Chapter 10: The Price of Revenge
Chapter 10: The Price of Revenge
The video ended.
But Michael Carter’s voice remained.
It echoed inside Emma’s mind.
“The person who killed me is not Ethan Blackwood.”
Those words had destroyed the one belief she had held onto for six months.
Ethan was the enemy.
Richard Blackwood was the enemy.
The Blackwood family was responsible.
That was simple.
That was something she could fight.
But now…
Now the truth was more complicated.
And complicated truths were always more dangerous.
Nobody spoke inside the Hartwell mansion.
The screen was frozen on Michael’s final expression.
A face Emma thought she would never see again.
A face she had spent months mourning.
Her hands trembled.
“I don’t understand.”
Her voice cracked.
“He’s dead.”
Daniel looked at the video file carefully.
“We need to verify when this was recorded.”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at the screen.
“That’s Michael.”
Daniel nodded.
“I know.”
“No.”
Emma stepped closer.
“You don’t understand.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I know my brother.”
A pause.
“I know how he looked when he was scared.”
She touched the screen.
“And he was terrified.”
Sophia watched Emma silently.
For the first time, she saw something beyond Emma’s strength.
The woman who had walked into a wedding full of enemies.
The woman who had stood against Ethan Blackwood.
The woman who had saved her life.
Was now completely broken.
Sophia approached slowly.
“Emma.”
Emma turned away.
“I spent six months thinking about revenge.”
Her voice was quiet.
“I imagined Ethan losing everything.”
“I imagined Richard Blackwood exposed.”
“I imagined them suffering the way Michael suffered.”
Sophia said nothing.
Because she understood.
Anger was sometimes the only thing keeping someone alive.
“But now?”
Emma looked at her.
“What if I was wrong?”
Daniel continued analyzing the video.
“There is something strange.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
“The file metadata.”
Sophia frowned.
“Explain.”
“This video was not created recently.”
“When?”
Daniel looked at the screen.
“Three days before Michael’s death.”
Emma froze.
Three days.
That meant Michael knew something was coming.
He knew he was in danger.
And he prepared this message.
“For who?” Sophia asked.
Daniel looked at her.
“That’s what we need to find out.”
They watched the video again.
This time, they paid attention to every detail.
Michael was sitting in a dark room.
Behind him was a wall.
Nothing unusual.
Except one thing.
Emma suddenly stood.
“Stop.”
Daniel paused the video.
“What?”
“Go back.”
The image moved backward.
Emma pointed.
“There.”
A small object in the corner.
A reflection.
Sophia looked closer.
“What is that?”
Emma whispered:
“A painting.”
Daniel enlarged the image.
The quality was poor.
But they could see enough.
Sophia’s face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
She looked at Isabella.
“That painting belongs to the Blackwood estate.”
Isabella stepped closer.
She recognized it immediately.
“Yes.”
Her voice became serious.
“That room…”
A pause.
“That room is inside Richard Blackwood’s private office.”
The discovery changed everything.
Michael had not recorded the video somewhere random.
He had been inside Richard Blackwood’s personal space.
Which meant one terrifying possibility:
Michael had gotten closer to the truth than anyone realized.
And someone inside the Blackwood family knew.
Meanwhile, Ethan Blackwood sat alone in an abandoned building.
His phone displayed the same video.
But unlike Emma, he was not shocked.
He was angry.
The man standing beside him noticed.
“You knew about this?”
Ethan remained silent.
“Ethan.”
Finally, he spoke.
“Yes.”
The man frowned.
“Then why didn’t you destroy it?”
Ethan looked at him.
“Because I didn’t have it.”
“Who did?”
Ethan’s eyes darkened.
“Michael.”
The man became confused.
“But he died.”
Ethan smiled coldly.
“Michael was smarter than we thought.”
A message appeared on Ethan’s phone.
From Richard.
Sophia has found the recording.
Another message followed.
Fix it.
Ethan stared at those words.
For years, he had followed his father’s orders.
