CHAPTER 5 — THE MAN WHO KNEW HER MOTHER
CHAPTER 5 — THE MAN WHO KNEW HER MOTHER
The footsteps stopped.
One step above them.
Then another.
Leah couldn't move.
Daniel stood between her and the staircase, his body tense, one hand raised as though he could somehow shield her from whatever was coming.
The old house was silent.
Too silent.
Then a man's voice drifted down from the darkness.
“Daniel?”
Daniel froze.
The voice sounded old.
Rough.
Tired.
But strangely familiar.
Daniel whispered:
“Who are you?”
A figure appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
An elderly man.
Gray hair.
A weathered face.
A dark coat covered in rain.
He held no weapon.
Only an old leather satchel.
Leah stared at him.
The man looked at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his eyes filled with tears.
“You look exactly like Margaret.”
Leah's heart stopped.
“You knew my mother?”
The man nodded.
“I was the last person who spoke to her.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him.
“My name is Samuel Reed.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Why are you here?”
Samuel glanced toward the broken window.
“Because your mother asked me to come.”
Leah's voice trembled.
“She asked you to come here?”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
The room seemed to shrink.
Leah stared at him.
“What happened to her?”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“I lied about what happened that night.”
THE LAST NIGHT
Margaret had called Samuel at 10:17 p.m.
He remembered the time because he had been watching the clock.
He was working as a private driver for the Blackwood family then.
Margaret had asked him to meet her behind the old medical wing.
When he arrived, she was standing beneath a streetlamp.
She looked frightened.
More frightened than he had ever seen her.
“Margaret?”
She turned.
“Sam.”
“What's wrong?”
“I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
She handed him an envelope.
“If anything happens to me, take this to Evelyn.”
Samuel frowned.
“What's inside?”
“Evidence.”
“Against who?”
Margaret looked around.
Then whispered:
“Everyone.”
Samuel laughed nervously.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don't know who I can trust.”
He looked at her.
“Are you in trouble?”
“Yes.”
“Should I call the police?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because they're already involved.”
Samuel stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Margaret grabbed his arm.
“Sam, listen to me.”
Her voice shook.
“They know about Daniel.”
Samuel's face changed.
“What about him?”
“They know who his real father is.”
“Thomas?”
She nodded.
“Then what?”
“They want to erase the evidence.”
Samuel understood.
“You mean the birth certificate?”
“And everything connected to it.”
Margaret looked toward the manor.
“They'll come for Leah too.”
Samuel frowned.
“Leah is a child.”
“That won't matter.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Get her out.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
Margaret placed another envelope in his hand.
“Keep this safe.”
Samuel looked at it.
“What is it?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Margaret whispered:
“Who ordered Thomas's death.”
PRESENT DAY
Leah stared at Samuel.
“My father was murdered?”
Samuel looked down.
“Yes.”
“You knew?”
“I knew enough.”
“Then why did you say it was an accident?”
Samuel's face tightened.
“Because I was paid.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“By whom?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Victor Blackwood.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“How much?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars.”
Leah couldn't believe what she was hearing.
“You took money to lie about my father's death?”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
“You let my mother believe she was alone.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up believing my father died in an accident.”
“I know.”
Leah's eyes filled with tears.
“You let a murderer walk free.”
Samuel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then Leah slapped him.
The sound echoed through the house.
Samuel didn't defend himself.
He simply accepted it.
“I deserved that.”
Leah's voice broke.
“Twenty-three years.”
“I know.”
“Twenty-three years of lies.”
“I know.”
“My mother died.”
“I know.”
“Why are you telling me now?”
Samuel looked directly at her.
“Because the man who paid me is dead.”
Daniel frowned.
“Victor isn't dead.”
Samuel shook his head.
“I'm not talking about Victor.”
“Then who?”
Samuel's eyes moved toward the staircase.
“The man who paid Victor.”
Daniel went still.
Samuel continued.
“Victor was only a messenger.”
Daniel closed the front door.
“We're not leaving until you tell us everything.”
Samuel nodded.
“That is why I came.”
He placed the leather satchel on the table.
Inside were old documents.
Bank statements.
Letters.
Photographs.
A cassette tape.
And a newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
BLACKWOOD HEIR DIES IN CAR CRASH
Leah picked it up.
Her father's photograph stared back at her.
Thomas Carter.
Young.
Handsome.
Smiling.
The article claimed he had lost control of his vehicle on a wet road.
No witnesses.
No mechanical failure.
No suspicious circumstances.
Just an accident.
Samuel pointed to the article.
“That story was false.”
“How do you know?”
“I drove behind him.”
Leah's breath caught.
“You saw the crash?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Samuel looked at her.
“Thomas wasn't driving alone.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Who was with him?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I never saw the passenger's face.”
“Why not?”
“Because the car was deliberately forced off the road.”
Leah covered her mouth.
“By who?”
“A black sedan.”
“License plate?”
Samuel nodded.
“I remembered it.”
He pulled out a folded piece of paper.
A number was written on it.
Daniel stared.
“That plate belonged to a Blackwood vehicle.”
Leah looked at him.
“Whose?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“Your father's.”
Daniel took a step backward.
“My father wasn't there.”
Samuel shook his head.
“Edward wasn't driving.”
“Then whose car was it?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Your father's driver.”
Daniel froze.
“Who?”
Samuel opened another file.
Inside was a photograph of a younger man.
Leah recognized him immediately.
She had seen him before.
At the Blackwood Foundation.
Standing beside Victor.
“That's…”
“Michael Vale,” Samuel said.
“Victor's personal driver.”
Daniel stared.
