CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 8
THE LIE THAT BROKE THEIR TRUST
The first time Victor Blackwood realized he was afraid of losing something…
It was not when enemies pointed guns at him.
It was not when rival families threatened his empire.
It was not even when Ethan was taken from him.
It was the moment Lily looked at him and said:
"I don't belong here."
Those words had stayed with him.
Because Victor had spent his entire life believing he could control everything.
Money.
Power.
Enemies.
Business.
But he was beginning to understand that love was different.
Love was not something you could force.
It was something you had to earn.
And now someone was trying to destroy the one thing he had finally found.
Three days after the attack, the Blackwood mansion returned to a fragile sense of normal.
Ethan was laughing again.
His arm was healing.
The security around the house remained impossible to escape.
But inside the family...
Something had changed.
Victor spent more time with Lily.
Not openly.
Not in a way that would attract attention.
But everyone noticed.
The way he looked at her.
The way he listened when she spoke.
The way he trusted her.
And that was exactly what Serena wanted to destroy.
Inside a private apartment across the city, Serena stared at the photographs spread across the table.
Victor.
Lily.
Ethan.
A perfect little family.
A family that should have been hers.
Her fingers moved over Lily's picture.
"She thinks she won."
Daniel Cross sat across from her.
"She has Victor's trust."
Serena smiled.
"Trust is easy to build."
She picked up a glass of wine.
"But much easier to destroy."
Daniel looked at the documents beside her.
"Are you sure this will work?"
Serena looked at him.
"I spent years studying Victor Blackwood."
A pause.
"I know his weaknesses."
She looked at Lily's photograph again.
"And now I know hers."
The next morning, Victor received an unexpected package.
No name.
No address.
Just a black envelope.
His security team checked it three times.
Nothing dangerous.
Only documents.
Victor opened it himself.
The first page made his expression change.
A bank transfer.
Lily Carter.
A large amount of money.
Another page.
A message.
"Payment received. The plan is working."
Victor's eyes darkened.
The final page was a photograph.
Lily meeting a man in a café.
The angle made it look suspicious.
Almost like a secret meeting.
Marcus watched Victor carefully.
"Boss..."
Victor said nothing.
He couldn't.
Because the woman in the photograph was Lily.
The woman he trusted.
The woman who said she didn't want anything from him.
That evening, Lily immediately noticed something was wrong.
Victor was different.
Cold.
Distant.
Not the same man who had sat beside Ethan's bed.
Not the same man who had smiled when Ethan took his first steps.
"Victor?"
He didn't answer.
She walked closer.
"What happened?"
He placed the documents on the table.
Her face changed.
Because she recognized the photograph.
"Where did you get this?"
"Does it matter?"
The question hurt.
More than she expected.
"Yes."
She looked at him.
"It does."
Victor's voice was controlled.
"Then explain."
Lily looked through the papers.
Her hands trembled.
"I don't understand."
"You received money."
"No."
"Lily."
His voice became harder.
"Don't lie to me."
Those words broke something inside her.
Because she had never lied to him.
Not once.
"I didn't."
Victor looked away.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Her eyes filled.
"After everything?"
A silence.
Then she said quietly:
"Yes."
And somehow...
That made it worse.
Because Victor wanted to believe her.
More than anything.
But the evidence was right in front of him.
"I was struggling before I came here."
Lily's voice shook.
"You know that."
Victor remained silent.
"I had problems. I needed a job."
She looked at the photograph.
"But I never took money to hurt Ethan."
"Then why?"
"I don't know!"
The first time she raised her voice.
"I don't know who made this!"
Victor looked at her.
And for a second...
He saw the pain in her eyes.
The same pain she had when Serena hurt Ethan.
The same honesty.
But doubt was already there.
And doubt was dangerous.
The worst moment came later that night.
Ethan woke up crying.
Usually, Lily would be the first person he reached for.
But tonight, Victor stopped her.
"I'll handle it."
She froze.
"You?"
The words came out before she could stop them.
Not because she doubted him.
Because Ethan always needed her.
Victor heard something else.
A lack of faith.
His expression hardened.
"I am his father."
The sentence was quiet.
But it hurt.
Lily stepped back.
"I know."
And for the first time...
She let him walk away alone.
Inside Ethan's room, Victor held his son.
But Ethan kept crying.
He reached toward the door.
Toward Lily.
Victor closed his eyes.
Because his son was telling him something.
Something he already knew.
Lily wasn't a threat.
She was family.
But pride and fear were fighting against that truth.
The next morning, Lily packed her belongings again.
This time, Victor didn't stop her immediately.
He found her at the front door.
"You're leaving?"
She turned.
"What else should I do?"
"Lily..."
"No."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"You looked at me and believed the worst."
Victor said nothing.
"After everything."
She shook her head.
"After I protected your son."
A pause.
"I could understand if you questioned me."
Her eyes became wet.
"But I can't stay somewhere I have to prove I am not a monster."
Those words hit him harder than any accusation.
Because she was right.
Before she could leave, Marcus rushed into the room.
"Boss."
Victor turned.
"What?"
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"We found something."
He handed Victor a tablet.
Victor looked at the screen.
His face changed instantly.
The bank records.
The photograph.
The message.
Everything.
Fake.
The money had never gone to Lily.
The photograph had been edited.
The message was created.
A setup.
Victor slowly looked at Lily.
She was standing there with her bag.
Ready to leave.
Because he had failed her.
"Wait."
Her hand stopped on the door.
Victor walked toward her.
"Lily."
She didn't turn.
"I was wrong."
The words were difficult for him.
Because Victor Blackwood rarely admitted mistakes.
But he forced them out.
"I was wrong."
Slowly, she looked back.
"I should have trusted you."
Silence.
"I should have remembered who you were."
His voice lowered.
"The woman who stood between my son and death."
Lily looked away.
"I need time."
Victor nodded.
Because he understood.
Trust was not repaired with one apology.
Not after it was broken.
But Serena was not finished.
That night, she watched the security footage of Lily leaving.
Except Lily didn't leave.
She stayed.
And Serena smiled.
"Good."
Daniel looked at her.
"Why are you happy?"
Serena looked at the screen.
"Because now Victor knows how it feels."
"Feels like what?"
She smiled.
"Almost losing the person you love."
The next day, a new message arrived.
Not for Victor.
For Lily.
A single photograph.
Her face turned pale when she saw it.
Because the photograph showed her from the night Ethan's mother died.
And written beneath it were five words:
YOU DON'T KNOW THE WHOLE TRUTH.
Lily's hands began shaking.
Because Serena wasn't just trying to destroy her relationship with Victor.
She was reminding her of the one secret she had never told anyone.
The truth about that night.
May you like
The truth about who really killed Ethan's mother.
END OF CHAPTER 8
