Chapter 13 — The Blackwood Empire Burns
Chapter 13 — The Blackwood Empire Burns
The gunshot still echoed through the chamber.
Ethan stood frozen.
One daughter was gone.
The other was crying beside him.
Arthur was on the floor.
Gabriel was bleeding from his shoulder.
And Daniel—
Daniel had disappeared.
Ethan turned toward the tunnel.
“Daniel!”
Nothing.
He ran.
Gabriel grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
“Let go.”
“He wants you to chase him.”
“I don't care.”
“You should.”
Ethan turned on him.
“He took my daughter.”
Gabriel's voice hardened.
“And if you run blindly after him, he'll take you too.”
Ethan stared at him.
Then he heard a faint sound.
A child's voice.
“Daddy!”
Ethan's heart stopped.
He looked toward the tunnel.
The voice came again.
“Daddy!”
He ran.
The passage split into three corridors.
Ethan stopped.
“Which way?”
Richard appeared behind him.
“Left.”
“How do you know?”
“I built this place.”
They ran left.
Behind them, alarms began screaming.
Red emergency lights flashed across the walls.
The Blackwood estate had activated its self-destruct protocol.
Richard's face changed.
“What?”
“What's happening?”
“Arthur's burning the Archive.”
Ethan stopped.
“The records?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop him.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because the fire isn't coming from inside.”
Richard pointed upward.
“The entire estate is burning.”
Smoke began pouring through the ventilation system.
Ethan coughed.
“Where is Daniel?”
Richard shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“He has my daughter.”
“We'll find him.”
“You'd better.”
They continued running.
Then the corridor exploded behind them.
The force threw Ethan against the wall.
Richard fell.
Gabriel dragged him up.
“Move!”
Ethan looked back.
Fire had consumed the tunnel.
The flames raced toward them.
“We're trapped.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward a narrow door.
“There.”
They rushed inside.
The door slammed shut.
For several seconds, there was only darkness.
Then a light flickered on.
Ethan looked around.
It was an old command room.
Hundreds of monitors covered the walls.
One screen was still active.
A live feed.
Daniel.
He was carrying Ethan's daughter through a burning corridor.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Daniel.”
Daniel stopped.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then he spoke.
“Ethan.”
Ethan grabbed the microphone.
“Where are you?”
“Under the east wing.”
“Put her down.”
Daniel looked at the child.
“She isn't safe with you.”
“She is my daughter.”
Daniel's expression broke.
“She is my granddaughter.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
Daniel looked into the camera.
“I lied about everything.”
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
A birth certificate.
Ethan's name was listed as the father.
The mother's name was Amelia.
But beneath it was a second document.
A genetic analysis.
Daniel had highlighted one sentence.
MATERNAL LINE: CONFIRMED.
Ethan frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel's voice came through the speaker.
“It means Amelia wasn't your wife when the twins were born.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“She was your sister.”
Silence.
Gabriel stepped toward the monitor.
“Daniel.”
Daniel ignored him.
“The Blackwoods changed identities for generations.”
Ethan's stomach turned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Daniel continued.
“The woman you knew as Amelia was actually Evelyn.”
Richard's face went white.
“No.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Yes.”
Richard stepped backward.
“My wife died.”
“No.”
“She died seven years ago.”
Daniel shook his head.
“She disappeared.”
Richard whispered:
“Then who did I bury?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Where is the real Amelia?”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Dead.”
“Who killed her?”
“You did.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“What?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You killed her.”
“That is impossible.”
“You were the one who signed the medical authorization.”
“I was unconscious.”
“You were manipulated.”
“By whom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“By me.”
Ethan stared.
Daniel continued.
“Arthur ordered it.”
“Why?”
“Because Amelia discovered the truth about the twins.”
“What truth?”
“That they weren't supposed to survive.”
The command room shook.
A ceiling beam collapsed.
Fire poured through the doorway.
Richard shouted:
“We have to leave!”
Ethan looked at the screen.
“Daniel!”
Daniel looked at him.
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“You took my daughter.”
“I took her to save her.”
“From what?”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“From you.”
Ethan froze.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel looked toward the child.
“She remembers.”
“Remembers what?”
“The night the hospital burned.”
The little girl suddenly looked up.
“Daddy.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
She whispered:
“I remember the fire.”
Ethan knelt.
“What happened?”
“There were two men.”
“Who?”
