Chapter 7 — The Woman Who Was Forced to Lie
Chapter 7 — The Woman Who Was Forced to Lie
The footsteps stopped.
Emily held her breath.
One step.
Then another.
Then silence.
The mansion seemed to swallow every sound.
Daniel stood at the bottom of the staircase, staring into the darkness.
“Adrian?”
No answer.
Evelyn grabbed Emily's hand.
“Don't move.”
Daniel looked back.
“Stay behind me.”
A light flickered upstairs.
Then a shadow crossed the landing.
Emily's heart hammered.
“Someone is here.”
“I know.”
Daniel reached for the weapon Detective Bennett had given him.
“Whoever it is, they want us afraid.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“They want us separated.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
“That's what Richard always did.”
She looked toward the staircase.
“He made people afraid, then he made them choose who to protect.”
Emily stared at her.
“You're saying this is another test.”
“Yes.”
A voice suddenly came from the darkness.
“Very good, Evelyn.”
Emily froze.
Adrian stepped into the light.
He looked older than Daniel had imagined.
Gray at his temples.
A scar crossed his left cheek.
He wore a black suit and carried no weapon.
That somehow made him more frightening.
Daniel stared at him.
“You're alive.”
Adrian smiled.
“Disappointed?”
“I buried you.”
“No.”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“You buried the person you thought I was.”
Daniel took one step forward.
“You helped Father.”
“I survived Father.”
“You helped him erase Emily.”
Adrian looked at Emily.
“I tried to protect her.”
Emily stared at him.
“By making me disappear?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Because if Richard had known where you were, you would have been dead.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Don't rewrite history.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You're the one who rewrote it.”
Silence.
Emily looked between them.
“What happened?”
Neither answered.
Emily's voice became stronger.
“What happened that night?”
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
Then at Daniel.
Finally, he said:
“Ask your mother.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Emily knew immediately.
There was another secret.
Another lie.
Another piece of her childhood that had been hidden from her.
“Mom.”
Evelyn didn't respond.
“Tell me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“I don't want protection anymore.”
Emily stepped forward.
“I want the truth.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“She's been saying that for twenty-three years.”
Evelyn glared at him.
“You don't get to judge me.”
“I don't?”
“No.”
“You lied to her.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“You don't know what Richard did.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“I know exactly what he did.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Because I was there.”
Adrian walked toward the fireplace.
“I was twenty-three when I discovered the accounts.”
Daniel stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Father trusted me.”
Adrian's face darkened.
“He thought I wanted his empire.”
“You didn't?”
“At first, I did.”
He looked down.
“I was young.”
“I believed money could solve everything.”
Daniel said nothing.
Adrian continued.
“Then I saw where the money came from.”
“Bribes.”
“Blackmail.”
“Extortion.”
“And bodies.”
Emily's stomach tightened.
“Bodies?”
Adrian nodded.
“People who became inconvenient.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Then why did you stay?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because I was trying to get you out.”
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The night you turned eighteen.”
Daniel frowned.
“I don't remember.”
“Because your father stopped me.”
Adrian smiled bitterly.
“He didn't just stop you.”
He looked at Daniel.
“He threatened to kill him.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
“What happened?”
Adrian answered.
“Richard told Evelyn that if she exposed him, Daniel would die.”
Daniel went still.
“That was why she stayed.”
“Yes.”
“And you?”
“I tried to fight him.”
Adrian touched the scar on his cheek.
“This was the result.”
Emily looked at Evelyn.
“So you were forced to lie.”
Evelyn nodded.
“For years.”
“What lies?”
“Almost everything.”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“You told me my father was dead.”
“He was.”
“Who was he?”
Evelyn looked away.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“No.”
Adrian suddenly spoke.
“I know.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian looked at Emily.
“Your father is alive.”
Evelyn's face went white.
“Adrian.”
“You can't hide it anymore.”
Emily stepped toward him.
“Who is he?”
Adrian stared at her.
“His name is Gabriel Blackwood.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Emily looked at her.
“You said Gabriel was your brother.”
“He is.”
“Then how can he be my father?”
“He isn't.”
Adrian smiled.
“That's what she wants you to believe.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Your mother has spent twenty-three years protecting a man.”
“Who?”
“Gabriel.”
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“Stop.”
Adrian continued.
“Because Gabriel isn't your mother's brother.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
“That's the lie.”
Daniel stared.
“My family records say he was her brother.”
“They were changed.”
“By whom?”
“Richard.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel was the one man Richard couldn't control.”
Evelyn sank into a chair.
Her strength seemed to disappear.
Daniel approached her.
“Tell us.”
She looked at him.
