Chapter 6 — The Secret Lily Found
Chapter 6 — The Secret Lily Found
Lily had spent six months telling herself that what she had seen was none of her business.
That was how she survived in the Blackwood mansion.
She learned quickly that there were things a nanny was allowed to notice and things she was expected to forget.
A bruise on Ethan's shoulder.
Forget it.
A strange phone call.
Forget it.
Serena entering Victor's study after midnight.
Forget it.
A locked drawer that had never been locked before.
Forget it.
A folder carried beneath Serena's arm.
Forget it.
Lily had become very good at forgetting.
Until Ethan's broken arm.
Until Serena's lies.
Until the hidden camera exposed the truth.
Now she sat across from Victor in his private office, staring at the financial documents scattered across his desk.
Victor had spent the last two hours reviewing the files recovered from Serena's room.
Trust agreements.
Bank transfers.
Property records.
Shell companies.
Private correspondence.
Every page revealed another piece of the conspiracy.
But one question remained.
Why?
Why had Serena needed access to Victor's finances?
The trust alone explained why she wanted Ethan.
It did not explain the offshore accounts.
It did not explain the missing millions.
It did not explain why someone had paid Serena for months.
Victor looked up.
“You said there was something else.”
Lily nodded.
“I wasn't sure it mattered.”
“It matters now.”
She hesitated.
“I saw Serena taking documents from your study.”
Victor stopped turning the page.
“When?”
“About four months ago.”
“What kind of documents?”
“I don't know exactly.”
“Try.”
Lily took a breath.
“Financial records.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw the account numbers.”
“Which accounts?”
“I don't remember all of them.”
“You remember some?”
She nodded.
“One was called Blackwood Holdings.”
Victor's expression changed.
“That's not a public company.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Serena said something.”
“What?”
Lily looked down.
“She said, 'If he moves the money before the trust opens, we're finished.'”
Victor went completely still.
“When did she say that?”
“That same night.”
“Who was she talking to?”
“I don't know.”
“Phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear the other person?”
“No.”
Victor leaned back.
“Continue.”
Lily swallowed.
“She took a folder from your study.”
“What did it look like?”
“Black.”
“Anything written on it?”
“Just a number.”
“What number?”
“Seventeen.”
Victor stared at her.
“Seventeen?”
“Yes.”
His face hardened.
“That wasn't an ordinary financial file.”
“What was it?”
Victor stood.
“Come with me.”
The Blackwood study occupied an entire wing of the mansion.
Victor rarely allowed anyone inside.
Not because of the weapons hidden behind the bookshelves.
Not because of the locked safe beneath the floor.
But because the room contained the history of his family.
Every acquisition.
Every company.
Every property.
Every secret.
Victor walked directly toward the largest bookshelf.
He removed three books.
A mechanism clicked.
The shelf moved.
Behind it was a steel safe.
Lily stared.
“You have a safe behind a bookshelf?”
Victor glanced at her.
“Everyone should.”
She almost smiled.
Then he entered a code.
The safe opened.
Inside were dozens of folders.
Victor removed one.
17
Lily's stomach tightened.
“That one.”
Victor placed it on the desk.
He opened it.
The first page contained a list of companies.
Some were familiar.
Some weren't.
Then Lily saw a name.
Montague Capital Partners.
She pointed.
“That's Serena's family.”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
He turned another page.
Transfers.
Payments.
Dates.
Amounts.
The numbers were enormous.
Lily stared.
“She was taking money from you.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not directly.”
“What do you mean?”
“These were transfers between companies.”
“Then where did the money come from?”
Victor followed the transaction trail.
His eyes narrowed.
“My father.”
Lily froze.
“Alexander?”
“Yes.”
“But he was supposedly dead.”
“He's not.”
Victor kept reading.
“Look.”
He showed her the records.
Alexander's private holding company had been moving money into an offshore account.
From there, the money went to a Blackwood subsidiary.
Then to another company.
And finally—
Serena's family.
Lily stared at the chain.
“So Serena was being paid.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Victor didn't answer.
He turned another page.
A handwritten note appeared.
