Chapter 7: The Enemy Inside The House
Chapter 7: The Enemy Inside The House
The room felt smaller the moment Alexander Vale stepped inside.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Because the impossible had happened again.
First, a dead man returned.
Now, the man who had spent ten years hiding was standing in the middle of the Blackwood family's deepest secret.
Alive.
Calm.
And carrying the weight of a decade of revenge in his eyes.
Ryan was the first to break the silence.
"You were here."
Alexander looked at him.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Long enough."
Ryan's jaw tightened.
"You watched us."
"I needed to know who was telling the truth."
Emily stared at him.
"Alexander..."
He looked at her.
For a moment, his expression softened.
The anger disappeared.
The man behind the revenge appeared.
"You shouldn't have called me."
Emily looked hurt.
"I had no one else."
"I know."
"Then why are you angry?"
Alexander looked away.
"Because the moment you called me, I knew they would come for you."
Ryan stepped forward.
"Who is they?"
Alexander's eyes moved around the room.
"The enemy inside this house."
Everyone became still.
Because everyone knew what he meant.
The Blackwood mansion had always been full of secrets.
But now Alexander was saying something worse.
The danger wasn't outside.
It was already living among them.
Victoria remained calm.
Too calm.
She looked at Alexander like she was seeing an old enemy return.
"You always were dramatic."
Alexander smiled slightly.
"And you always were arrogant."
Ryan looked between them.
"You two know each other too well."
Alexander didn't answer.
Victoria did.
"We knew each other before you were born."
Ryan froze.
"What?"
Victoria walked toward the old desk.
"Alexander wasn't just your father's employee."
She looked at him.
"He was family."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Alexander's expression darkened.
"Don't listen to her."
But Victoria continued.
"His father worked with mine."
She smiled.
"The Vale and Blackwood families built this empire together."
Ryan stared.
"Then why did everyone say he betrayed us?"
Victoria looked at Alexander.
"Because he did."
Alexander laughed quietly.
"Still lying after all these years."
Ryan looked at him.
"Then tell me the truth."
Alexander remained silent.
"Everyone keeps saying they know the truth."
Ryan's voice became stronger.
"But nobody tells me anything."
He looked at all of them.
"I want the truth."
For the first time, Alexander looked at him differently.
Not as an enemy.
Not as Richard Blackwood's son.
But as a victim.
"You really don't know."
Ryan frowned.
"Know what?"
Alexander stepped closer.
"That your father and I were trying to destroy the Blackwood empire."
Silence.
Victoria's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Ryan noticed.
"Destroy?"
Alexander nodded.
"Because we discovered what it really was."
Ten years ago.
Richard Blackwood was not the powerful man everyone believed him to be.
Behind the public image was a man trapped inside his own creation.
The empire had grown too large.
Too dangerous.
Too corrupt.
When Richard tried to expose the people controlling it, he discovered something terrifying.
The Blackwoods were not at the top.
They were only the face.
Someone else controlled the money.
The decisions.
The disappearances.
The secrets.
And that person had been protecting the Blackwood name for decades.
Present day.
"Who?"
Ryan asked.
"Who controls everything?"
Alexander looked at Victoria.
She didn't react.
That frightened him more.
"Your mother knows."
Ryan turned.
"Mother?"
Victoria sighed.
"You are all making this more complicated than it needs to be."
Ryan looked at her.
"Then simplify it."
She stared at her son.
"I did what I had to do."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the only answer you need."
Ryan's voice became colder.
"Did you kill my father?"
Victoria looked at him.
"No."
Ryan seemed surprised.
"No?"
She stepped closer.
"Your father died because he chose the truth over his family."
Alexander watched her carefully.
"That is not what happened."
Victoria looked at him.
"You were never there at the end."
Alexander's eyes darkened.
"Neither were you."
The two stared at each other.
A battle between two people who knew too much.
Emily walked toward Alexander.
"You said the enemy was inside this house."
She looked around.
"Who is it?"
Alexander didn't answer.
"Alexander."
He looked at her.
"I need you to understand something."
"What?"
"Not everyone who hurts you hates you."
Emily frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means sometimes the most dangerous person is the one who believes they are protecting you."