“He's still alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Samuel looked toward the door.
“That's the problem.”
A sudden noise came from outside.
Samuel stopped talking.
Daniel moved toward the window.
A car was parked across the street.
Black.
Engine running.
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Someone followed us.”
Samuel grabbed his satchel.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
“Because they know I talked.”
Leah looked at him.
“Who?”
Samuel stared at her.
“The same people who silenced your mother.”
They escaped through the back entrance.
Rain poured down.
Daniel led them through the garden.
They reached the car.
Before Samuel could open the door—
A vehicle accelerated toward them.
Daniel pushed Leah aside.
The car missed them by inches.
Samuel fell.
Leah screamed.
The vehicle disappeared down the road.
Daniel ran after it.
He stopped at the gate.
The license plate was covered.
Samuel slowly stood.
His face was pale.
“They're warning us.”
Leah looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because they don't want you to find the rest.”
“What rest?”
Samuel opened his satchel.
“There is one more thing.”
He pulled out an old photograph.
It showed Margaret.
Standing beside Thomas.
And another man.
Leah stared.
The man's face had not been scratched out this time.
It was clear.
Leah recognized him.
Her entire body went cold.
“No.”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
His face changed.
“That can't be…”
Leah whispered:
“That's impossible.”
The man in the photograph was—
Victor Blackwood.
But beneath the photograph was a handwritten date.
Twenty-four years ago.
One year before Leah was born.
Samuel pointed to it.
“Victor wasn't just your mother's enemy.”
Daniel stared.
“He knew Thomas.”
Samuel nodded.
“They were friends.”
Leah looked confused.
“Then why would he kill him?”
Samuel's expression was grim.
“Because Thomas discovered something.”
“What?”
Samuel looked at Daniel.
“Your father wasn't Edward Blackwood.”
Daniel's face went pale.
Again.
“No.”
Samuel continued.
“Thomas wasn't just your biological father.”
He looked at Leah.
“He was also the original beneficiary of the Blackwood Trust.”
Silence.
Daniel couldn't speak.
Leah finally understood.
“If Thomas had lived…”
Samuel nodded.
“Daniel would have inherited everything.”
The rain continued.
Samuel pulled another document from the satchel.
A legal agreement.
At the top:
BLACKWOOD FAMILY TRUST — SUCCESSION CLAUSE
Daniel read it.
His eyes widened.
“Thomas Carter…”
His voice broke.
“He was supposed to inherit the controlling shares.”
Samuel nodded.
“Unless he died.”
Leah stared at the document.
“So someone killed my father to keep Daniel from inheriting.”
Samuel said nothing.
“Who knew about the trust?”
“Your mother.”
“Victor?”
“Yes.”
“Cassandra?”
“Yes.”
“Edward?”
Samuel hesitated.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked up.
“Then my father…”
“Edward knew.”
“But he raised me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Samuel's answer was devastating.
“Because Edward needed you alive.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why?”
“Because the trust had one final condition.”
“What condition?”
Samuel looked at Leah.
“Daniel couldn't inherit until he reached thirty.”
Daniel's face changed.
“And?”
“You turn thirty next month.”
Silence.
Leah looked at Daniel.
He looked terrified.
Samuel continued:
“That is why everything has started again.”
The gala.
Cassandra.
The photograph.
The people searching the archive.
The attack at the Carter house.
It suddenly made sense.
Daniel was approaching the age when the trust would become active.
And someone was desperate to stop him.
But there was another problem.
Leah looked at Samuel.
“Why would they target me?”
Samuel's expression softened.
“Because your mother knew the final clause.”
“What clause?”
Samuel took out one final document.
He handed it to Leah.
She read it.
Her hands began trembling.
Upon the death of Thomas Carter, his inheritance shall pass to his biological children equally.
Leah looked at Daniel.
“Children?”
Samuel nodded.
“You and Daniel.”
Leah's heart stopped.
She looked at the document again.
Then whispered:
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew Daniel was my brother.”
“Yes.”
“And she spent her entire life keeping us apart.”
Samuel nodded.
“Because she believed separation was the only way to keep you both alive.”
Suddenly Samuel grabbed Leah's wrist.
“Wait.”
“What?”
He looked at the document.
His expression changed.
“This isn't the original.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
Samuel pointed to the signature.
“It's been altered.”
Leah looked closer.
There were faint traces beneath the ink.
Another clause had been erased.
Daniel took out his phone and photographed it.
“What did it originally say?”
Samuel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Leah remembered the cassette.
Her mother's voice.
The person you trust most has already betrayed you.
She suddenly understood.
“Maybe the missing clause explains everything.”
Daniel looked at her.
“We need the original.”
Samuel nodded.
“And I know where it is.”
“Where?”
He looked toward Blackwood Manor.
“In the private vault.”
Daniel frowned.
“My family has a private vault?”
“Your father did.”
“Where?”
Samuel looked at Leah.
“Under the chapel.”
Leah felt a chill.
“Why didn't Margaret take it?”
Samuel's eyes filled with regret.
“Because she tried.”
“And?”
“She never made it back.”
The three of them stood in silence.
Then Daniel opened the car door.
“Let's go.”
Samuel stopped him.
“No.”
Daniel turned.
“Why?”
“Because the vault isn't the only thing under that chapel.”
“What else?”
Samuel's voice dropped.
“The last person Margaret spoke to.”
Leah stared at him.
“You mean the night she died?”
Samuel nodded.
“She wasn't alone.”
“Who was with her?”
Samuel looked directly at Leah.
“Your mother.”
He paused.
May you like
“And the man who eventually killed her.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
