Chapter 12 - BROTHERS
Damian hit the wall.
Ethan woke with a start from the nearby room.
Victor immediately regretted it.
Damian touched his split lip.
“Feel better?”
“No.”
“Then maybe try asking questions.”
Victor clenched his fists.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“For nine years.”
“Longer.”
“And you never told me.”
Damian laughed.
“You testified against me.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because Dad was going to have me arrested.”
“You could have called.”
“I did.”
Victor stopped.
“When?”
“Dozens of times.”
Damian pulled out his phone.
Old screenshots.
Emails.
Messages.
All sent.
All apparently blocked.
Victor stared.
“Serena?”
“No.”
“Dad.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Even from the grave, Robert Blackwood’s lies were everywhere.
“Play Mom’s recording.”
Damian looked toward Ethan.
“Not here.”
They moved to a conference room.
Damian opened an encrypted file.
Isabelle Blackwood’s voice filled the speakers.
Victor had not heard it in twenty-six years.
He nearly broke at the first word.
“Victor.”
He gripped the table.
Her voice continued.
“If you are hearing this, something has happened to me.”
“I have made mistakes.”
“More than my sons deserve.”
Victor glanced at Damian.
Isabelle continued.
“Robert has been moving money through shell companies.”
“I believed I could stop him quietly.”
“I was wrong.”
“Evelyn knows.”
“Charles knows.”
“I no longer know who I can trust.”
A pause.
Then:
“Victor, there is something you must know.”
“Robert is not your biological father.”
Victor lowered his head.
“But he chose to be your father.”
“And whatever sins he has committed, that choice was real.”
Victor’s eyes burned.
“Damian, you are your brother’s protector.”
“Not because he is weak.”
“But because the two of you will need each other.”
Damian looked away.
The recording continued.
“I created the Isabelle Trust so neither Robert nor anyone around him could control what belongs to you.”
“It will pass to Victor first.”
“If Victor dies, it passes to his children.”
“If there are no children, it passes to Damian.”
Victor looked at his brother.
Damian nodded.
Then Isabelle said something neither expected.
“There is one exception.”
Damian frowned.
“If evidence proves a beneficiary deliberately harmed another beneficiary, control transfers permanently to the surviving branch.”
Victor sat upright.
“Meaning?”
Damian stared.
“If someone kills you, they can’t profit through the children.”
Victor’s mind raced.
That explained why Evelyn needed legal guardianship.
But not everything.
The recording continued.
“I fear Evelyn has discovered the trust.”
“If she has, she may try to use her daughter.”
Victor froze.
Serena had been a child when this recording was made.
Isabelle had known Evelyn would weaponize her.
Then came the final sentence.
“If Serena Montigue ever enters your life, do not punish her for her mother’s sins.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
Victor stared at the screen.
Damian whispered, “Mom knew.”
Victor nodded.
“She knew Serena might come.”
“And she asked you not to punish her.”
Victor looked toward the window.
“She abused my children.”
“That’s her sin.”
Victor turned.
“I know.”
Damian leaned against the table.
“So what now?”
Victor thought about Serena lying in the hospital.
Evelyn in custody.
Charles bargaining for immunity.
The company in chaos.
His children traumatized.
His family shattered.
“Now?”
Victor stood.
“We stop letting dead people decide what happens next.”
The door opened.
Marcus entered.
His face was grim.
“What happened?”
“Serena woke up.”
Victor grabbed his coat.
Marcus did not move.
“That’s not the problem.”
“What is?”
“She asked for Ethan.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“No.”
“She says she has something that belongs to him.”
“What?”
Marcus handed Victor an evidence photo from Serena’s clothing.
A small silver key.
Victor stared at it.
Marcus said:
“She claims it opens a deposit box containing videos of Evelyn hurting your children.”
Victor looked up.
“Videos?”
Marcus nodded.
“And she says one of those videos shows someone else helping Evelyn.”
Victor felt cold.
“Who?”
May you like
Marcus shook his head.
“She refuses to say unless Ethan hears it from her.”
