Chapter 6: The Woman Ethan Feared
Chapter 6: The Woman Ethan Feared
The name Richard Blackwood changed the atmosphere in the room.
Before Isabella spoke it, Sophia believed she understood the enemy.
Ethan.
The man who smiled at her while planning her death.
The man who whispered promises while preparing betrayal.
But now she realized something far more terrifying.
Ethan was not the beginning of the nightmare.
He was the result of it.
And the person who created him had been hiding in the shadows for decades.
Isabella Blackwood locked the office door behind her.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Sophia stared at the woman standing in front of her.
Five years.
That was how long Isabella had been missing.
Five years of rumors.
Five years of unanswered questions.
Five years where the world believed she had abandoned her family.
But the woman in front of them did not look like someone who left willingly.
She looked like someone who escaped.
“You’re alive,” Sophia whispered.
Isabella gave a tired smile.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
The answer shocked her.
Emma noticed.
“You’re afraid.”
Isabella looked at Emma.
“Of course I am.”
“Of Richard?”
Isabella did not answer.
She didn’t need to.
They moved to a hidden room inside the mansion.
A place Isabella had discovered years ago.
A place where the Blackwoods kept secrets.
Sophia sat across from her.
“Tell us everything.”
Isabella looked at both women.
“You really want the truth?”
Sophia nodded.
“Yes.”
Isabella sighed.
“Then you need to understand something.”
She looked toward the window.
“The Blackwood family was never built on money.”
“Money was only the tool.”
Sophia frowned.
“What was the foundation?”
Isabella’s answer was quiet.
“Fear.”
Richard Blackwood had created his empire through one simple belief:
People could be controlled if you knew what they wanted.
For businessmen, he offered wealth.
For politicians, he offered influence.
For enemies, he offered destruction.
He never needed to threaten everyone directly.
He only needed people to believe he could.
And eventually, they controlled themselves.
But his greatest project was not the company.
It was his children.
“Richard believed emotions were weaknesses,” Isabella explained.
“He hated compassion.”
“He hated hesitation.”
“He hated anyone who showed mercy.”
Sophia listened carefully.
“And Ethan?”
Isabella looked down.
“Ethan was his favorite.”
The words surprised Sophia.
“Favorite?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Ethan wanted his approval more than anything.”
A painful silence followed.
“Richard saw that.”
“And he used it.”
Emma crossed her arms.
“You’re saying Ethan became like this because of his father?”
Isabella looked at her.
“No.”
A pause.
“Ethan chose.”
The answer was important.
Because Isabella refused to excuse him.
“My father created the environment.”
“But Ethan made the decisions.”
Sophia looked down.
For some reason, hearing that hurt.
Because part of her still remembered the man Ethan used to be.
Or the man she thought he was.
“Why did you disappear?” Emma asked.
Isabella became silent.
Then she walked toward a cabinet.
She removed an old notebook.
“This.”
She placed it on the table.
Sophia opened it.
Inside were handwritten notes.
Names.
Dates.
Financial records.
The same type of evidence Emma had been collecting.
Isabella pointed at the pages.
“Five years ago, I discovered my father was involved in illegal operations.”
Emma looked surprised.
“You found evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you expose him?”
Isabella laughed quietly.
“Because I was naive.”
She looked at Sophia.
“I thought the truth would protect me.”
“What happened?”
“I gave the evidence to someone I trusted.”
Sophia’s expression changed.
“Who?”
Isabella looked at Emma.
“Ethan.”
The room became silent.
Emma stared.
“Your own brother?”
Isabella nodded.
“I thought he would help me.”
Sophia whispered:
“But he didn’t.”
“No.”
Isabella’s eyes filled with sadness.
“He betrayed me.”
Five years earlier.
Isabella had entered Ethan’s office carrying the evidence.
She remembered his expression.
The shock.
The fear.
The confusion.
For one moment, she thought she saw her little brother again.
