Chapter 3 - THE DARK HOUSE The mansion disappeared into darkness.
Victor immediately moved in front of Ethan.
“Nobody move.”
A crash came from the staircase.
Fast footsteps followed.
Marco switched on a tactical flashlight.
“The backup generator should have started.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Someone disabled it.”
Detective Quinn drew her weapon.
“Stay together.”
Then Lily heard the voice again.
“Give me the card.”
She recognized it.
“Julian.”
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
Lily twisted and struck backward.
Julian cursed.
Marco tackled him against the wall.
A small memory card skidded across the floor.
Quinn picked it up.
Julian stared at Victor.
“You don't understand what she's planning.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Then explain.”
Julian glanced at Serena.
For the first time, he looked genuinely afraid of her.
The footage was played in the security room.
Serena appeared entering Ethan's nursery after midnight.
She checked the hallway.
Then leaned over the crib.
“He cries when I touch the left shoulder,” she whispered into her phone.
A man's voice answered.
“Not yet. The trust papers aren't ready.”
Victor's face became expressionless.
Quinn stopped the recording.
“Recognize the voice?”
Victor did.
Warren Price.
The Blackwood family's attorney.
The man who had managed Victor's finances for twenty-two years.
The man who had stood beside him when Amelia died.
The man Victor had trusted with his entire empire.
Victor whispered:
“Get me every document Warren has ever touched.”
The next morning, they discovered something worse.
A trust amendment had been prepared.
If Victor were declared mentally unfit, imprisoned, or otherwise incapable of managing his affairs, control of Ethan's inheritance would pass to his legal spouse.
Serena was supposed to marry Victor in three days.
Someone had already forged Victor's signature.
And someone had spent months preparing the world to believe Victor was an unfit father.
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The attack on Ethan had never been random.
It was evidence.
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