Chapter 8 - SERENA CAME BACK FOR THE BABY
Every entrance to St. Catherine’s Hospital was locked down before sunrise.
Uniformed officers were stationed on Ethan’s floor.
Blackwood security stood outside the elevator.
Victor refused to leave his son’s room.
Serena was coming.
That was what Adrian had claimed.
But nobody knew why.
“She can’t think she can simply walk into a hospital and take him,” Lily whispered.
Victor stood beside the window.
“She doesn’t need to believe she’ll succeed.”
“Then why come?”
“To destroy something.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
“The evidence?”
“Or the person who can explain it.”
“Me.”
Victor turned.
“No one gets near you.”
Lily almost smiled.
“You keep saying that.”
“And I keep discovering my security has holes.”
“That wasn’t criticism.”
“It should be.”
He walked closer.
“I trusted the wrong people.”
“You trusted people who worked very hard to earn it.”
“I should have trusted you.”
Lily looked down.
“You barely knew me.”
“I knew how Ethan behaved around you.”
Victor glanced toward his sleeping son.
“That should have been enough.”
At seven-twelve, police received word from Adrian’s doctors.
He had survived surgery.
Detective Grant entered Victor’s room.
“He’s asking for immunity discussions.”
Victor laughed coldly.
“Of course.”
“He claims Serena planned Clara’s death.”
“Claims?”
“We need evidence.”
“Ask him where to find it.”
“We are.”
Grant turned toward Lily.
“I also need to know if you recognize this.”
She showed Lily a photograph.
A woman in medical scrubs.
Lily frowned.
“She came to the mansion.”
“When?”
“Maybe three weeks ago.”
“Why?”
“Serena said she was a pediatric sleep consultant.”
Victor turned sharply.
“What?”
“I thought you hired her.”
“I didn’t.”
Grant’s expression hardened.
“Her name is Paula Mercer. She isn’t a sleep consultant.”
“Then what is she?”
“A former pediatric nurse whose license was suspended.”
Lily’s face went pale.
“For what?”
“Medication irregularities.”
Victor stared at Grant.
“The sedative.”
“We believe Serena obtained it through her.”
Victor’s hands curled.
Grant continued.
“We found messages showing payments from Adrian.”
Lily looked toward Ethan.
“They drugged him.”
“We’re still waiting on toxicology.”
“But they did.”
Grant didn’t argue.
At eight-thirty, Adrian spoke.
Not to Victor.
To detectives.
His statement lasted ninety minutes.
He admitted the affair.
The financial scheme.
The forged trust documents.
The staged household incidents.
He admitted helping Serena manipulate Ethan’s routine and frame Lily.
But when asked about Clara, Adrian initially denied murder.
Then investigators showed him Clara’s handwritten note.
He broke.
Adrian claimed Serena had planned to frighten Clara.
Not kill her.
According to him, Clara had discovered payments from Victor’s businesses to companies she didn’t recognize.
She traced them to Adrian.
Clara threatened to tell Victor.
Serena suggested creating a “minor accident” to scare her into silence.
A mechanic weakened part of the braking system.
The accident became catastrophic.
Adrian insisted he never intended Clara to die.
Victor heard the summary without expression.
Lily watched him carefully.
Finally he asked Grant, “Did he say where Serena is?”
“No.”
“Then he hasn’t told you everything.”
Grant’s radio suddenly erupted.
A disturbance downstairs.
Woman.
Employee badge.
Attempting to enter restricted elevators.
Victor moved instantly.
“Stay with Ethan.”
Lily stood.
“No.”
“Lily.”
“If she’s here because of me, I’m not hiding behind your son.”
“You’re staying because Ethan needs someone he trusts.”
That stopped her.
Victor looked at Grant.
“We go.”
They reached the hallway as officers rushed toward the service elevator.
A woman in blue scrubs was pinned against the wall.
Not Serena.
Victor frowned.
Then Grant swore.
“Decoy.”
Victor turned.
At the opposite end of the corridor, a supply-room door opened.
Serena stepped out.
Lily saw her first.
“VICTOR!”
Serena was already running toward Ethan’s room.
Lily moved between them.
Serena held something metallic.
A syringe.
“Get away from him!”
Serena lunged.
Lily grabbed her wrist.
The two women crashed against the wall.
Pain tore through Lily’s bruised abdomen.
Serena hissed in her ear.
“You should have taken the money.”
Lily twisted her arm.
The syringe dropped.
Victor reached them seconds later.
He pulled Serena away.
Not violently.
But with such controlled force that she seemed suddenly tiny.
Police surrounded them.
Serena laughed.
Actually laughed.
Her perfect hair was tangled.
Her expensive coat hung open.
Her eyes looked wild.
Victor stared at her.
“You came back.”
“You always liked dramatic entrances.”
“You hurt my son.”
Serena smiled.
“I improved your perspective.”
Victor’s face became stone.
Grant placed Serena in handcuffs.
Serena looked at Lily.
“You think he’ll protect you?”
Lily said nothing.
Serena laughed again.
“He couldn’t protect Clara.”
Victor flinched.
Serena saw it.
Enjoyed it.
“He couldn’t protect his wife. He couldn’t protect his son. And you think you’re special?”
Victor stepped forward.
Grant put out an arm.
He stopped.
Serena smiled triumphantly.
But Victor surprised her.
He didn’t threaten her.
He didn’t touch her.
He simply said, “You’re right about one thing.”
Serena’s smile widened.
“I failed them.”
The smile faded.
Victor continued.
“But I’m done hiding failure behind power.”
He nodded toward the officers.
“Take her.”
Serena’s composure finally broke.
“You think this ends with me?”
Victor stared.
“It began before me!”
Grant paused.
“What does that mean?”
Serena’s eyes moved between them.
“You think Adrian found me?”
She laughed bitterly.
“No.”
“Who did?” Grant demanded.
Serena looked at Victor.
“Your brother.”
Victor’s face changed.
Lily stared at him.
Victor had one brother.
Damian Blackwood.
Older by four years.
Estranged for almost a decade.
A man Victor had not spoken to since their father’s funeral.
“That’s impossible,” Victor said.
Serena tilted her head.
“Is it?”
“Damian lives in Europe.”
“Sometimes.”
Victor moved closer.
“What does Damian have to do with Clara?”
Serena smiled.
“Ask him why she was on that highway.”
Victor froze.
Grant demanded, “Explain.”
Serena shook her head.
“Lawyer.”
Her smile returned.
“Now I want my lawyer.”
Police took her away.
Victor remained in the corridor.
Lily approached slowly.
“Victor?”
He stared after Serena.
The conspiracy he had thought was finally closing had opened wider.
Damian.
His brother.
His enemy.
The man who believed Victor had stolen the Blackwood empire from him.
Grant picked up the fallen syringe using an evidence container.
A nurse later confirmed the liquid contained a powerful sedative.
Enough to send Ethan into immediate medical crisis.
Serena had not returned for documents.
She had returned for the baby.
That knowledge followed Victor back into Ethan’s room.
Lily sat beside the crib.
Victor stood over his son.
For the first time, Ethan looked peaceful.
Victor touched his hair.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown international number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Victor’s eyes hardened.
“Damian?”
Silence.
May you like
Then his brother’s voice answered from thousands of miles away.
“You finally started asking the right questions.”
