Chapter 12 - Damon’s Final Bargain
Victor recovered at a secure Blackwood property outside Chicago.
Ethan slept in a medical crib beside his bed.
Lily remained in the room.
She had not slept for nearly two days.
Every time Ethan moved, she woke.
Victor watched her from the bed.
“You should rest.”
“So should you.”
“I am not the one falling asleep while standing.”
Lily looked at him.
“You were shot.”
“You were kicked, framed, arrested, and taken hostage.”
“That is not a competition.”
Victor almost smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
The police commissioner entered.
He carried a sealed evidence bag.
Inside were fragments of the memory chip.
“We recovered these near the warehouse exit.”
“Damon took the rest.”
Lily looked at the broken pieces.
“Can anything be restored?”
“Some files.”
“Enough to expose the adoption network?”
“Not yet.”
Victor looked toward the window.
“Damon will use the remaining data as leverage.”
The commissioner nodded.
“He contacted us one hour ago.”
“What does he want?” Lily asked.
Victor already knew.
“Immunity.”
“And half the Blackwood holdings.”
The commissioner placed a phone on the table.
Damon’s recorded message played.
“Victor.”
“You have until tomorrow night.”
“Sign the transfer.”
“In exchange, I give you every file Elena collected.”
“And one more thing.”
“I give you the truth about Ethan’s adoption.”
Lily looked at Victor.
Damon’s voice continued.
“Serena told you the boy was Noah’s grandson.”
“She lied.”
Lily stopped breathing.
“The child is connected to Lily.”
“But not in the way she thinks.”
The recording ended.
Lily looked toward Ethan.
“Another lie.”
Victor’s expression was hard.
“Damon wants us uncertain.”
“It is working.”
Victor pressed a button.
Thomas Vale entered with a folder.
“We repeated Ethan’s DNA testing through three independent laboratories.”
Lily stood.
“And?”
Thomas looked at her.
“He is related to you.”
“How?”
“The results indicate a first-degree relationship.”
Lily stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
“He is either your child, your full sibling, or the child of your identical twin.”
Lily laughed once in disbelief.
“I have never had a child.”
Thomas nodded.
“Then he is most likely your brother.”
“Noah would be seventeen.”
“Ethan is fourteen months.”
Thomas opened another page.
“Your mother gave birth to twins.”
Lily turned toward Margaret.
She stood frozen in the doorway.
Lily’s voice became quiet.
“You had another child?”
Margaret began crying.
“The doctor told me one twin died.”
“Which doctor?” Victor asked.
Margaret looked at the commissioner.
“Dr. Reeves.”
The room went silent.
Margaret entered.
“Noah survived.”
“But there was a second boy.”
“I never held him.”
“I never saw him.”
“Reeves took him.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
“That still does not make sense.”
Thomas continued.
“The second child was preserved in the adoption network’s records under a false identity.”
“He grew up in a private institution.”
“He was only fifteen when Ethan was conceived.”
Lily felt sick.
“Where is he now?”
Thomas looked down.
“He died shortly after Ethan’s birth.”
Margaret covered her face.
Lily sat beside Ethan.
Her family had been stolen piece by piece.
Not through one tragedy.
Through a business.
Victor watched her.
“We will destroy everyone involved.”
Lily looked at him.
“You cannot solve this by destroying people.”
His expression remained hard.
“What would you call justice?”
“Truth.”
“Trials.”
“Names.”
“Families finding their children.”
Victor considered her answer.
Then he nodded.
“We will do it your way.”
The commissioner’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What happened?” Victor asked.
“Serena escaped custody.”
Lily stood.
“How?”
“She was being transferred to a federal facility.”
“The vehicle was attacked.”
“Damon?”
“We believe so.”
Victor looked toward Ethan.
“He needs Serena.”
“For what?” Lily asked.
“To verify the files.”
Thomas shook his head.
“Serena will never help him willingly.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“She will if he offers the one thing she has always wanted.”
Margaret whispered the answer.
“A family.”
That evening, a package arrived at the gate.
Inside was Serena’s engagement ring.
Blood stained the diamond.
A note lay beneath it.
Come to the wedding venue tomorrow night.
Bring the trust transfer.
Or Serena tells Damon where the remaining children are hidden.
May you like
Lily read the final line.
One of them carries your name.