Maintain access to Victor's household.
Lily's blood ran cold.
“She wasn't just marrying you.”
Victor nodded.
“She was infiltrating the family.”
Lily suddenly remembered another night.
It had been raining.
Victor was away.
Ethan had been asleep.
Lily had gone downstairs to get a bottle warmer.
She had seen Serena standing outside the study.
The door was open.
Serena was inside.
She was speaking quietly.
Lily had stopped behind the corner.
Serena said:
“I have access to everything now.”
A man's voice answered through the phone.
“Everything?”
“His personal accounts.”
“And the corporate accounts?”
“Not all of them.”
“Then you're not finished.”
Serena had sounded frustrated.
“Victor doesn't trust me with the final authorization.”
The man's voice became colder.
“Then get it.”
“How?”
“Marriage.”
Lily remembered those words.
At the time, she hadn't understood.
Now she did.
Serena hadn't been trying to become Victor's wife.
She had been trying to become the person authorized to sign for him.
Lily looked at Victor.
“I remember something else.”
“What?”
“She said marriage would give her access to the final authorization.”
Victor's face darkened.
“What final authorization?”
“I don't know.”
He thought for a moment.
Then opened another folder.
Inside was a corporate authorization agreement.
Victor's signature appeared at the bottom.
Lily stared.
“That isn't your signature.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
She pointed.
“I've seen your signature.”
Victor looked closer.
The signature was almost perfect.
But something was wrong.
The final letter was different.
“This isn't mine.”
Victor's expression became cold.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because you sign your name with a longer final stroke.”
Victor stared at the page.
Lily was right.
Someone had forged his signature.
He turned the page.
There were three more documents.
All bearing his name.
All forged.
Victor's breathing slowed.
“Someone has been signing for me.”
Lily whispered:
“Serena?”
“Maybe.”
“Your father?”
“Possibly.”
“But why?”
Victor looked at the documents.
“To move money.”
He called Daniel.
The attorney answered immediately.
“Victor?”
“I need you here.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Bring every corporate authorization document from the last year.”
There was a pause.
“Why?”
“Because someone forged my signature.”
Daniel went silent.
“I'll be there.”
Twenty minutes later, Daniel arrived.
Victor placed the documents on the desk.
“Tell me.”
Daniel studied them.
Then looked up.
“These are legitimate.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“No.”
“I mean they're filed legitimately.”
“That's impossible.”
Daniel pointed.
“Whoever signed these had authorization.”
Victor leaned forward.
“Authorization from whom?”
Daniel hesitated.
“From you.”
“I never gave it.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Then someone created a duplicate authorization.”
Victor stared.
“Can that happen?”
“Not easily.”
“Who could do it?”
Daniel looked at the documents again.
“Someone with access to your identity records, corporate seals, legal files…”
He stopped.
Victor understood.
“Serena.”
Daniel nodded.
“She had access to the house.”
“And my personal documents.”
“Yes.”
Victor turned toward Lily.
“What else did you see?”
She thought.
Then remembered.
“Her laptop.”
“What about it?”
“She used it in the study.”
“When?”
“Almost every night.”
“Did you see what she was doing?”
“Once.”
Victor waited.
“She was looking at a spreadsheet.”
“Do you remember anything?”
“One column said 'Ethan.'”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“What else?”
“Another said 'Victor.'”
“And?”
“A third said 'Transfer Date.'”
Silence.
Daniel slowly sat down.
“She's been planning the financial transfer.”
Victor nodded.
“And the trust.”
“And your son's guardianship.”
“And my death, perhaps.”
Lily looked at him.
“Your death?”
Victor's expression remained cold.
“If I disappear, who controls everything?”
Daniel answered.
“Serena, temporarily.”
Victor nodded.
“And if Ethan is declared incapable?”
“Serena.”
“And if Ethan dies?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Serena.”
The room went silent.
The pieces fit too perfectly.
Lily looked at the folder.
“So the money wasn't separate from Ethan.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
“It was all part of the same plan.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Serena need the financial records?”
Victor turned another page.
And finally found the answer.
