Chapter 9 - The Price of Blood
Victor was taken to surgery.
Ethan was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit.
Lily refused treatment until doctors promised she could remain near him.
Margaret sat outside the room.
Neither woman knew what to say.
Sixteen years of lies stood between them.
“You let me think you were dead,” Lily finally said.
Margaret looked down.
“Damon found me after I contacted Elena.”
“He threatened you.”
“He threatened you.”
Lily’s anger faltered.
“He sent me a photograph of you sleeping.”
“I disappeared the next morning.”
“You could have warned me.”
“I tried.”
Margaret removed a folded letter from her coat.
It was addressed to Lily.
The envelope had never been opened.
“Every letter came back.”
“Damon controlled your building manager.”
Lily looked through the glass at Ethan.
“How many people did he control?”
“Enough.”
A lawyer approached them.
He introduced himself as Thomas Vale.
“Elena Blackwood’s private attorney.”
Lily stood.
“You knew about Ethan.”
“I knew Elena was investigating his biological family.”
“You knew I was related to him.”
“I learned after Elena’s death.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Serena was watching every contact.”
Lily laughed bitterly.
“So everyone protected me by leaving me alone inside her house.”
Thomas accepted the accusation.
“Yes.”
“It was a terrible decision.”
He placed a sealed folder on the table.
“Elena amended the Blackwood trust.”
“Ethan remains the primary heir.”
“But until he reaches adulthood, control passes to his closest verified blood relative.”
“Me.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want it.”
“That does not matter.”
“It will matter when I refuse.”
Thomas looked toward the elevator.
“You cannot refuse immediately.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust activates automatically if Victor is incapacitated.”
Lily’s eyes narrowed.
“He was shot.”
“He is in surgery.”
Thomas nodded.
“For the next seventy-two hours, you legally control the trust.”
Margaret stood.
“Then she is in danger.”
Thomas looked at Lily.
“She was in danger the moment Damon learned Elena had found her.”
The hospital lights suddenly flickered.
Every monitor inside Ethan’s room went dark.
Lily ran toward the door.
Emergency power returned seconds later.
A nurse checked Ethan’s equipment.
“He is stable.”
Thomas looked down the corridor.
“That was not an accident.”
Victor’s security chief approached.
“We have a problem.”
“What?” Lily asked.
“Three Blackwood accounts were emptied six minutes ago.”
Thomas went pale.
“Only the acting trustee can authorize that.”
Everyone looked at Lily.
“I did not touch anything.”
The security chief held up a tablet.
Her electronic signature appeared on the transfers.
Lily stared at it.
Serena was in custody.
Damon was under armed guard.
Yet someone was still moving against them.
Thomas checked the destination.
“The money was sent to a company owned by Lily.”
“I do not own a company.”
“It was registered this morning.”
Margaret looked toward the elevators.
“They are framing her again.”
Police officers entered the corridor.
The same detective who had tried to arrest Lily earlier walked toward her.
He held a warrant.
“Lily Harper.”
Victor’s security chief stepped between them.
“She is under Blackwood protection.”
The detective smiled.
“Victor Blackwood is unconscious.”
“And according to these records, Lily just stole ninety million dollars.”
Lily looked toward the operating room.
She realized exactly why the accounts had been emptied.
The transfer was not about money.
It was about removing her before Victor woke up.
The detective reached for her.
Margaret slapped his hand away.
He grabbed Margaret’s wrist.
Lily stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
The detective’s smile widened.
“Come quietly.”
Thomas leaned toward Lily.
“If they take you, they will force you to sign control of the trust.”
“To whom?”
Before Thomas could answer, Serena appeared at the far end of the corridor.
She was wearing a clean dress.
No handcuffs.
No guards.
Lily’s blood went cold.
Serena walked toward them with a judge and two federal marshals.
She held a legal document.
“The court released me.”
“That’s impossible,” Margaret said.
Serena smiled.
“Damon confessed to everything.”
“He claimed I was another victim.”
Lily stared at her.
“You held Ethan hostage.”
“There is no recording.”
“The convent security system was destroyed.”
“The officers saw you.”
“My attorney says they saw chaos.”
Serena handed the court order to Thomas.
“Lily has been declared temporarily unfit to manage the trust.”
Thomas read the page.
His face lost color.
Serena continued.
“As Victor’s fiancée and Ethan’s intended guardian, I have been granted emergency control.”
Lily looked at the judge.
“She abused him.”
“Those allegations are under investigation,” the judge replied.
Serena leaned closer to Lily.
“I told you nobody would believe a cheap nanny.”
May you like
Then she looked through the glass at Ethan.
“And now I can legally take him home.”