The boy who used to protect her.
The boy who hated their father.
She told him everything.
She showed him the documents.
She begged him to help.
And Ethan listened.
Then he did something she never expected.
He called Richard.
Within hours, Isabella became the enemy.
Her access to the company was removed.
Her reputation was destroyed.
People believed she had suffered a mental breakdown.
Her family announced she had chosen to leave.
But the truth was worse.
She had been imprisoned.
Not in a cell.
In a place where nobody would find her.
A private facility owned by people loyal to Richard.
“She wanted to erase me,” Isabella said.
“Not kill me.”
“Because a dead person becomes a mystery.”
“But a broken person becomes unbelievable.”
Emma’s hands tightened.
“That’s what they do.”
Isabella looked at her.
“You understand.”
Emma nodded.
“Because they did the same thing to Michael.”
Sophia looked between them.
“Michael.”
Emma opened the file.
“My brother.”
She explained everything.
The financial records.
The investigation.
His death.
Isabella listened carefully.
Then her face changed.
“No.”
Emma frowned.
“What?”
Isabella stood.
“Michael wasn’t investigating money.”
“What do you mean?”
“He found something else.”
She walked toward the notebook.
She turned several pages.
There.
A name.
A project.
A hidden operation.
Emma’s eyes widened.
“What is that?”
Isabella whispered:
“Project Phoenix.”
Sophia looked confused.
“What is Project Phoenix?”
Isabella’s expression became dark.
“Richard’s plan to protect the Blackwood empire forever.”
“How?”
“By removing anyone who could threaten it.”
Emma felt a chill.
“You mean…”
Isabella nodded.
“Your brother discovered a system.”
“A system designed to destroy enemies.”
“Financially.”
“Socially.”
“And if necessary…”
She paused.
“Physically.”
Suddenly, Sophia’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone looked at it.
“Don’t answer,” Emma warned.
But Sophia did.
A voice came through.
Ethan.
“Sophia.”
Her entire body froze.
“Where are you?”
Ethan ignored the question.
“You’ve been talking to my sister.”
Sophia said nothing.
“You should stop.”
Her anger overcame her fear.
“Or what?”
A pause.
Then Ethan answered:
“Or you’ll learn why Isabella disappeared.”
Sophia’s face changed.
“You threatened her?”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“I saved her.”
Sophia felt disgust.
“You destroyed her.”
“No.”
Ethan whispered.
“Father did.”
Silence.
For a moment, Sophia heard something unexpected.
Pain.
Real pain.
Then Ethan continued.
“But I learned from him.”
The call ended.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Emma said:
“He’s scared.”
Sophia looked at her.
“Ethan?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Emma looked at Isabella.
“Because she knows the truth.”
Isabella nodded.
“And because Ethan fears one thing more than losing money.”
“What?”
Isabella looked at the photograph of her family.
“The truth about who he really is.”
Later that night, Ethan stood alone inside his apartment.
He replayed the phone call.
Not Sophia’s voice.
Not her anger.
Her silence.
The disappointment.
That was what hurt.
Because anger meant she still cared.
But disappointment meant she had finally seen him.
A man entered the room.
“Your father wants an update.”
Ethan looked up.
“Tell him Sophia knows about Isabella.”
The man hesitated.
“That’s a problem.”
Ethan smiled faintly.
“No.”
He looked out at the city.
“It’s an opportunity.”
“How?”
“Because now Sophia will search for the truth.”
“And the truth will lead her exactly where we want.”
Sophia believed she was uncovering Ethan’s secrets.
But she was wrong.
She was uncovering the history of an entire empire built on manipulation.
Emma believed she was fighting for Michael.
But she was about to discover his death was connected to something much larger.
And Isabella…
The woman Ethan feared most…
Was finally free.
But freedom came with a price.
Because once the Blackwoods realized Isabella was alive…
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They would not stop until she disappeared again.
End of Chapter 6
