Chapter 3 - The Secret Hidden Inside The Mansion
The first thing I did after the call ended was check if Emily was lying.
Not because I believed she was.
Because I had survived long enough to know that the truth was always hidden between what people said and what they refused to say.
The mansion was still dark.
My security team moved through the hallways with flashlights.
The backup generators had failed.
That alone was impossible.
My house had three separate power systems.
Someone had not just turned off the lights.
Someone had planned it.
I held the photograph tightly in my hand.
The image of the baby.
The image of my mother standing beside her.
The name written on the back.
Lily Blackwood.
A name that should not exist.
"Mr. Blackwood."
My security chief, Marcus Hale, approached me.
He had worked for my family for fifteen years.
A man who had protected my father before protecting me.
"Power will be restored in five minutes."
I looked at him.
"Find out who cut it."
He nodded.
Then his eyes moved toward the photograph in my hand.
Only for a second.
But I noticed.
Marcus was not surprised by the picture.
He was afraid of it.
That was the moment something inside me changed.
Because Marcus Hale was not a man who feared anything.
Not criminals.
Not enemies.
Not death.
But he feared a photograph of a baby.
"Do you know this name?" I asked.
His expression remained controlled.
Too controlled.
"No."
A simple answer.
Too simple.
I stepped closer.
"Look at me and say it again."
Marcus looked directly into my eyes.
"I don't know who Lily Blackwood is."
The old version of me might have believed him.
The man who trusted his closest people.
The man who thought loyalty was something earned through years of service.
That man was gone.
Because tonight, everyone had become a suspect.
I turned away.
"Search the entire east wing."
Marcus frowned.
"Why?"
"Because someone has been hiding things in my house."
His silence confirmed what I already knew.
He understood.
The east wing had been closed for years.
Nobody went there.
Not even staff.
My father had locked several rooms before his death and ordered everyone to stay away.
I had never questioned it.
That was my mistake.
I walked back toward Emily.
She was standing near the desk, still shaken.
"Take me there."
Her face immediately changed.
"No."
I looked at her.
"You know where it is."
She looked down.
"I know what is inside."
"Then you know why I need to see it."
Emily shook her head.
"Mr. Blackwood, you don't understand."
"Then explain."
She looked at the photograph.
"The night Lily disappeared..."
Her voice became quieter.
"Your father wasn't trying to find her."
I waited.
"He was trying to protect her."
The words hit harder than I expected.
"My father protected a child by hiding her existence?"
Emily nodded.
"Because someone wanted her gone."
I stared at her.
"Who?"
She looked terrified.
"I never saw their face."
"But you know who they are."
Emily didn't answer.
That was enough.
I turned toward the hallway.
"Bring my car."
Emily grabbed my arm.
The action surprised both of us.
Nobody touched me without permission.
Nobody.
But she didn't seem to realize what she had done.
"Please."
Her voice broke.
"Don't go there alone."
I looked at her hand on my arm.
Then at her face.
For the first time since I found her crying behind that door, I saw something different.
Not fear.
Concern.
She wasn't protecting herself.
She was protecting me.
"Why do you care what happens to me?"
She released my arm.
"Because Lily cared about you."
I froze.
"What did you say?"
Emily looked like she regretted speaking.
But it was too late.
"Lily knew your name."
I stepped closer.
"How?"
Emily swallowed.
"Because before she disappeared, she left one message."
"What message?"
She looked at the photograph.
"She said if Adrian Blackwood ever found out the truth..."
A pause.
"Nobody inside the house would be safe."
The hallway suddenly felt smaller.
I had spent years believing my mansion was the safest place I owned.
Now I realized it might have been the most dangerous.
The east wing was exactly how my father had left it.
Dust covered the furniture.
The paintings on the walls had faded.
The air smelled like a place nobody wanted to remember.
Marcus followed behind us with two guards.
Emily walked beside me.
She kept looking around.
Like she expected someone to appear.
"You've been here before," I said.
She hesitated.
"Once."
"When?"
"Six months ago."
"To find the documents?"
She nodded.
"And what did you find?"
Her eyes moved toward the end of the hallway.
"There was a room."
I followed her gaze.
A locked wooden door stood at the end.
Different from the others.
Newer.
Protected.
Someone had repaired it recently.
I walked toward it.
"Who locked this?"
Emily whispered:
"Your father."
I touched the handle.
The lock was old.
But the scratches around it were fresh.
Someone had tried to open it recently.
"Get the tools."
Marcus immediately moved.
Emily stepped back.
"I don't think you should open it."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because some things were hidden for a reason."
I looked at the door.
"Secrets don't disappear because people hide them."
The lock broke after several minutes.
The door slowly opened.
Inside was a small room.
Not an office.
Not a storage room.
A nursery.
I stopped.
The walls were painted white.
A small wooden crib sat in the corner.
A bookshelf filled with children's books.
A faded blanket rested on a chair.
Someone had prepared this room.
For a child.
For Lily.
I walked inside slowly.
My entire life, this room had existed ten steps away from me.
And I never knew.
Emily stood at the doorway.
"Your father came here every night."
I turned around.
"What?"
"After Lily disappeared."
My chest tightened.
"He mourned her."
I looked around.
The room suddenly felt different.
Not like a secret.
Like a wound.
On the wall above the crib was a small wooden frame.
I removed it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
My father's handwriting.
The same handwriting I had seen on every contract he ever signed.
My hands tightened.
I read the first line.
"Adrian, if you are reading this, then they failed to keep you away from the truth."
I stopped breathing.
The room went silent.
I continued.
"My son, there is something I need you to know about Lily."
A sound interrupted me.
A phone ringing.
Not mine.
Not Emily's.
Everyone looked around.
The sound was coming from inside the nursery.
Marcus stepped forward.
He searched the room.
Then he found it.
A hidden phone inside the wall.
Still ringing.
I looked at Emily.
Her face had gone pale.
Because she recognized the number.
"Who is calling?"
She whispered:
"The person who knows where Lily is."
The phone kept ringing.
I reached for it.
Then the screen lit up.
One name appeared.
May you like
A name I never expected to see.
My father's name.