Not because he respected him.
Because he feared him.
Richard Blackwood had spent decades making people believe they had no choice.
Including his own son.
But now something was different.
Sophia was fighting back.
Isabella was free.
Emma had discovered the truth.
And Ethan was beginning to realize something:
His father’s empire was built on controlling people.
But people who stopped being afraid were impossible to control.
That evening, Sophia met Thomas privately.
She needed answers.
Real answers.
“Did Michael enter Richard’s office?”
Thomas looked shocked.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because we found evidence.”
Thomas became silent.
Sophia noticed.
“You know something.”
Thomas sighed.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Michael contacted me two days before he died.”
Sophia leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
Thomas looked away.
“He said he found proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Richard was not only destroying companies.”
“He was creating replacements.”
Sophia frowned.
“Replacements?”
Thomas nodded.
“People who could take over after enemies were removed.”
A cold feeling spread through Sophia.
“Ethan.”
Thomas looked at her.
“Yes.”
“He wasn’t just marrying me for my company.”
“No.”
Thomas’s voice became quiet.
“He was being prepared to become Richard.”
Sophia returned to Emma.
She found her sitting alone.
The anger was gone.
Only exhaustion remained.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma looked up.
“For what?”
“For everything you lost.”
Emma gave a small smile.
“You didn’t kill my brother.”
“No.”
Sophia sat beside her.
“But I know what it feels like.”
Emma looked at her.
“To lose the person you thought you knew.”
The two women sat silently.
Because they shared something nobody else understood.
They had both loved someone who became a stranger.
The next morning, Emma made a decision.
“I want Ethan.”
Sophia looked at her carefully.
“Alive.”
Emma nodded.
“I need answers.”
Daniel looked concerned.
“Going after Ethan directly is dangerous.”
Emma replied:
“Waiting is more dangerous.”
Sophia understood.
Because Ethan was not going to stop.
Neither was Richard.
They had to move first.
They created a plan.
Find Ethan.
Recover Michael’s original files.
Expose Project Phoenix.
Destroy Richard Blackwood’s empire legally.
No revenge.
No uncontrolled anger.
Justice.
That was the difference.
But before they could begin…
Sophia received a message.
A video.
Again.
This time from Ethan.
She opened it.
His face appeared.
He looked tired.
Different.
Not like the confident man from the wedding.
“ Sophia.”
She almost turned it off.
But she continued watching.
“I know you hate me.”
A pause.
“You should.”
His voice became quieter.
“But there is something you need to know.”
He looked directly into the camera.
“Your father knows more about Project Phoenix than he ever told you.”
Sophia froze.
“What?”
Ethan continued:
“Ask him about the night your grandfather died.”
The video ended.
Sophia stared at the screen.
Her father.
Her grandfather.
Another secret.
Another lie.
Emma looked at her.
“What are you thinking?”
Sophia stood.
Her expression changed.
“I’m going to ask my father the question he never wanted me to ask.”
That night, Richard Hartwell sat in his office.
Sophia entered.
He looked up.
“You found out.”
She stopped.
The words shocked her.
“You knew I would find out?”
Richard sighed.
“Yes.”
Sophia’s heart sank.
“Then tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“The truth.”
A long silence.
Then Richard said:
“Your grandfather did not die naturally.”
Sophia froze.
“What?”
Her father looked at her.
“He was murdered.”
“And the person responsible…”
He paused.
“Was Richard Blackwood.”
Sophia felt the world collapse once again.
The wedding.
The poison.
The Blackwoods.
The secrets.
The lies.
Everything connected.
But one question remained.
Why had Richard Blackwood waited decades to finish what he started?
And why had Sophia been chosen as the final piece?
Across the city, Ethan watched Sophia discover the truth.
For the first time, he looked uncertain.
Because he knew something dangerous had happened.
Sophia was no longer searching for answers.
She was searching for justice.
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And a woman with nothing left to lose was the one person Richard Blackwood could never control.
End of Chapter 10
