Chapter 6 - SEVEN YEARS OF LIES
The board meeting became an evidence hearing.
Detective Ramirez connected a laptop to the wall screen.
The first image showed Saint Catherine’s east wing.
The second showed Amelia’s locked room.
The third showed Victor entering with the syringe.
Several board members turned away.
Victor stared straight ahead.
Ethan remained standing beside Lily.
“Play the next file.”
Ramirez did.
An audio recording filled the room.
Nora’s voice came first.
“The dosage in the tea is enough?”
Then Victor.
“It needs to look like cardiac failure.”
No one moved.
Victor’s own voice continued.
“The board vote begins at nine.”
“Ethan dies tonight.”
“Amelia follows before noon.”
“The child becomes irrelevant by afternoon.”
Lily’s fingers tightened around Ethan’s.
He immediately stopped the recording.
“That’s enough.”
Victor smirked.
“Edited.”
Ramirez said, “Forensic verification is already underway.”
Richard Sloan leaned toward his lawyer.
Ethan saw panic traveling around the table like electricity.
Then Marcus entered.
He whispered something to Ethan.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“Bring her in.”
Victor looked toward the door.
Nora entered under guard.
Her face was swollen from crying.
She would not look at Lily.
Victor said, “You stupid woman.”
Nora flinched.
Ramirez stepped forward.
“Nora Bell has agreed to provide a statement.”
Sloan stood.
“You cannot conduct a criminal interrogation during a corporate meeting.”
Ethan looked at him.
“This stopped being a corporate meeting when you planned my death.”
Nora began speaking.
She described the hospital fire.
The nurse who rescued Lily.
The cash payments.
The fake adoption documents.
The apartments where Lily had been moved.
The threats.
Then she said something Ethan had not heard before.
“Victor wasn’t the one who brought Lily into the mansion.”
Ethan turned.
“Who did?”
Nora looked toward Margaret Voss.
Every eye followed.
Margaret’s face drained.
“That is a lie.”
Nora shook her head.
“You said Ethan needed to see her without knowing.”
Margaret stood.
“I never said that.”
“You said Victor was becoming unstable.”
Nora continued.
“You said if Ethan recognized Lily on his own, you could use it against Victor.”
Margaret’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Victor suddenly laughed.
“You thought you could replace me.”
Margaret looked at him with hatred.
Victor continued.
“You brought the child into Ethan’s house because you wanted leverage.”
Ethan understood.
The conspiracy had begun to fracture years ago.
Not because anyone developed a conscience.
Because they had become greedy.
Margaret wanted control of the trust committee.
Sloan wanted legal authority.
Crane wanted financial access.
Victor wanted everything.
Lily had been moved into Blackwood Manor as a living insurance policy.
Nora began sobbing.
“I thought being near him might keep her safer.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You poisoned my tea.”
“I was afraid.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“No.”
“It doesn’t.”
Lily stared at Nora.
“Aunt Nora?”
Nora looked at her.
Lily’s voice was tiny.
“Did you ever love me?”
The question devastated the room more than any recording.
Nora broke.
“Yes.”
Lily shook her head.
“You kept me in the dark room.”
“I know.”
“You told me Daddy would hate me.”
“I know.”
“You told me Mommy was sick because of me.”
Nora covered her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily looked toward Ethan.
She did not cry.
She simply moved closer to him.
Ethan placed his arm around her shoulders.
Then he looked at the adults around the table.
“This is what your billion-dollar conspiracy bought.”
“Seven years of terror for a child.”
No one answered.
Ethan turned to Peter Crane.
“You have been very quiet.”
Crane swallowed.
“I had nothing to do with the fire.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Ethan nodded toward Marcus.
Marcus placed a financial ledger on the table.
“Blackwood Group lost one hundred eighty-six million dollars through shell transfers over seven years.”
Crane’s face turned gray.
Ethan opened the ledger.
“And every transfer was authorized from your office.”
Peter Crane stood suddenly.
“I want an attorney.”
Ramirez stepped forward.
“You should.”
The boardroom doors closed behind him.
Then Victor leaned toward Ethan.
“You still think this is about money.”
Ethan looked at him.
May you like
Victor smiled.
“Ask your wife why Jonathan Blackwood was really killed.”