“You deserve to know.”
Emily sat beside her.
Evelyn took a long breath.
“Gabriel wasn't my brother.”
“Then who was he?”
“My first love.”
Silence.
Daniel stared.
Emily couldn't speak.
Evelyn continued.
“Before Richard.”
“Before the Villards.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you say he was your brother?”
“Because Richard believed he was.”
“Why?”
“Because Gabriel helped me investigate your father.”
Daniel frowned.
“And Richard thought he was family.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Gabriel used the Blackwood name.”
“Why?”
“To protect me.”
Emily's heart pounded.
“So he wasn't my uncle.”
“No.”
“Then…”
Evelyn looked at her.
“He may be your father.”
The room went silent.
Emily stared at her mother.
“May be?”
“I never had a DNA test.”
“But you were with him.”
“Yes.”
“Before Richard?”
“Yes.”
“And I was born after?”
“Yes.”
Emily's voice trembled.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Richard discovered Gabriel.”
“What did he do?”
“He tried to kill him.”
Daniel stepped back.
“Did he succeed?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Then where is Gabriel?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian laughed.
“You do.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You've been protecting him all these years.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You're wrong.”
Adrian's expression became cold.
“Then tell her about the photograph.”
Emily remembered.
The photograph of Evelyn standing beside a man.
The young girl between them.
“Was that him?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes.”
Emily's eyes widened.
“But the date was three years after you disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Then you were alive.”
“Yes.”
“And I was with you.”
“Yes.”
“Why don't I remember?”
Evelyn looked at her.
“Because you were drugged.”
Emily's face went pale.
“What?”
“Richard's people found us.”
“He took me?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Evelyn whispered:
“I did.”
Emily stood.
“You drugged me?”
“I had to.”
“You drugged your own daughter?”
“You were terrified.”
“I don't understand.”
“You were old enough to recognize faces.”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“If they caught you, you could identify them.”
“So you made me forget?”
“I wanted you to survive.”
Emily stared at her mother.
All her life, she had believed she was abandoned.
Now she discovered something worse.
She had been deliberately separated from her own memories.
“Where did you take me?”
“A safe house.”
“Who was there?”
“Gabriel.”
Emily's breath stopped.
“He raised me?”
“For a while.”
“How long?”
“Almost a year.”
“Then why don't I remember him?”
“Because Richard found us again.”
Evelyn looked down.
“Gabriel sacrificed himself so you could escape.”
Adrian interrupted.
“And that's where everything went wrong.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What happened?”
“Richard found Gabriel.”
“Did he kill him?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“He made a deal.”
“With Gabriel?”
“Yes.”
“What deal?”
Adrian's eyes moved toward Emily.
“Gabriel agreed to disappear forever.”
Emily whispered:
“In exchange for me.”
Adrian nodded.
“Richard promised he would leave you alone.”
“And he did?”
“No.”
“He continued watching.”
“Exactly.”
“So why didn't Gabriel return?”
“Because Richard had one more condition.”
“What?”
Adrian's voice became quiet.
“Gabriel had to give him the location of the Blackwood trust.”
Emily stared.
“He refused.”
“Yes.”
“And that's why the trust remained hidden.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Adrian.
“How do you know all this?”
Adrian smiled.
“Because I was the messenger.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“You worked for Richard.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed us.”
“Yes.”
“You betrayed Emily.”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you helping us now?”
Adrian's smile disappeared.
“Because Richard isn't the worst person in this story.”
“Who is?”
Adrian looked at Evelyn.
“Gabriel.”
Evelyn stood.
“Don't you dare.”
Adrian ignored her.
“He didn't disappear to protect Emily.”
“He disappeared to control the inheritance.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“He has been waiting twenty-three years.”
“For what?”
“For Emily to turn twenty-five.”
Emily froze.
“The trust.”
Adrian nodded.
“Once the trust transfers to her, Gabriel can claim it through her.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if he controls you.”
Emily stared.
“You're saying he wants to use me.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn stepped toward Adrian.
“You're lying.”
“Am I?”
He pulled a photograph from his pocket.
He handed it to Emily.
It showed Gabriel.
Older now.
Standing beside a group of lawyers.
On the table was a document.
The title was visible.
BLACKWOOD TRUST — CONTROL AGREEMENT
Emily's stomach turned.
Her signature appeared at the bottom.
Except she had never signed it.
Daniel took the photograph.
“This is a forgery.”
“Yes.”
“Who made it?”
“Gabriel.”
Emily looked at Evelyn.
“Did you know?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
Adrian said:
“That's why he needs you.”
Suddenly, a loud crash came from upstairs.
Everyone turned.
