Chapter 3 — The Family Behind the Mask
Chapter 3 — The Family Behind the Mask
By sunrise, the Blackwood name was already beginning to crack.
Not publicly.
Not yet.
The television networks were still reporting the gala as an "unexpected security incident."
The newspapers were still using careful language.
Private dispute.
Investigation underway.
Unconfirmed allegations.
That was how powerful families survived.
They didn't erase the truth.
They buried it beneath softer words.
But inside the Blackwood estate, nobody was pretending anymore.
The masks had come off.
And what I saw underneath was worse than I had imagined.
The Blackwood Family
At 6:12 a.m., my father received a call.
He listened silently.
Then his expression changed.
"He's here."
I looked at him.
"Who?"
"Damian's father."
My heart tightened.
"Victor?"
My father nodded.
"Victor Blackwood is demanding a meeting."
I almost laughed.
"Demanding?"
My father placed his phone on the table.
"He says he wants to negotiate."
"Negotiate what?"
"Your future."
I stared at him.
"My future?"
My father nodded.
"Apparently, he still thinks you're an asset."
Something inside me went cold.
After everything that had happened, Victor still couldn't see me as a person.
Only an obstacle.
Or an opportunity.
I stood.
"Where is he?"
"Waiting in the east wing."
"Then let's go."
My father caught my arm.
"You don't have to."
I looked at him.
"Yes."
I smiled faintly.
"I do."
The East Wing
The east wing had been closed to guests.
Security guards lined the corridor.
Every door was locked.
Every camera was active.
When I entered the conference room, Victor Blackwood was standing beside the window.
He looked older than he had the night before.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
His silver hair was disordered.
For the first time, the man who had spent decades controlling boardrooms looked like someone who had discovered that money had limits.
But his eyes were unchanged.
Cold.
Calculating.
He turned toward me.
"Elena."
I stopped across the room.
"Mr. Blackwood."
He frowned.
"You used to call me Father."
"I used to."
He looked at my father.
"Alexander."
My father didn't respond.
Victor sighed.
"You've gone too far."
I almost smiled.
"Your son assaulted me."
"It was a mistake."
I stared at him.
"A mistake?"
"He lost his temper."
"He hit me twice."
Victor's expression hardened.
"I know."
"Then don't call it a mistake."
Silence.
Victor walked toward the table.
"I came here to prevent a catastrophe."
"The catastrophe already happened."
"No."
He shook his head.
"You don't understand what will happen if this becomes public."
I looked at him.
"Your reputation?"
"Our entire family."
"Maybe it should."
His jaw tightened.
"You think this is revenge."
"No."
I shook my head.
"It's accountability."
The First Threat
Victor's voice became quieter.
"Your father has always been emotional when it comes to you."
My father smiled.
"Choose your next words carefully."
Victor ignored him.
"Elena, if this becomes a public scandal, your name will be dragged through it too."
I frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
He placed a file on the table.
"Your marriage."
I didn't move.
"Five years of financial records."
He opened the file.
"Joint accounts."
"Property transfers."
"Corporate positions."
"Charitable foundations."
He looked at me.
"You'll lose as much as Damian."
I smiled.
"That's your threat?"
"I'm telling you the truth."
"No."
I walked toward the table.
"You're telling me what you want me to believe."
I opened the file.
The documents were carefully prepared.
Too carefully.
Victor had been preparing for this conversation long before the gala.
Then I noticed something.
A signature.
I knew it immediately.
Mine.
But it wasn't my signature.
It was a forged copy.
I looked at Victor.
"Who forged this?"
He said nothing.
I lifted the document.
"This says I transferred controlling authority of my family trust to Damian."
Victor remained silent.
My father's expression became ice.
"You forged my daughter's signature."
Victor finally answered.
"Damian needed protection."
I stared at him.
"You planned to steal my inheritance."
"We planned to secure the family's future."
"Your family."
He looked at me.
"Yes."
That one word told me everything.
The Secret Marriage
I remembered something.
A conversation from four years earlier.
Victor had once told me:
"Marriage is about building a dynasty."
I had thought it was old-fashioned.
Now I understood.
He had never wanted a daughter-in-law.
He wanted a key.
A key to my family.
A key to my father's wealth.
A key to the trust that had protected my family for generations.
And Damian had been that key.
I looked at Victor.
"How long?"
He didn't answer.
"How long have you been planning to take control of my trust?"
His silence was enough.
My father stepped forward.
"Twenty-three years."
Victor's eyes snapped toward him.
I looked at my father.
"What?"
He nodded.
"That's when it began."
"Before I met Damian?"
"Before you were old enough to understand."
I felt the room shift beneath me.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
My father looked at Victor.
"Because I wanted you to grow up without becoming suspicious of everyone."
Victor laughed.
"How noble."
My father ignored him.
"I wanted you to have a normal life."
I looked at him.
"And did I?"
He didn't answer.
Because we both knew.
No.
The Old War
Victor walked toward the window.
"Your father destroyed my family twenty-three years ago."
My father finally spoke.
"You destroyed yourself."
"You took my company."
"I exposed your fraud."
"You ruined my reputation."
"You stole from investors."
Victor slammed his hand against the table.
"You always thought you were better than me!"
My father didn't flinch.
"I was never interested in being better than you."
"Then why?"
"Because you hurt innocent people."
Victor laughed bitterly.
"And you think you're different?"
My father looked at him.
"Yes."
Victor stared.
Then he smiled.
"That's what makes men like you dangerous."
He turned toward me.
"Your father never told you what really happened."
I looked at my father.
He was silent.
Victor smiled.
"Ask him."
I did.
"Dad?"
My father closed his eyes briefly.
Then he sat down.
"Twenty-three years ago, Victor and I were partners."
I listened.
