Chapter 8: The Other Children

Chapter 8: The Other Children

The memory card contained patient files.

Hundreds of them.

Teenagers declared unstable without proper evaluations.

Children placed in isolation after wealthy relatives paid the clinic.

Young heirs whose guardians gained control of their money after they were committed.

Blackwood was not merely a clinic.

It was a business built on making inconvenient children disappear.

Victoria and Daniel had discovered it through Dr. Mercer.

But they were not the first people to use it.

The documents exposed judges, lawyers, business executives, and private trustees.

Detective Warren contacted federal investigators.

Dr. Mercer agreed to cooperate in exchange for protection.

He confessed that Victoria had paid him to create a diagnosis for Lily.

“She wanted the girl declared permanently incapable of managing her finances,” he said.

“And the injection?” I asked.

“A sedative.”

Lily looked at him.

“You said it would make me forget.”

Mercer lowered his eyes.

Victoria had told Lily the drug would damage her memory and make every accusation sound confused.

Whether that was medically true did not matter.

She wanted Lily terrified.

The fire at Blackwood was contained, but Victoria escaped through an underground service tunnel.

Daniel remained in custody.

Mark Price refused to speak.

Then federal agents searched Daniel’s apartment.

They found photographs of me, Lily, and Elena covering an entire wall.

Some dated back twelve years.

Daniel had not chosen me randomly.

He had known Elena.

In a locked drawer, investigators found letters addressed to my late wife.

Love letters.

Threatening letters.

Letters begging her to leave me.

Daniel had been obsessed with Elena long before he became my assistant.

When she rejected him, he joined my company under a false employment history and became the most trusted person in my professional life.

Then investigators uncovered something worse.

Elena’s death had been ruled a car accident nine years earlier.

Daniel’s private files contained photographs of the crash scene taken before police arrived.

He had known about the accident too quickly.

I confronted him in the interrogation room.

“You killed her.”

Daniel smiled faintly.

“I loved her.”

“You destroyed her car.”

“She chose you.”

His calmness made my blood run cold.

“You spent twelve years pretending to be my friend.”

“I spent twelve years watching you live the life she should have had with me.”

“And Lily?”

His expression hardened.

“She has Elena’s eyes.”

“So you wanted to destroy her too?”

“I wanted you to feel what I felt.”

I leaned across the table.

“You failed.”

He smiled again.

“No, Robert.”

Then he looked toward the observation glass.

“Because Victoria isn’t running from the police.”

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