Chapter 6 - THE BETRAYAL INSIDE THE BLACKWOOD HOUSE
Victor watched the video twice.
The second time hurt more.
Adrian Cole.
Thirteen years.
Thirteen years of loyalty.
At least Victor had believed it was loyalty.
Adrian had stood beside him through territorial disputes, business collapses, federal investigations, and Clara’s funeral.
He had been one of the first men to hold Ethan after his birth.
Now Victor watched him stand in the nursery while Serena tampered with the baby’s bottle.
“Keep playing,” Victor said.
Detective Grant glanced at him.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
The footage continued.
Adrian kissed Serena.
Then he whispered something.
The camera had no usable audio.
Serena pointed toward Ethan.
Adrian shook his head.
They argued silently.
Serena appeared furious.
Then Adrian removed the bottle from her hand.
For one second, Victor felt confused.
Was Adrian stopping her?
Then Adrian emptied half the liquid into the sink and returned a smaller amount to the bottle.
Lily covered her mouth.
“He was controlling the dose.”
Grant nodded grimly.
“That’s one interpretation.”
Victor’s face had lost all emotion.
The video jumped.
Motion detection.
Another night.
Ethan sleeping.
Serena entered.
She pinched his arm.
Hard.
The baby woke screaming.
Serena waited.
Then she left.
Minutes later Lily ran into the room.
Victor looked away.
The next clip showed Serena knocking over a lamp before Lily entered.
Another showed her unlocking the crib rail.
Another showed Adrian placing Serena’s bracelet inside Lily’s folded laundry.
Victor stood so abruptly the laptop shook.
“I accused her.”
Lily looked at him.
Victor’s voice was barely audible.
“I accused you of stealing.”
“You didn’t fire me.”
“I almost did.”
“You believed the evidence.”
“I believed evidence that had been manufactured inside my own house by the man responsible for protecting it.”
Detective Grant closed the laptop.
“There’s enough here for serious charges.”
“Then arrest them.”
“We need to find them first.”
Victor stared at her.
“Find them.”
Grant’s voice hardened.
“We are.”
Victor knew that tone.
It was the tone people used when reminding him he was not in charge.
Normally he resented it.
Tonight he welcomed it.
Because if Victor began solving the problem his old way, Ethan would grow up with a father who had learned nothing.
He turned toward Marco.
“Every location Adrian knows is compromised.”
Marco nodded.
“The lake house?”
“Too obvious.”
“Downtown apartment?”
“Police already checked.”
Lily spoke quietly.
“What about Serena’s mother?”
Everyone looked at her.
Victor frowned.
“Her mother lives in New York.”
“No.”
Lily shook her head.
“Serena told you that.”
Victor stared.
“She keeps an apartment near Lincoln Park.”
“How do you know?”
“I drove Serena there once.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t drive.”
“She made me.”
Lily looked embarrassed.
“She had been drinking after a charity luncheon. She didn’t want the chauffeur to know.”
“Address?”
Lily gave it.
Grant was already texting.
Twenty minutes later a tactical team entered the apartment.
Empty.
But not useless.
They found clothes.
Documents.
Cash.
Two passports belonging to Serena.
One belonging to Adrian.
And a stack of photographs.
Victor standing outside his office.
Victor arriving at restaurants.
Victor with Ethan in the park.
Victor at Clara’s grave.
Someone had been tracking him for months.
Then police found the envelope.
Inside was a copy of Victor’s proposed revised estate plan.
A document he had never signed.
The forged version named Serena Montigue as Ethan’s guardian.
It also gave her temporary voting authority over Victor’s legitimate companies if he became incapacitated.
Victor stared at the photograph Grant showed him.
“They forged my signature.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Nathan Hale, Victor’s attorney, arrived within the hour.
Gray-haired.
Immaculate suit.
Expression furious.
“I told you not to sign anything Serena brought you.”
“I didn’t.”
Nathan looked at the forged document.
“She intended to pretend you did.”
“What would it accomplish?”
“Potentially a lot if nobody challenged it immediately.”
Victor’s face darkened.
Nathan continued.
“If something happened to you, Serena could have attempted to step into guardianship and corporate control while Ethan remained a minor.”
Lily whispered, “That’s why she wanted him sick.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Possibly.”