Adrian immediately reached for the weapon beneath his jacket.
Daniel raised his.
“Don't move.”
Adrian looked at him.
“That's not my man.”
“Who is it?”
“I don't know.”
Another crash.
Then footsteps.
Fast.
Coming down the stairs.
Daniel moved Emily behind him.
Evelyn stood beside her.
A man appeared.
He wore a dark coat.
His face was partially covered.
He held a folder.
“Daniel Villard?”
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Stop.”
The man dropped the folder.
Then raised both hands.
“I'm not here to hurt anyone.”
“Who are you?”
“A lawyer.”
“For whom?”
The man looked at Emily.
“For Gabriel Blackwood.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
The lawyer smiled.
“Closer than you think.”
He pointed toward the folder.
“That's for Emily.”
Daniel didn't let her move.
“What is it?”
“The original trust agreement.”
Emily looked at the folder.
“Why would Gabriel send this?”
The lawyer smiled.
“Because he wants you to know the truth.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
The lawyer looked at him.
“He wants her to choose.”
“Choose what?”
The lawyer answered:
“Her family.”
Then he walked backward toward the door.
Adrian suddenly shouted:
“Wait!”
The lawyer ran.
Adrian chased him.
Daniel followed.
But by the time they reached the courtyard, the man was gone.
Only the folder remained.
Emily opened it.
The original Blackwood trust agreement was inside.
No forgery.
No altered pages.
The document was genuine.
But there was one clause they had never seen.
Emily read it aloud.
“Upon reaching the age of twenty-five, the beneficiary may assume control of the trust only if she identifies the biological father listed in the sealed family record.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn's face had gone pale.
“It means the identity of Emily's father was part of the inheritance.”
Emily turned the page.
At the bottom was a sealed section.
A name had been written beneath it.
Emily stared.
She couldn't read it.
The ink had been deliberately covered.
Daniel examined it.
“It was erased.”
Evelyn whispered:
“Not erased.”
“What?”
“Hidden.”
She pointed toward the page.
“That's an old Blackwood technique.”
“What does it mean?”
“It can be revealed with heat.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“Don't.”
But Emily had already picked up the page.
She moved toward the fireplace.
Evelyn grabbed her wrist.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because once you reveal it…”
She stopped.
Emily looked into her mother's eyes.
“Then what?”
Evelyn whispered:
“There is no going back.”
Emily looked at the document.
Then at Daniel.
Then at her mother.
For twenty-three years, other people had decided what she was allowed to know.
They had changed her name.
Erased her inheritance.
Buried her mother's identity.
Turned her childhood into a lie.
She was done.
She held the page above the flame.
The hidden ink slowly began to appear.
One letter.
Then another.
Then another.
Emily's hands started shaking.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Emily stared at the emerging name.
Her eyes widened.
She couldn't speak.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Adrian stopped breathing.
Because the name appearing beneath the heat was not Gabriel Blackwood.
It wasn't Richard Villard.
It wasn't any man they expected.
It was a name Daniel knew.
A name that had been inside the Villard family for generations.
A name belonging to the one person everyone had believed incapable of betraying them.
Emily whispered:
“Margaret.”
Daniel stared.
“That can't be.”
But the document didn't say Margaret's name.
It said:
THE FATHER OF THE BENEFICIARY IS…
And beneath it was a man's name.
A man who had been officially declared dead twenty-four years ago.
A man whose grave Daniel had visited as a child.
A man Margaret had sworn never existed.
Daniel's face went white.
“That's impossible.”
Evelyn began to cry.
Emily looked at her.
“You knew.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I suspected.”
“Who is he?”
Evelyn whispered the name.
“Thomas Villard.”
Daniel froze.
“My grandfather's brother.”
“Yes.”
“The man who died before I was born.”
“He didn't die.”
Daniel stared at the document.
“Then where is he?”
Before Evelyn could answer, the mansion lights went out again.
A voice came from the darkness.
A voice older than Adrian's.
Calm.
Cold.
Familiar.
“You've been asking the wrong question.”
Emily turned.
A man stepped out from behind the doorway.
Gray hair.
Walking cane.
A face that looked exactly like the photograph on Daniel's grandfather's desk.
Daniel's knees nearly gave way.
“Thomas?”
The old man smiled.
“Hello, Daniel.”
He looked at Emily.
Then at Evelyn.
And finally at Adrian.
“You've all spent twenty-three years hiding the truth.”
He tapped his cane against the floor.
“Now it's time for me to tell my story.”
Emily stared at him.
May you like
The man who had been declared dead was standing before her.
And he was looking at her like a father looking at the daughter he had never been allowed to claim.