Everyone looked at Victoria.
But Alexander shook his head.
"No."
The answer shocked them.
"No?"
Alexander looked toward Ryan.
"The enemy isn't Victoria."
Ryan stared.
"Then who?"
Alexander's expression became serious.
"The enemy is the person who has been controlling Victoria."
The room went silent.
Because for years everyone believed Victoria was the monster.
But Alexander was saying something else.
She was only a piece.
A weapon.
A person being used.
Ryan looked at his mother.
"Is that true?"
Victoria didn't answer.
And somehow, that was worse.
Suddenly, the mansion security alarm activated.
A loud siren echoed through the building.
Everyone turned.
Michael immediately moved toward the door.
"What happened?"
A security monitor turned on automatically.
The screen showed the front gate.
A black vehicle had entered the property.
Ryan looked confused.
"Who is that?"
The security system identified the driver.
One name appeared.
DANIEL CARTER.
Emily froze.
Her face lost all color.
"No."
Ryan looked at her.
"Your father?"
Emily couldn't breathe.
"That's impossible."
Alexander stared at the screen.
For the first time tonight...
he looked afraid.
"Turn it off."
Michael looked at him.
"Why?"
Alexander's voice became a whisper.
"Because that isn't Daniel."
The screen zoomed closer.
The person inside the car lifted his head.
The camera captured his face.
Emily stepped backward.
Because the man looking into the camera...
had her father's face.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Then the mansion doors opened.
Footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Slow.
Confident.
Familiar.
A man entered.
Older.
Wearing a dark coat.
His eyes immediately found Emily.
"Emily."
Her knees almost gave out.
"Father?"
Ryan looked at Alexander.
"Explain."
Alexander didn't answer.
Because even he didn't understand.
The man smiled.
"Everyone thought I was dead."
He looked around the room.
"The same way everyone thought Alexander was dead."
He glanced at Alexander.
"Funny how often the Blackwoods are wrong about death."
Emily was crying now.
"This can't be real."
The man approached her.
"I know you have questions."
She couldn't move.
"Who are you?"
The man smiled sadly.
"The man who started all of this."
A pause.
"My name is Daniel Carter."
Ryan stepped forward.
"But that's impossible."
Daniel looked at him.
"Is it?"
Then he said the words that changed everything:
"Ryan Blackwood..."
His eyes moved toward Victoria.
"...your mother knows exactly why I survived."
Victoria finally lost her calm.
For the first time in ten years...
she looked terrified.
Later that night, after Daniel disappeared into the mansion archives with Alexander, Ryan found Victoria alone.
He stood at the doorway.
"You knew."
Victoria didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"That Daniel was alive?"
"Yes."
Ryan's voice broke.
"How many secrets have you kept from me?"
Victoria looked at her son.
"Enough to keep you alive."
Ryan shook his head.
"No."
He stepped closer.
"Enough to keep me blind."
For a moment, Victoria looked like a mother.
Not a queen.
Not a villain.
Just a tired woman who had spent years fighting a war nobody else could see.
Then she whispered:
"You still don't understand."
Ryan stared.
"Understand what?"
Victoria looked toward the darkness of the mansion.
"The Blackwoods were never the enemy."
A pause.
"The enemy has been waiting for you to find this house."
Ryan frowned.
"Who?"
Victoria looked back at him.
And whispered:
"The person who created the Blackwood empire."
Deep beneath the mansion, Alexander stood with Daniel Carter.
Ten years of anger.
Ten years of questions.
Ten years of pretending.
Finally, they faced each other again.
Daniel looked older.
But alive.
"You shouldn't have brought Emily into this."
Alexander's eyes hardened.
"I didn't."
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
"Then someone else did."
A cold silence followed.
"Who?"
Daniel answered:
"The same person who made us all believe we were enemies."
Alexander frowned.
"Who?"
Daniel looked at him.
"The first Blackwood."
Alexander froze.
Because that name belonged to someone who died almost fifty years ago.
But Daniel whispered:
"He's alive."
And somewhere in the darkness of the mansion...
an old man opened his eyes.
May you like
Smiling.
End of Chapter 7