“Grandpa Daniel.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“And another man.”
“Who?”
The girl pointed toward the screen.
Arthur appeared in the doorway behind Daniel.
Ethan's blood turned cold.
Arthur smiled.
The screen went black.
A second explosion rocked the estate.
The command room doors began to melt.
Richard shouted:
“Now!”
They ran.
The entire mansion above them was collapsing.
Fire raced through the walls.
Ethan could hear screams in the distance.
Security officers were trying to evacuate the remaining staff.
Outside, black smoke covered the sky.
The Blackwood estate was burning.
The oldest symbol of the family was disappearing in front of Ethan's eyes.
But he couldn't think about the mansion.
He couldn't think about the company.
He couldn't think about the billions.
His daughter was still missing.
They reached the main courtyard.
Helicopters were landing.
Security teams surrounded the property.
Then Ethan saw someone running toward him.
His daughter.
The girl Daniel had taken.
She ran directly into his arms.
“Daddy!”
Ethan dropped to his knees.
He held her tightly.
“Where is Daniel?”
She cried.
“He left me.”
“Where?”
“He said he had to stop Arthur.”
Ethan looked around.
“Where's Arthur?”
No answer.
Then Gabriel pointed toward the burning mansion.
“He's inside.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
Gabriel's expression was grim.
“Because the Archive is underneath it.”
Ethan looked at the flames.
“He wants to destroy everything.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Not everything.”
“What?”
“The evidence.”
Ethan understood.
“If the Archive burns, nobody can prove what he did.”
Richard shook his head.
“It's too late.”
“Why?”
“The fire has reached the vault.”
Ethan looked at the mansion.
Then at his daughters.
Then at Gabriel.
“I need to go back.”
Gabriel grabbed his shoulder.
“No.”
“I have to.”
“You have two children.”
“Exactly.”
“You can't protect them if you die.”
Ethan looked toward the burning building.
“Then come with me.”
Gabriel stared.
“You're serious.”
“Yes.”
Richard stepped forward.
“I'll go.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“No.”
Richard looked at him.
“I'm the only one who knows the vault.”
Gabriel sighed.
“Fine.”
The three men ran toward the burning mansion.
Inside, the heat was unbearable.
The ceiling collapsed behind them.
Smoke filled the corridors.
Richard led them toward the underground staircase.
They reached the Archive.
The steel doors were glowing red.
Richard placed his hand against the scanner.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Ethan stepped forward.
The scanner activated.
PRIMARY HEIR CONFIRMED.
The door opened.
Inside, flames had already reached the outer shelves.
Documents burned.
Photographs turned to ash.
Bank records disappeared into the fire.
Generations of secrets were being erased.
Ethan ran toward the center.
The glass case containing his mother's confession remained intact.
He grabbed it.
Then he saw something else.
A second case.
Inside was a small metal box.
Richard stared.
“No.”
“What?”
“That shouldn't be here.”
“What is it?”
Richard's voice trembled.
“The original Blackwood Trust.”
Ethan picked it up.
“Why is it here?”
“Because whoever owns this box controls the empire.”
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a single document.
A handwritten signature appeared at the bottom.
Arthur Blackwood.
But the date was wrong.
It was dated thirty years before Ethan was born.
Ethan frowned.
“Arthur couldn't have signed this.”
Gabriel stared at the document.
“He didn't.”
“Then who did?”
Gabriel whispered:
“His father.”
Ethan looked at him.
“That's impossible.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
A slow clap echoed through the burning Archive.
Arthur appeared at the far end.
Blood covered his face.
But he was smiling.
“You finally found it.”
Ethan raised his weapon.
“Where is my daughter?”
Arthur laughed.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
Ethan hesitated.
Arthur smiled.
“I didn't take her.”
“Daniel did.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Daniel was following my orders.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Why?”
“To bring you here.”
“Why?”
Arthur looked at the metal box.
“Because only you can open it.”
Ethan held it up.
“You wanted me to find this.”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
Arthur's smile disappeared.
“Proof that the Blackwood empire belongs to you.”
Ethan frowned.
“I don't want it.”
“You will.”
“No.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“You think this is about money?”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
Arthur pointed toward the burning shelves.
“This empire was built to protect something.”
“What?”
“Your blood.”
Ethan stared.
Arthur continued.
“The Blackwoods have spent generations hiding one secret.”
“What secret?”
Arthur looked toward Gabriel.
