Chapter 13: The Monster Everyone Loved
Chapter 13: The Monster Everyone Loved
For years, people looked at Ethan Blackwood and saw perfection.
They saw the successful businessman.
The charming gentleman.
The man who donated millions to charities.
The man who always knew the right words.
The man who made Sophia Hartwell believe she had found the person she would grow old with.
The world loved Ethan Blackwood.
But the world had never seen what happened behind closed doors.
The world had never seen the boy who was forced to choose between love and power.
And the world had never seen the moment that boy disappeared.
After Michael’s testimony, the investigation changed completely.
The public no longer saw the wedding as an isolated crime.
It became the center of something much larger.
A decades-long conspiracy.
A family empire built on manipulation.
And a generation of people damaged by one man’s obsession with control.
Richard Blackwood.
But one question remained.
Why did Ethan become like him?
Sophia sat in the Hartwell mansion library, surrounded by old documents.
Emma, Isabella, Daniel, and Michael were there.
For the first time, all the pieces of the puzzle were together.
Almost.
Michael placed a file on the table.
“This is Ethan’s childhood record.”
Sophia looked surprised.
“You found this?”
Michael nodded.
“Richard kept everything.”
“Every mistake.”
“Every weakness.”
“Every moment he could use against someone.”
Emma opened the file.
Inside were photographs.
School reports.
Psychological evaluations.
Private notes.
Sophia stared at the pictures.
A young Ethan.
A child with a serious expression.
Nothing like the confident man she knew.
Isabella looked at the photograph.
“I remember him.”
Everyone looked at her.
“He was different.”
Sophia asked quietly:
“What happened?”
Isabella sighed.
“When Ethan was young, he wasn’t cruel.”
The answer surprised Sophia.
“He wasn’t?”
“No.”
Isabella looked at the picture.
“He was kind.”
“He protected people.”
“He hated seeing others suffer.”
Emma frowned.
“Then what changed him?”
Isabella’s eyes became darker.
“Our father.”
Richard Blackwood believed emotions were weaknesses.
He trained Ethan from childhood.
Not like a son.
Like an investment.
Every mistake became a lesson.
Every failure became punishment.
Every emotion became something to eliminate.
“When Ethan cried, Richard called him weak.”
“When Ethan showed compassion, Richard called him useless.”
“When Ethan trusted someone, Richard taught him that trust was a weapon others could use.”
Sophia listened silently.
Because suddenly, she understood something painful.
The man she loved had been created.
But he was still responsible for what he became.
Michael opened another document.
“This is the most important part.”
Everyone looked.
A letter.
Written by Ethan when he was seventeen.
Sophia hesitated before opening it.
Inside were only a few lines.
“I don’t want to become him.”
“I don’t want to hurt people.”
“But I don’t know how to escape.”
Sophia felt something break inside her.
Because those words sounded like a person trapped.
Not a monster.
Emma noticed Sophia’s expression.
“You feel sorry for him.”
Sophia looked at her.
“I don’t know what I feel.”
And that was the truth.
She hated Ethan.
She missed Ethan.
She feared him.
She remembered loving him.
All those feelings existed together.
And that was the cruelest part.
Later that day, Sophia requested a private meeting with Ethan.
The prison interview room was cold.
Nothing like the luxury places where they used to meet.
No expensive furniture.
No beautiful views.
Just two people facing the truth.
Ethan entered.
He looked exhausted.
Older.
Sophia sat across from him.
“I read your file.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“My father’s favorite hobby.”
“What?”
“Collecting evidence against his own family.”
Sophia looked at him.
“You were afraid of him.”
Ethan laughed softly.
“Everyone was.”
“No.”
Sophia shook her head.
“You were different.”
Silence.
“You wanted his approval.”
Ethan looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question seemed simple.
But his answer carried years of pain.
“Because when you grow up believing your father’s love is something you have to earn…”
“You spend your whole life trying to finally be enough.”
Sophia looked away.
She wanted to understand.
