Chapter 5 – A House Full of Lies
Chapter 5 – A House Full of Lies
The Blackwood mansion had always been built to keep enemies out.
The walls were thirty feet high.
The gates were reinforced steel.
The security system was more advanced than some government facilities.
For years, Victor Blackwood had believed the fortress was impossible to break.
He was wrong.
Because the most dangerous enemy had never stood outside the gates.
She had walked through them wearing a beautiful smile.
The morning after the discovery of the hidden footage, Victor made a decision.
A decision that shocked everyone.
Serena Montigue was not arrested.
Not yet.
The people closest to Victor knew this was unusual.
Victor never waited.
He acted.
Quickly.
Decisively.
But this time was different.
Because Serena was not just an enemy.
She was someone who had lived beside him.
Someone who knew his routines.
His weaknesses.
His home.
Victor wanted to know how deep the betrayal went.
And more importantly…
Who else was involved.
“Are you sure this is wise?”
Marcus asked.
They stood inside Victor’s private office.
The recovered video played silently on the screen.
Serena’s voice echoed from the speakers.
“Once Victor marries me, Ethan will no longer be a problem.”
Every time Victor heard those words, something inside him became colder.
“She believes she has already won.”
Marcus frowned.
“She knows you have the evidence.”
“No.”
Victor looked toward the mansion windows.
“She thinks she can still control the situation.”
“And if she runs?”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“She won’t.”
Marcus understood immediately.
Because Serena had spent years building a perfect image.
Running away would destroy everything.
She would rather fight.
“Then what’s the plan?”
Victor looked at him.
“We watch.”
Serena returned to breakfast as if nothing had happened.
That was what frightened everyone.
She entered the dining room wearing an elegant cream dress.
Her hair was perfectly styled.
Her smile was warm.
Like yesterday had never happened.
“Good morning.”
Nobody answered.
The servants avoided looking at her.
The atmosphere was different.
Everyone knew.
Everyone had seen enough.
Serena noticed.
Of course she noticed.
She always noticed.
She slowly sat down.
“Have I done something wrong?”
Victor sat across from her.
His expression revealed nothing.
“You tell me.”
A small smile appeared on Serena’s lips.
“You’re angry.”
“No.”
“Disappointed?”
Victor lifted his coffee.
“No.”
That answer bothered her.
Because anger meant emotion.
Disappointment meant attachment.
But this?
This was distance.
“You’re acting like I’m a stranger.”
Victor looked at her.
“Maybe I finally see you clearly.”
The words hit harder than he intended.
But he wanted them to.
Serena’s smile disappeared for a second.
Only a second.
Then she recovered.
“I don’t know what Lily told you.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The first lie.”
Serena froze.
Victor continued.
“You still think this is about Lily.”
She looked away.
“Because it is.”
“No.”
Victor’s voice became colder.
“It’s about Ethan.”
The mention of his son changed the room.
Serena looked at him.
And for the first time, she made a mistake.
She showed irritation.
A flash of anger.
Victor saw it.
And that was enough.
Meanwhile, Lily was in Ethan’s room.
The little boy sat on the bed with colorful blocks around him.
His injured arm was protected, but he was already trying to play.
“You’re supposed to rest.”
Ethan looked at her innocently.
Then dropped a block.
Lily smiled.
“That was on purpose, wasn’t it?”
The baby laughed.
For the first time in days, Lily felt something close to normal.
Then she noticed something.
A photograph on the bookshelf.
Victor.
Isabella.
Baby Ethan.
A happy family before everything changed.
Lily looked away.
She knew she didn’t belong in that picture.
She was only the nanny.
But when Ethan reached for her hand…
She couldn’t deny the truth.
She cared about him.
More than she should.
Later that afternoon, one of the servants requested to speak with Victor.
Her name was Maria.
She had worked at the Blackwood mansion for twelve years.
Longer than Serena had been in Victor’s life.
“Sir.”
Victor looked up.
“What is it?”
Maria closed the door.
Then lowered her voice.
“I know something.”
Victor became serious.
“About Serena?”
Maria nodded.
“She wasn’t always like this.”
Victor listened.
“After Mrs. Blackwood died, Serena started visiting more often.”
“I know.”
“No, sir.”
Maria shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
Victor looked at her.
“What happened?”
Maria hesitated.
“She used to go into Mrs. Isabella’s room.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“She was looking for something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
Maria looked nervous.
“But I saw her once.”
Victor waited.
“She was holding Mrs. Blackwood’s diary.”
The room became silent.
“Isabella had a diary?”
Maria nodded.
“She kept it hidden.”
Victor stood.
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Maria looked down.
“But Serena found it.”
That night, Victor searched Isabella’s old room.
A place he rarely entered.
Too many memories.
Too much pain.
Lily stood outside the door.
“You okay?”
Victor looked at her.
It surprised him.
Most people avoided asking him that.
“Yes.”
But the answer was not convincing.
Lily stepped inside.
“She was important to you.”
Victor looked at the photographs.
“Yes.”
“She was Ethan’s mother.”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then Lily asked:
“What happened to her?”
Victor became quiet.
“An accident.”
But something in his voice told Lily he wasn’t sure anymore.
“You don’t believe that.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
For the first time, he admitted it.
“I stopped asking questions because I thought I already knew the answer.”
“And now?”
His eyes moved toward Isabella’s belongings.
“Now I think someone wanted me to stop asking.”
At midnight, Marcus found something.
A hidden compartment.
Behind one of Isabella’s paintings.
Inside was a small black diary.
Victor stared at it.
His hands were completely still.
But his face changed.
Because he recognized the handwriting.
Isabella.
His wife.
The woman he lost.
The woman who might have known the truth.
He opened the first page.
And the first sentence made his blood run cold.
“If something happens to me, do not trust Serena Montigue.”
Victor stopped breathing.
Lily, standing beside him, covered her mouth.
The diary continued.
“She is not who she pretends to be.”
Page after page revealed secrets.
Meetings.
Suspicious conversations.
Warnings.
Until Victor reached the final entry.
Written two days before Isabella’s death.
“Victor must never know the truth until I have proof. If Serena discovers this diary, Ethan will be in danger.”
Victor closed his eyes.
The pain was immediate.
Because Isabella had known.
She had been afraid.
And he had failed to protect her.
At that exact moment, Serena sat inside her car outside the mansion.
She watched the lights in Isabella’s old room.
She knew.
She knew they had found something.
Her phone rang.
The same man from before.
“She found the diary.”
Serena’s face became expressionless.
“No.”
A pause.
“Victor found it.”
The man became silent.
“That changes things.”
Serena looked toward the mansion.
Her eyes became cold.
“No.”
She smiled.
“It makes things simpler.”
“How?”
She opened her purse.
Inside was a small object.
A key.
An old key.
One that belonged to Isabella.
“One secret can destroy a family.”
She looked at the Blackwood mansion.
“But another secret…”
A slow smile appeared.
“Can destroy the truth.”
Inside the mansion, Victor turned another page.
And what he read next changed everything.
Because Isabella’s diary contained a name.
A name Victor never expected.
A name that proved Serena had not acted alone.
Richard Blackwood.
Victor’s own brother.
His family.
His blood.
His enemy.
The house was not just full of lies.
May you like
It was full of traitors.
End of Chapter 5
