Chapter 10 - Eleanor Was Waiting
They returned to Blackwood Manor before dawn.
The mansion looked empty.
No guards.
No servants.
No cars.
The front door stood open.
Emma felt a chill.
Victor walked beside her.
Sarah remained behind them.
Margaret followed.
Nobody spoke.
The dining hall was exactly as they had left it.
Except the chair was occupied.
Eleanor Blackwood sat there.
Alive.
Older.
Her silver hair was neatly arranged.
She looked at Emma.
“You finally remember.”
Emma stared.
“You were alive.”
“Yes.”
“You let everyone believe you died.”
“I had no choice.”
Victor's voice was cold.
“You could have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every night.”
Victor frowned.
Eleanor pointed to the chair.
“The recorder beneath it was connected to the house.”
Emma understood.
“The blinking light.”
“Not a camera.”
“A transmitter.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I knew Thomas was listening.”
“So you used the chair to send messages.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked furious.
“You manipulated me.”
“I protected you.”
“You destroyed my life.”
Eleanor's eyes filled with regret.
“I know.”
Thomas had infiltrated the family.
He controlled accounts.
Security.
Legal documents.
People.
Eleanor had discovered him.
But she couldn't expose him without proof.
So she created the chair.
A trap.
The recordings captured Thomas's network.
The ledger contained their financial crimes.
The microfilm contained the names.
And Emma's memories contained the missing piece.
Thomas had tried to erase all of it.
But Sarah had protected Emma.
Victor's father had disappeared.
Eleanor had staged her death.
Everything had been built around one goal.
Survival.
Emma looked at Eleanor.
“Why me?”
“Because you saw Thomas.”
“And my mother?”
“She chose you over everything.”
Sarah cried silently.
Emma took her hand.
For the first time in years, she felt the missing pieces beginning to connect.
Then Victor's phone rang.
Thomas.
Victor answered.
Thomas's voice was calm.
“You found Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“And the evidence?”
Victor smiled faintly.
“You're finished.”
Thomas laughed.
“No.”
A pause.
“You are.”
The mansion's security system activated.
Steel shutters dropped over every window.
Doors locked.
Gas began hissing from the vents.
Emma coughed.
Victor grabbed her.
“Basement!”
They ran.
Eleanor remained seated.
“Wait!”
Victor turned.
She pointed toward the chair.
“Underneath.”
Victor returned.
He lifted the seat.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a remote control.
Eleanor said:
“Press the red button.”
Victor did.
The walls opened.
A hidden ventilation system activated.
Fresh air rushed through.
The gas disappeared.
Thomas's voice came over the speakers.
“You can't hide forever.”
Eleanor smiled.
“We don't need to.”
Victor looked at Emma.
She understood.
They had enough evidence now.
The police could be called.
The recordings.
The ledger.
The microfilm.
Everything.
Victor took out his phone.
Signal returned.
He called the authorities.
But before he could speak, every light in the mansion turned red.
A final message appeared on the wall.
YOU FORGOT ONE PERSON.
Emma looked at the family photographs.
Then she noticed one face missing.
Her father's.
She turned to Sarah.
“Where is he?”
May you like
Sarah went pale.
And somewhere beneath the mansion, a door unlocked.