A document titled:
Project Black Crown.
Lily stared at the name.
“What is that?”
Victor opened it.
His expression changed.
“This isn't mine.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Victor read silently.
Then looked up.
“My father created a plan to dismantle the Blackwood companies.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why would he destroy his own empire?”
Victor pointed to a paragraph.
“Because he intended to transfer ownership.”
“To whom?”
Victor's eyes moved down.
“An undisclosed beneficiary.”
Lily whispered:
“Ethan?”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel looked at the document.
“Then who?”
Victor continued reading.
His face became pale.
“Anna.”
Lily remembered the name.
Ethan's mother.
Victor's supposedly dead sister.
“Your sister?”
Victor nodded.
“My father intended to transfer everything to her.”
“But she was erased.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victor looked at the documents.
“Because she refused to obey him.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“And Serena?”
Victor closed the folder.
“Was hired to stop the transfer.”
A sudden noise came from the hallway.
All three turned.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was approaching.
Daniel reached for his phone.
Victor held up a hand.
The footsteps stopped outside the office.
Then the door opened.
Evelyn stood there.
She looked terrified.
“Victor.”
“What?”
“You need to leave.”
Victor stared.
“Why?”
She looked at Lily.
Then Daniel.
“Because your father knows you've found the files.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“How?”
Evelyn whispered:
“He has someone inside the house.”
Silence.
Victor slowly reached for his weapon.
“Who?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know.”
Victor stared at her.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
“You know exactly who it is.”
She shook her head.
“Victor, listen to me.”
“Who?”
Evelyn swallowed.
Then whispered:
“Someone you trust.”
The lights suddenly went out.
The office plunged into darkness.
Lily heard Daniel curse.
Victor grabbed her arm.
“Stay behind me.”
A sound came from the safe.
Metal scraping against metal.
Someone was opening it.
Victor drew his weapon.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Then the emergency lights came on.
The safe stood open.
The folder marked 17 was gone.
So was the document titled Project Black Crown.
Victor stared.
Nobody had entered through the door.
Nobody had passed them.
Lily looked toward the window.
It was locked.
Then she noticed something.
A tiny red light beneath the desk.
A camera.
She pointed.
“Victor.”
He turned.
“There's another camera.”
The light blinked.
Victor's expression changed.
“Someone isn't just watching us.”
Lily whispered:
“They're listening.”
Victor stared at the camera.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A familiar voice spoke.
Serena.
“You finally understand.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Where are you?”
“You found the financial records.”
“Yes.”
“And the trust.”
“Yes.”
“And Anna.”
Victor froze.
“How do you know?”
Serena laughed softly.
“Because I was never searching for Ethan's inheritance.”
“What were you searching for?”
A pause.
Then Serena said:
“The money your father stole from your sister.”
Victor's face changed.
“What money?”
“The fortune he hid before he disappeared.”
Victor's voice became deadly.
“Where is it?”
Serena laughed again.
“That's the question, isn't it?”
The call ended.
Victor stared at the phone.
Lily stepped closer.
“What did she say?”
Victor looked at her.
“My father didn't just fake his death.”
He glanced toward the empty safe.
“He stole a fortune.”
“And hid it.”
Victor nodded.
“And Serena knows where it is.”
Lily looked at the dark camera.
“Then why tell you?”
Victor's expression became cold.
“Because she wants something.”
“What?”
Victor looked toward Ethan's room.
His answer came quietly.
“She wants us to find it for her.”
And somewhere in the city, Serena sat in a dark room watching the Blackwood mansion through a hidden camera.
She smiled.
Because Victor had finally opened the door she had spent months trying to unlock.
But there was one thing Serena didn't know.
Lily had memorized the number written on the black folder.
17.
And before the folder disappeared, she had noticed something written beneath it.
Three words.
Saint Mercy Bank.
She hadn't told Victor.
Not yet.
Because Lily had finally realized something terrifying.
If Serena was searching for the money…
and Victor's father had hidden it…
May you like
then someone else had been searching for it long before either of them.
And Lily might be the only person who knew where to start looking.
