabbed his phone.
“He’s not there.”
Thomas nodded.
“I know.”
“Then what?”
Thomas looked at Lily.
“They found a nurse.”
Victor waited.
“She was carrying a sedative.”
Lily felt sick.
“Serena?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Not Serena.”
Victor asked, “Who sent her?”
Thomas answered.
“She doesn’t know.”
Lily stared.
“She doesn’t know?”
“She was hired online.”
Victor’s expression became terrifying.
“By who?”
Thomas swallowed.
“The payment came from an account under the name Adrian Varga.”
Eleanor dropped the photograph.
It hit the floor.
Victor whispered.
“That’s impossible.”
Thomas looked at him.
“There’s more.”
Everyone waited.
“The account was active yesterday.”
Lily felt cold.
May you like
Adrian Varga was alive.
Or someone wanted them to believe he was.
