Chapter 3 - THE BROTHER WHO DISAPPEARED
Victor had not said Damian’s name inside the mansion in almost a decade.
Their father had made sure of that.
Nine years earlier, Damian Blackwood had been accused of stealing eighteen million dollars from the family investment company.
Documents had carried his signature.
Wire transfers had led to offshore accounts.
Victor had testified against him.
Damian disappeared before charges were filed.
Their father died six months later.
Victor inherited everything.
And Damian became the family ghost.
Now Serena had a photograph of him standing beside Ethan.
“Where did you get this?”
Serena leaned back.
“You should ask your security team.”
Victor looked toward Marcus.
Marcus’s face had gone tight.
“I’ll check immediately.”
Victor turned back.
“Why was Damian near my son?”
“That’s the wrong question.”
“What’s the right one?”
“Why was your son meeting him willingly?”
Victor grabbed Serena’s phone.
There were four more photographs.
Damian outside Ethan’s school.
Damian across the street from the mansion.
Damian speaking to Martha near a grocery store.
And one photograph that made Victor’s blood run cold.
Damian holding baby Sophie.
Victor looked at Martha.
“Martha.”
The old woman went pale.
“Sir, I can explain.”
“Explain now.”
Martha’s hands trembled.
“Damian came back three months ago.”
Victor stared at her.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he begged me not to.”
Victor laughed once in disbelief.
“My brother, who robbed this family, secretly held my daughter and you thought I shouldn’t know?”
Martha’s face changed.
“Damian didn’t steal that money.”
The room went silent.
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
“Your father framed him.”
Victor almost smiled.
“That is absurd.”
“I saw the original accounts.”
Victor shook his head.
“You were a housemaid.”
“I was also your mother’s personal assistant for twenty-eight years.”
Victor said nothing.
Martha stepped closer.
“Your father moved the money.”
“Damian discovered it.”
“He threatened to expose him.”
“So your father forged Damian’s signature and destroyed his reputation.”
Victor felt a dull pressure in his chest.
“You expect me to believe this?”
“No.”
Martha nodded toward Serena.
“But I expect you to ask why your fiancée knows Damian is back.”
Victor turned.
Serena was no longer smiling.
Victor noticed.
“Answer her.”
Serena shrugged.
“I hired someone to look into your family.”
“Why?”
“Because I was marrying into it.”
Victor stepped closer.
“And why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you don’t respond well to unpleasant truths.”
Martha laughed bitterly.
“That’s rich coming from you.”
Serena shot her a vicious look.
Victor caught that too.
Marcus returned holding a tablet.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“We checked the school cameras.”
“And?”
“The photos Serena showed you are real.”
Victor’s jaw clenched.
“But there’s more.”
Marcus placed the tablet down.
Video footage showed Damian waiting outside Ethan’s private school.
Ethan approached him.
They talked.
Then Damian handed Ethan something.
A small envelope.
Victor whispered, “What was in it?”
Ethan looked up from the doorway.
“A key.”
Every adult turned.
Victor’s chest tightened.
“What key?”
Ethan walked in.
He removed a thin chain from beneath his shirt.
A small brass key hung from it.
Victor stared.
“Damian gave you that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said if something bad happened, I should open Grandpa’s old room.”
Victor’s expression changed.
His father’s old office had been sealed after his death.
Victor had never touched it.
“What did Damian say was inside?”
Ethan swallowed.
“He said proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Ethan looked at Serena.
“Proof that she came here before you met her.”
Serena stood suddenly.
“That’s enough.”
Marcus moved between them.
Victor stared at his fiancée.
“What does that mean?”
Serena shook her head.
“Damian is manipulating your son.”
Victor ignored her.
He held out his hand to Ethan.
“Show me.”
The family crossed the mansion.
Past the ballroom.
Past the old library.
At the end of the west corridor stood a walnut door Victor had not opened since his father’s funeral.
Ethan inserted the brass key.
It turned.
Victor pushed the door inward.
Dust covered the furniture.
Old books lined the walls.
Portraits stared down from the darkness.
Victor’s father’s desk sat beneath the window.
Ethan pointed underneath it.
“Uncle Damian said there’s a hidden drawer.”
Victor knelt.
His fingers found a small lever.
Click.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside sat a red leather folder.
Victor pulled it out.
The first pages were bank records.
The second were letters.
Then came photographs.
Victor froze.
Serena stood beside his father.
The picture was ten years old.
She looked younger.
But there was no question.
It was her.
Victor stared at Serena.
“You told me you never met my father.”
Serena’s face went blank.
Victor flipped to another photograph.
His father.
Serena.
Damian.
All three standing in the same room.
Behind the photograph, someone had written one sentence.
VICTOR MUST NEVER KNOW WHAT SHE DID.
Victor looked up.
“What did you do?”
May you like
Serena said nothing.
Then a gunshot exploded downstairs.