“Your father knows.”
Gabriel raised his weapon.
“Don't.”
Arthur laughed.
“You should tell him.”
Gabriel's face tightened.
Ethan turned.
“What?”
Gabriel didn't answer.
Arthur smiled.
“Tell him what happened to his mother.”
Gabriel looked at Ethan.
Then whispered:
“She wasn't murdered.”
Ethan froze.
“She was erased.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was removed from every official record.”
“Why?”
“Because she wasn't human.”
Silence.
Ethan stared.
Arthur laughed.
“Now you understand.”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Don't listen to him.”
Arthur continued.
“The Second Heir carries it.”
Ethan looked toward the doorway.
“Carries what?”
Arthur smiled.
“The Blackwood mutation.”
Ethan stared.
“What mutation?”
Arthur stepped backward.
“The reason every Blackwood heir dies before forty.”
Ethan's face went pale.
“And my daughters?”
Arthur's smile vanished.
“They won't.”
“Why?”
“Because they are the first ones to survive it.”
A massive explosion shook the Archive.
The ceiling began collapsing.
Arthur turned toward the exit.
Ethan raised his weapon.
“Stop!”
Arthur continued walking.
“Come find me.”
Then he disappeared into the smoke.
Ethan ran after him.
The floor collapsed.
He fell.
Gabriel caught his arm.
“Ethan!”
Richard grabbed Gabriel.
Together they pulled him up.
The Archive began collapsing around them.
They ran.
A burning beam crashed down between Ethan and Gabriel.
Ethan looked back.
“Dad!”
Gabriel pushed through the flames.
“I'll be fine!”
Then the ceiling collapsed.
Ethan screamed.
“GABRIEL!”
No answer.
Richard grabbed him.
“We have to go!”
“No!”
“Now!”
Ethan was dragged outside.
The mansion shook.
Then the entire center of the Blackwood estate collapsed into the earth.
Flames shot into the night sky.
The Blackwood estate was gone.
Hours later, the fire was finally under control.
Ethan stood among the ruins.
His daughters slept together in an ambulance.
Richard sat nearby, covered in soot.
Daniel was missing.
Arthur was missing.
Gabriel was missing.
And the Archive was presumed destroyed.
Ethan opened the metal box.
The document inside had survived.
He unfolded it.
A single sentence appeared beneath Arthur's father's signature.
THE EMPIRE SHALL BELONG TO THE CHILD WHO OPENS THE BLOOD VAULT.
Ethan frowned.
“What blood vault?”
Richard looked up.
“I don't know.”
Ethan turned the document over.
A second sentence was written on the back.
WHEN THE HOUSE BURNS, THE REAL INHERITANCE BEGINS.
Ethan looked toward his daughters.
One of them opened her eyes.
“Daddy?”
He walked to her.
“I'm here.”
She pointed toward the ruins.
“There was another room.”
Ethan stopped.
“What?”
“Under the house.”
“What room?”
“The one Arthur never let me enter.”
Ethan crouched.
“What was inside?”
The little girl whispered:
“A baby.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“What baby?”
She looked toward the burning ruins.
“Your brother.”
Ethan stared.
“I don't have a brother.”
The girl shook her head.
“You did.”
“Where is he?”
She looked frightened.
“Arthur took him.”
“When?”
“Before I was born.”
Ethan couldn't breathe.
Richard stood.
“That's impossible.”
The girl looked at him.
“He's alive.”
Richard's face went white.
Ethan stared at the ruins.
The Blackwood empire had burned.
The Archive was gone.
Arthur had disappeared.
Gabriel was missing.
Daniel had betrayed them.
And now Ethan had learned that another Blackwood heir might still be alive.
His phone vibrated.
One new message.
No number.
No name.
Only a photograph.
A young boy stood inside a dark room.
He had Ethan's eyes.
Gabriel's face.
And the same crescent-shaped birthmark as the twins.
Under the photograph were six words:
YOUR BROTHER IS WAITING FOR YOU.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
HE KNOWS WHAT ARTHUR DID.
The final message arrived seconds later.
AND HE KNOWS WHO YOUR REAL FATHER IS.
Ethan slowly looked toward the darkness beyond the ruins.
The fire had destroyed the Blackwood mansion.
But it had not destroyed the Blackwood bloodline.
It had only exposed it.
May you like
And somewhere in the night, a third heir had finally awakened.
TO BE CONTINUED…