"We built a company together."
Victor interrupted.
"I built it."
My father ignored him.
"We became successful."
"What happened?"
"Victor began taking money from the company."
Victor shook his head.
"That isn't what happened."
My father continued.
"He used company funds to pay political officials."
"I was protecting the company."
"You were bribing regulators."
"I was expanding."
"You were stealing."
Victor's face twisted.
"I was doing what everyone else did."
My father looked at me.
"And then I found the records."
The Original Betrayal
My father explained everything.
He had discovered that Victor had secretly transferred millions into shell companies.
When my father confronted him, Victor threatened him.
When that failed, Victor attempted to frame him for financial crimes.
My father had only one option.
He exposed the entire operation.
Victor lost his company.
My father inherited the legitimate assets.
And the Blackwood family never forgave him.
But there was another part of the story.
Something I had never known.
"Victor tried to destroy us afterward."
My father looked at me.
"Your mother was pregnant with you."
I froze.
Victor looked away.
"He threatened your mother."
My voice became quiet.
"What did he do?"
My father hesitated.
"He sent people to follow her."
My hands began to tremble.
"Why?"
"To pressure me."
Victor finally spoke.
"I never intended to hurt her."
My father turned toward him.
"You terrified her."
Victor said nothing.
My father continued.
"Your mother lost the baby before you."
Silence.
I stared at him.
"What?"
My father's voice broke slightly.
"Before you were born."
I couldn't breathe.
Victor lowered his eyes.
"You never told me."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want you to grow up carrying our war."
I looked at Victor.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The hatred.
The marriage.
The obsession with my inheritance.
The years of manipulation.
This had started long before Damian ever touched me.
I wasn't simply Damian's wife.
I was the daughter of the man Victor Blackwood had spent twenty-three years trying to destroy.
The Mask Falls
Victor suddenly looked at me.
"Elena."
I said nothing.
"You need to understand something."
"What?"
"Damian isn't like me."
I almost laughed.
"You taught him."
"I taught him to survive."
"You taught him that money made him untouchable."
Victor shook his head.
"He was weak."
"He was your son."
"That doesn't mean I approved of everything he did."
I looked at him.
"You approved of enough."
He became silent.
Then he said something I didn't expect.
"I'm sorry."
I stared at him.
The words sounded strange coming from him.
"Are you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I underestimated you."
I smiled.
"There it is."
His expression changed.
"You don't regret hurting me."
I said quietly.
"You regret miscalculating me."
Victor didn't deny it.
The Final Card
He reached into his jacket.
He removed a small envelope.
"I have something for you."
I didn't take it.
"What is it?"
"Your mother's."
My heart stopped.
Victor placed it on the table.
"I kept it."
My father stepped forward.
"What did you do?"
Victor shook his head.
"Nothing."
He looked at me.
"Your mother wrote this before she died."
I stared at the envelope.
My father's face changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Victor answered:
"She sent it to me."
My hands trembled.
"Why?"
"Because she wanted me to know that she didn't hate me."
My father looked furious.
"Don't manipulate her."
Victor shook his head.
"I'm not."
He pushed the envelope toward me.
"Read it."
I hesitated.
Then picked it up.
The paper was old.
Yellowed at the edges.
My mother's handwriting was unmistakable.
I hadn't seen it in years.
I opened the letter.
There was only one sentence.
"Elena must never become part of the war between our families."
My eyes filled with tears.
I looked up.
Victor was watching me.
My father was watching Victor.
And suddenly I understood.
My mother had known.
She had understood the danger.
She had wanted me to escape it.
And I had spent five years unknowingly walking straight into the trap she had tried to protect me from.
The Family Behind the Mask
Victor stood.
"You have the evidence."
He looked at me.
"You have the power."
He looked toward my father.
"But you still don't know the whole story."
My father stepped forward.
"Enough."
Victor smiled.
"You should tell her."
"Tell me what?"
Victor looked directly at me.
"The Blackwood family wasn't the only family involved."
My blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
He walked toward the door.
"There was someone else."
"Who?"
He stopped.
Then looked over his shoulder.
"Someone inside your father's organization."
My father's expression changed.
For the first time that morning—
I saw fear in his eyes.
Not anger.
Not calculation.
Fear.
Victor smiled.
"Ask your father who betrayed him twenty-three years ago."
Then he left.
The door closed.
I turned slowly toward my father.
"Dad."
He didn't answer.
"Who betrayed you?"
He remained silent.
"Dad."
Finally, he looked at me.
His voice was barely a whisper.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
He shook his head.
"I thought I did."
"Who?"
He looked toward the closed door.
Then at the old letter in my hands.
"There was one person."
My heart began pounding.
"Who?"
My father took a breath.
"Someone I trusted more than anyone."
He paused.
"Someone who has been beside our family ever since."
The room seemed to grow colder.
"Who?"
My father looked directly into my eyes.
And whispered:
"Your godfather."
I froze.
Because suddenly, the Blackwood family's revenge no longer looked like the whole story.
It was only one layer.
Behind Victor.
Behind Damian.
Behind the stolen money.
There was another player.
Someone who had been hiding in plain sight for twenty-three years.
Someone my family had trusted.
Someone who knew every secret.
Every account.
Every weakness.
Every door.
And if Victor was telling the truth—
that person had been waiting for the perfect moment to destroy us from the inside.
My father picked up the old letter.
"Elena."
I looked at him.
"Whatever happens next..."
His expression was unlike anything I had ever seen.
"...don't trust anyone."
I stared at the closed door.
Then at the letter.
Then at the first light of morning breaking through the windows.
The Blackwood family had worn masks for decades.
But now I understood something terrifying.
They weren't the only ones wearing them.
May you like
And somewhere inside my own family...
another mask was about to come off.
