Chapter 5 - THE SECRET ETHAN NEVER KNEW
The next morning, Elena didn’t go to work.
For the first time in three years, she called in sick.
Not because she was afraid.
Because she needed a plan.
She couldn’t fight Victoria alone.
She needed someone who understood the Blackwood family.
Someone who knew the history.
Someone who could reveal what Victoria had done.
That person was Charles Blackwood’s former lawyer.
Daniel Hayes.
Elena found his name in old newspaper articles.
He had handled the Blackwood family trust for twenty years.
But after Charles died, he disappeared.
She found him living outside Boston.
A quiet man.
A man who looked like he had been carrying guilt for a long time.
When Elena arrived at his house, he almost closed the door.
“I don’t talk about the Blackwoods anymore.”
“I’m not here for gossip.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then why are you here?”
She showed him the flash drive.
His expression changed instantly.
“Where did you get that?”
“Inside Victoria Sinclair’s hidden pillow.”
Daniel stepped back.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he whispered:
“Charles was right.”
Elena frowned.
“About what?”
Daniel looked around.
Then he opened the door.
“Come inside.”
The room was filled with old documents.
Newspaper clippings.
Photos.
Files.
Daniel placed a folder on the table.
“Your employer’s father didn’t die peacefully.”
Elena swallowed.
“What happened?”
“Charles discovered Victoria wasn’t marrying Ethan because she loved him.”
Daniel opened the folder.
“She was after control of the Blackwood trust.”
Elena looked at the documents.
“She planned this years ago?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s voice became heavy.
“Charles found evidence. He was going to remove her from Ethan’s life.”
“Then he died.”
Daniel nodded.
“She made sure he couldn’t speak.”
Elena felt sick.
“How?”
Daniel looked at her.
“The same way she’s trying to control Margaret.”
A cold silence filled the room.
“The medication.”
Daniel nodded.
“Small doses. Enough to confuse someone. Enough to make people question their own memory.”
Elena remembered Margaret.
The trembling hands.
The confusion.
The fear.
Then Daniel said something worse.
“Ethan doesn’t know the truth.”
“Why not?”
“Because Victoria made him believe his father was paranoid before he died.”
Elena closed her eyes.
The entire family had been manipulated.
Daniel looked at the flash drive.
“If that contains what I think it contains, it could destroy her.”
“Can you open it?”
Daniel connected it to his computer.
The screen remained black.
Then a password prompt appeared.
One word.
BLACKWOOD.
Daniel tried.
Wrong.
Another attempt.
Wrong.
Elena thought.
Charles Blackwood.
His final days.
His family.
His secrets.
Then she remembered something.
“The note.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What note?”
“The one inside the pillow.”
She repeated the words.
Increase Ethan’s dose after the wedding.
Keep Margaret confused until the trust amendment is signed.
Destroy everything after transfer clears.
Daniel stared at the screen.
“The wedding.”
He typed.
The file opened.
Both of them leaned closer.
Inside were hundreds of documents.
Photos.
Audio recordings.
Videos.
Then one file appeared.
Created eighteen months earlier.
The title made Elena’s blood run cold.
CONFESSION — CHARLES BLACKWOOD
Daniel clicked it.
The video began.
Charles Blackwood appeared on screen.
Weak.
Pale.
But clear.
“If you are watching this…”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Then Victoria Sinclair has already tried to take everything.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Charles continued.
“And if Ethan is still alive…”
A pause.
“Tell my son the woman he loves is the reason his father is dead.”
Then the video stopped.
But before the screen went black…
A second voice appeared.
A woman’s voice.
May you like
Victoria.
“I told you nobody would believe an old man.”