Victor’s voice became flat.
“Not sick.”
Everyone turned.
Victor stared at Ethan through the glass.
“She wanted him vulnerable.”
He finally understood the pattern.
Not enough to kill him.
Enough to create emergencies.
Enough to convince Victor that Ethan’s care was unstable.
Enough to isolate the child.
Enough to frame Lily.
Enough to make Serena indispensable.
Then came the marriage.
Then the documents.
Then whatever happened next.
Grant entered.
“We found Adrian’s vehicle.”
“Where?”
“O’Hare parking structure.”
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
“Did they fly?”
“No record under either name.”
“Then they wanted us to think they did.”
Grant nodded.
“Probably.”
Marco’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
“Boss.”
Victor looked over.
“Serena’s father just called the mansion.”
“Why?”
“He says Serena is being framed.”
Victor almost laughed.
Of course.
Charles Montigue.
Real estate billionaire.
Political donor.
A man who treated influence like oxygen.
“He wants to meet.”
“No.”
Marco looked surprised.
Victor continued.
“Everything goes through Detective Grant and counsel.”
Nathan nodded approvingly.
Lily watched Victor.
This was not the man she had expected.
She had spent months believing Victor’s power made him dangerous.
Now she realized something else.
His greatest danger had been believing his own reputation made the people around him afraid to betray him.
Adrian hadn’t been afraid.
Serena hadn’t been afraid.
They had been counting on Victor’s arrogance.
Grant’s phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
“Where?”
She listened.
“We’re coming.”
She hung up.
Victor stood.
“What?”
“A woman matching Serena’s description was spotted entering a private residence in Lake Forest.”
Victor frowned.
“Whose residence?”
Grant looked directly at him.
“Your attorney’s.”
Silence.
Victor turned toward Nathan Hale.
Nathan’s face went white.
“That’s impossible.”
Grant watched him.
“Which attorney?” Victor asked slowly.
Grant held his gaze.
“Nathan Hale.”
Everyone looked at Nathan.
Nathan stepped backward.
“I haven’t been home since this afternoon.”
Grant’s hand moved toward her radio.
Victor stared at the man who had protected his legal interests for seventeen years.
Nathan looked genuinely terrified.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Grant signaled him to answer on speaker.
Nathan did.
A woman’s voice filled the room.
“Nathan.”
Serena.
Victor’s entire body went still.
Nathan swallowed.
“Serena.”
“Tell Victor I have something he wants.”
Victor moved closer.
Grant silently began tracing the call.
“What?” Nathan asked.
Serena laughed softly.
“The original trust records.”
Nathan looked at Victor.
“And if he wants them back, he comes alone.”
Victor reached for the phone.
Grant stopped him.
Serena continued.
“And Lily Carter comes with him.”
Lily froze.
Victor’s expression became lethal.
“No.”
Serena heard him.
“Victor.”
“Serena.”
“You came home at a very inconvenient time.”
“You broke my son’s arm.”
Silence.
Then Serena sighed.
“You always were emotional about that child.”
Victor gripped the table.
Grant shook her head subtly, reminding him to keep her talking.
“What do you want with Lily?”
“She has something that belongs to me.”
“The card?”
Serena laughed.
“So she did switch them.”
Lily’s face went pale.
Victor stared at her.
Serena continued.
“Clever little nanny.”
“Where’s Adrian?” Victor asked.
“With me.”
“Put him on.”
“No.”
“Afraid he’ll tell me whose idea this was?”
For the first time, Serena’s tone sharpened.
“You still think this was about your stupid trust?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What was it about?”
A pause.
Then Serena said five words that changed everything.
“Ask Adrian who killed Clara.”
The call ended.
No one in the room moved.
Victor looked as if someone had punched through his chest.
Lily whispered, “Victor?”
He didn’t hear her.
Clara.
His wife.
Ethan’s mother.
Dead in a highway accident fourteen months ago.
An accident Adrian had investigated personally.
An accident Serena had helped Victor survive.
Victor looked at Marco.
“Pull Clara’s file.”
Nathan spoke carefully.
“Victor.”
“NOW.”
May you like
And for the first time that night, the conspiracy stopped being about an engagement.
It became about murder.