But understanding did not erase what he did.
“You tried to kill me.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You planned my death.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
A long silence.
Then:
“Because I believed if I didn’t…”
“My father would destroy me.”
Sophia stared.
“You’re saying you had no choice?”
“No.”
Ethan looked at her.
“I had a choice.”
The honesty surprised her.
“I made the wrong one.”
For the first time, Sophia saw something different.
Not an innocent man.
Not a victim.
A guilty man who finally understood his guilt.
“I loved you.”
Sophia’s voice trembled.
Ethan looked at her.
“I know.”
“Did you ever love me?”
The question was the one she had been avoiding.
The one she needed answered.
Ethan looked away.
And that told her everything.
Then he whispered:
“Yes.”
A pause.
“I loved you.”
Sophia felt tears forming.
“But I was too weak to choose you over him.”
Outside the prison, Emma waited.
When Sophia came out, she knew.
“You talked to him.”
“Yes.”
“What did you learn?”
Sophia looked at the sky.
“That monsters are not always born.”
Emma remained silent.
“They are created.”
A pause.
“But they still choose what they become.”
Meanwhile, Daniel discovered something new.
He rushed into the office.
“We found the person who helped poison the cake.”
Everyone turned.
“Who?”
Daniel placed the evidence on the table.
Security footage.
Messages.
Financial transfers.
The person in the video was partially hidden.
But the identity was clear.
Sophia stepped closer.
Then froze.
“No…”
Emma looked at her.
“What?”
Sophia whispered the name.
A name nobody wanted to hear.
Laura Mitchell.
Her personal assistant.
Her closest employee.
The woman who had been beside her every day.
The woman who knew her schedule.
Her habits.
Her trust.
Michael looked at the evidence.
“She wasn’t working for Ethan.”
Sophia frowned.
“Then who?”
Daniel answered:
“Richard Blackwood.”
Everyone became silent.
Sophia sat down.
Because this betrayal hurt differently.
Ethan had been someone she loved.
But Laura…
Laura had been someone she trusted completely.
That night, Sophia confronted Laura.
She found her waiting in the Hartwell office.
No attempt to run.
No excuses.
Just tears.
“How long?”
Sophia asked.
Laura looked down.
“Two years.”
Sophia felt numb.
“Why?”
Laura cried.
“Because Richard threatened my family.”
Sophia stared.
“You could have told me.”
Laura shook her head.
“You don’t understand what he does.”
“What did he do?”
Laura looked at her.
“He destroyed my brother’s life.”
A pause.
“He made sure nobody would ever believe us.”
Sophia realized something.
Richard Blackwood did not only control powerful people.
He controlled desperate people.
He found their weaknesses.
Then he owned them.
Laura was not innocent.
But she was another person broken by the same system.
Later that night, Sophia stood in front of the wedding photograph.
The picture of her and Ethan.
A perfect couple.
A perfect moment.
A perfect lie.
She finally understood.
The monster everyone loved was not created overnight.
He was built slowly.
By fear.
By ambition.
By a father who believed love was weakness.
But the most important truth was this:
Understanding someone’s pain did not mean accepting their actions.
And Sophia was done confusing forgiveness with surrender.
Across the city, Richard Blackwood watched the news.
Sophia had uncovered Ethan’s past.
She had exposed Laura.
She had survived every trap.
The old man smiled.
“She finally understands.”
The man beside him asked:
“Understands what?”
Richard looked at Sophia’s picture.
“That everyone has a weakness.”
“And hers…”
A pause.
“Is that she still believes people can change.”
Sophia had spent weeks searching for the monster.
She found him.
But she also found something unexpected.
The monster had once been a boy.
A boy who wanted love.
A boy who failed.
A boy who became Ethan Blackwood.
But Richard Blackwood had forgotten one thing:
A person who survives pain can become stronger than the person who caused it.
And Sophia Hartwell was no longer the bride who almost died.
May you like
She was the woman who was coming for the empire.
End of Chapter 13
