Chapter 5 – The Enemy Inside The Mansion
THE LITTLE GIRL WHO SAVED HER FATHER
Chapter 5 – The Enemy Inside The Mansion
The first rule Ethan Blackwood learned from his father was simple.
Never fear the enemy standing in front of you.
Because the enemy you can see is the easiest one to defeat.
The dangerous enemy…
Is the one who smiles at you.
The one who opens your door.
The one who knows where you sleep.
The one who knows exactly where to hurt you.
And after the events of the board meeting, Ethan realized something terrifying.
Victor Blackwood had never needed to break into his mansion.
Because someone had already opened the door.
The news spread across the world within hours.
Every major network repeated the same story.
BLACKWOOD CEO SUFFERS MENTAL BREAKDOWN AFTER CLAIMING DEAD WIFE RETURNED
MYSTERY CHILD CLAIMED TO BE HIS DAUGHTER
AMELIA BLACKWOOD’S SURVIVAL QUESTIONED
The public did not see the truth.
They saw confusion.
They saw a powerful man making impossible claims.
And Victor made sure of that.
The evidence was everywhere.
Fake DNA results.
False medical records.
Carefully edited footage.
A perfect illusion.
Ethan watched the reports from his private office.
Lily sat beside Amelia.
The little girl refused to leave her mother’s side.
After seven years apart, she finally had the one thing she always wanted.
A mother.
And she was terrified someone would take her away again.
Amelia noticed Ethan staring.
“What are you thinking?”
Ethan looked at the screen.
“I’m thinking Victor planned every second.”
Amelia nodded.
“He always did.”
Ethan turned.
“You knew him before?”
“Yes.”
“Before the fire?”
Amelia looked down.
“Victor was not always like this.”
That surprised Ethan.
“He wasn’t?”
“No.”
“He became obsessed with power after your grandfather died.”
Amelia touched Lily’s hair.
“He believed the Blackwood name belonged to him.”
“But your father chose you.”
Ethan was silent.
Because he remembered.
His father always said the same thing.
"A family is not built by blood alone. It is built by the people who protect it."
Ethan never understood those words.
Until now.
A knock came at the door.
Marcus entered.
“Sir.”
Ethan turned.
“What happened?”
“We found something.”
Marcus placed a tablet on the table.
“A hidden access record.”
Ethan looked at it.
The security system log.
His mansion.
The previous night.
Someone had entered the restricted area.
The medical room.
At 2:13 a.m.
After Ethan returned home.
After Amelia arrived.
His expression changed.
“Who?”
Marcus hesitated.
“That’s the problem.”
“What?”
“The system was accessed using your personal authorization code.”
Ethan frowned.
“My code?”
“Yes.”
Nobody spoke.
Because only a few people had that code.
Ethan.
Marcus.
Amelia.
And…
The household staff.
Ethan immediately stood.
“Lock the mansion.”
Marcus nodded.
“Already done.”
“No one leaves.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lily looked worried.
“Daddy?”
Ethan turned.
“It’s okay.”
But Amelia saw his face.
She knew.
Something was wrong.
“Ethan.”
He looked at her.
“You’re thinking someone here helped Victor.”
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
The servants were gathered in the main hall.
The same place where Lily had stopped him from drinking the poisoned tea.
The same place where the truth began.
Six employees stood in front of Ethan.
The gardener.
The cook.
Two security guards.
A driver.
And the assistant housekeeper.
But one person was missing.
Ethan looked around.
“Nora.”
Marcus replied:
“She’s in custody.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Not Nora.”
He looked at the empty space.
“Someone else.”
Then he noticed.
The old mansion caretaker.
Thomas.
He had worked for the Blackwood family for thirty years.
He was not there.
“Where is Thomas?”
Nobody answered.
The search began immediately.
The old caretaker’s room was on the third floor.
A place almost nobody entered.
Thomas had always been quiet.
Almost invisible.
But when Marcus opened the door…
Ethan knew something was wrong.
The room was empty.
Too empty.
No clothes.
No personal items.
No photographs.
No memories.
As if the person who lived there had never existed.
Marcus searched the desk.
Then stopped.
“Sir.”
Ethan approached.
Marcus held a small box.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
All of them were of Ethan.
As a child.
As a teenager.
As an adult.
But the final photograph made Ethan freeze.
It showed him leaving the hospital seven years ago.
The night of the fire.
Someone had been watching him.
Someone had been following him.
For years.
Then Lily spoke.
Quietly.
“Daddy?”
Ethan turned.
“Yes?”
She pointed at the box.
“I know him.”
Everyone froze.
“What?”
Lily stepped closer.
She touched one photograph.
“Not him.”
She pointed at the picture.
“His friend.”
Ethan frowned.
“His friend?”
Lily nodded.
“When I was in the dark room…”
“There was a man who came with Aunt Nora.”
“He wore glasses.”
“He smelled like the hospital.”
Ethan’s heart tightened.
“Did he say his name?”
Lily thought.
Then whispered:
“Thomas called him…”
She stopped.
Her face changed.
Like she remembered something painful.
“Doctor.”
Everyone looked at each other.
Ethan slowly turned toward Marcus.
“Samuel.”
The mansion became colder.
Because the truth was changing again.
Samuel Hayes had claimed he was forced.
He claimed Victor threatened him.
But now…
A new question appeared.
Was Samuel only a victim?
Or had he been part of the plan?
Inside the medical room, Amelia suddenly screamed.
Everyone rushed in.
Ethan reached her first.
“What happened?”
Amelia was standing beside the bed.
She was staring at the wall.
At a small mark carved into the wooden frame.
A symbol.
Ethan recognized it.
A triangle.
With a line through the center.
“What is that?”
Amelia’s face was pale.
“Victor.”
“Richard.”
“Samuel.”
She looked at Ethan.
“They all used it.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does it mean?”
Amelia whispered:
“It means they were never working for each other.”
A pause.
“They were working for someone above them.”
Nobody moved.
Ethan felt the ground disappear beneath him.
“Someone above Victor?”
Amelia nodded.
“The person who created this entire plan.”
“Who?”
Amelia looked terrified.
“I don’t know.”
Then she pointed at the symbol.
“But I know one thing.”
“What?”
“The night of the fire…”
“I saw that symbol on the person who gave the order.”
Suddenly, the security alarm exploded.
Marcus ran to the monitor.
“Someone is at the front gate.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked confused.
“Sir…”
“It’s impossible.”
Ethan walked toward the screen.
A single car stood outside.
No guards.
No weapons.
No driver.
Only one person.
Standing in the rain.
Holding a folder.
The camera zoomed closer.
Ethan’s blood ran cold.
Because he knew that face.
Everyone did.
The world believed this man died fifteen years ago.
But he was standing outside Ethan’s mansion.
Alive.
The screen displayed one name.
Jonathan Blackwood.
Ethan’s father.
Nobody spoke.
Lily looked up.
“Daddy…”
“Is that your grandfather?”
Ethan could not answer.
Because the impossible had happened again.
First Amelia.
Then Lily.
Now his father.
The dead were returning.
And Ethan finally understood.
The fire seven years ago was not the beginning.
It was only one chapter.
END OF CHAPTER 5
Next: Chapter 6 – The Woman Behind The Fire
Ethan meets the father he thought he buried.
May you like
Jonathan reveals why he faked his death.
The true mastermind behind the Blackwood conspiracy finally begins to emerge.
