Chapter 2 - SARAH CARTER'S SECRET
Lucas had never driven himself anywhere.
Not in years.
There were always drivers.
Bodyguards.
Security teams.
People whose entire purpose was to make sure Lucas Blackwood never had to touch a steering wheel.
But tonight, he ignored all of them.
He climbed into the driver's seat of his armored SUV.
Emma sat in the back with Harold beside her.
Three black vehicles followed them through the rain.
Lucas drove faster than usual.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
Emma's small voice came through the darkness.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to fire Mommy?”
Lucas glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
“No.”
“She didn't do anything wrong.”
“I know.”
“She just gets tired.”
Lucas's hands tightened on the wheel.
“How sick is she?”
Emma looked down.
“She coughs blood sometimes.”
Lucas immediately pressed the accelerator.
Harold's expression changed.
“Sir…”
“I heard her.”
A few minutes later, they reached the apartment building.
It looked worse than Lucas expected.
Cracked walls.
Broken lights.
A rusted security gate.
Lucas stepped out.
His bodyguards moved immediately.
Two went ahead.
Two stayed behind.
Lucas opened the rear door.
Emma jumped out.
“Come on.”
She grabbed his hand.
Lucas froze.
Nobody had grabbed his hand in years.
Not without fear.
Not without calculation.
Not without wanting something.
But Emma simply held it.
“It's upstairs.”
They entered the building.
The hallway smelled of damp concrete and old cooking oil.
Emma led him to the third floor.
Apartment 3B.
She knocked.
“Mommy?”
No answer.
Emma knocked again.
“Mommy, I'm home.”
Lucas felt something was wrong.
He reached for the handle.
Locked.
He looked at one of his men.
The man nodded.
Seconds later, the door was open.
“Mommy!”
Emma rushed inside.
Lucas followed.
The apartment was tiny.
A mattress on the floor.
A broken kitchen table.
A refrigerator that sounded like it was dying.
And on the mattress lay Sarah Carter.
She looked barely thirty.
But sickness had aged her face.
Her skin was pale.
Her lips almost blue.
When she saw Lucas, her eyes widened.
Not with surprise.
With terror.
“You…”
Lucas stepped forward.
Sarah immediately tried to sit up.
“No.”
Her voice was weak.
“Get out.”
Emma ran to her.
“Mommy!”
Sarah pulled her daughter close.
“What did you do?”
“I got the job!”
Sarah looked at Lucas.
“You brought him here?”
“I had to.”
Sarah's eyes filled with panic.
“You don't understand.”
Lucas crouched beside the mattress.
“I understand enough.”
Sarah stared at him.
“You don't know who I am.”
“I know exactly who you are.”
“No.”
Lucas held up the photograph.
Sarah saw it.
Her face went white.
“Where did you get that?”
“My housekeeper found it in your old employee file.”
Sarah looked at Emma.
Then at Lucas.
And whispered:
“You need to leave.”
Lucas didn't move.
“Why?”
“Because if they know she's with you…”
She stopped.
“Who?”
Sarah's breathing became shallow.
“The people who killed my sister.”
Lucas's eyes narrowed.
“Your sister?”
Sarah nodded.
“Emily Carter.”
Lucas knew that name too.
Three years earlier, Emily Carter had been listed as a witness in an investigation involving several Boston crime families.
She disappeared before she could testify.
Her body was never found.
Lucas had never cared.
Until now.
“Emily was your sister?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I knew you'd kill me.”
Lucas's expression hardened.
“Why?”
Sarah looked at Emma.
Then she whispered:
“Because Emily didn't just investigate your enemies.”
She took a trembling breath.
“She investigated you.”
Lucas went completely still.
Harold stepped forward.
“Sir…”
Lucas raised one hand.
Silence.
“What did she find?”
Sarah shook her head.
“I don't know everything.”
“But you know something.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Sarah reached beneath the mattress.
Her fingers searched.
Then she pulled out a small metal key.
Lucas recognized it immediately.
It belonged to a Blackwood security box.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Your mother gave it to me.”
The room became silent.
Lucas stared at her.
“My mother?”
Sarah nodded.
“Three years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew what was coming.”
Lucas stood slowly.
“What was coming?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Your father's murder wasn't ordered by the O'Sullivans.”
Lucas froze.
Everyone in Boston knew the story.
His father, Richard Blackwood, had been killed during a supposed ambush by the O'Sullivan family.
Lucas had spent seven years hunting them.
Seven years of revenge.
Seven years of blood.
Seven years of believing he knew who had destroyed his family.
Sarah whispered:
“The man who ordered your father's death was inside your house.”
Lucas stared at her.
“Who?”
Sarah looked toward the window.
Her expression changed.
“Someone who is still there.”
A gunshot shattered the glass.
Sarah screamed.
Lucas grabbed Emma and dropped to the floor.
Another bullet tore through the wall.
“DOWN!”
Lucas's men drew their weapons.
Harold pulled Sarah behind the mattress.
Lucas covered Emma with his body.
“Stay down.”
Emma was shaking.
“Mr. Blackwood…”
“I've got you.”
Outside, tires screamed.
Lucas's security team rushed toward the window.
“Vehicle leaving!”
Lucas stood.
“Plate?”
“Black SUV!”
Lucas looked down at Sarah.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then Lucas saw blood on her sleeve.
His face changed.
“Sarah.”
She looked down.
A small red stain was spreading.
Lucas immediately lifted her.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you somewhere safe.”
“No!”
“You're bleeding.”
“Lucas!”
He stopped.
It was the first time she'd called him by his first name.
Sarah stared into his eyes.
“They weren't trying to kill me.”
Lucas's expression darkened.
“Then who?”
Sarah looked at Emma.
“They were shooting at her.”
Lucas looked down at the little girl.
His arms tightened around her.
Something inside him snapped.
He turned to his men.
“Seal the building.”
Then he looked at Sarah.
“From this moment on, you're under Blackwood protection.”
Sarah shook her head.
“You don't understand what that means.”
Lucas's voice was cold.
“No.”
He carried her toward the door.
“You don't understand what it means to threaten something I protect.”
As they reached the hallway, his phone rang.
It was his head of security.
“Sir, we found something.”
“What?”
“There's a camera hidden across the street.”
Lucas stopped.
“And?”
The man hesitated.
“It was pointed directly at Apartment 3B.”
Lucas's eyes narrowed.
“How long?”
“Three years.”
Lucas looked at Sarah.
Three years.
Someone had been watching her.
Watching Emma.
Waiting.
Lucas suddenly understood.
The little girl hadn't walked into his mansion by accident.
Someone had wanted her to.
And whoever had arranged it knew exactly what Lucas would do once he learned who she was.
The trap had already been set.
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The only question was—
Who was waiting for him to spring it?
