Chapter 4 - The Enemy Among My Own People
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The screen continued glowing in the darkness of the hidden nursery.
My father's name remained there.
Edward Blackwood.
A man who had been buried for twelve years.
A man who could not possibly be calling me.
But the phone was real.
The number was real.
And someone had kept it hidden inside a wall in a room my father never wanted anyone to find.
I slowly reached for it.
"Mr. Blackwood..." Marcus said quietly.
I ignored him.
My fingers touched the phone.
The moment I answered, the entire room seemed to stop breathing.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a voice came through.
Not my father's.
A younger voice.
Calm.
Controlled.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
My eyes narrowed.
"Who is this?"
The person on the other end laughed softly.
"You sound exactly like him."
My grip tightened.
"Like who?"
A pause.
"Your father."
Emily stepped back.
She knew something.
I could see it.
"Where did you get this phone?"
The voice ignored my question.
"Did you find the nursery?"
I looked around the room.
My eyes moved from the crib.
To the books.
To the photograph.
"Who are you?"
The voice became colder.
"The person who has been protecting Lily."
The name hit me again.
Lily.
The child everyone wanted erased.
The child my father had hidden.
The child connected to my family.
"Where is she?"
Another silence.
Then:
"Alive."
My heart stopped for a moment.
A thousand questions rushed through my mind.
Where had she been?
Who had taken her?
Why had everyone lied?
But before I could ask anything else, the voice continued.
"Before you find her, you need to understand something."
"What?"
"Your father didn't hide Lily because he was ashamed."
I waited.
"He hid her because someone in your family wanted her dead."
The room became silent.
I looked at Marcus.
He immediately looked away.
That small movement was enough.
I noticed.
And so did Emily.
"Marcus."
My security chief looked at me.
"Yes, sir?"
"Did you know about this room?"
His face remained calm.
Too calm.
"No."
The voice on the phone suddenly spoke again.
"Don't trust him."
Everyone froze.
Marcus's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
The voice continued.
"He was there the night Lily disappeared."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Mr. Blackwood, don't listen to whoever that is."
I turned toward him.
"Why?"
He stopped.
"Why should I not listen?"
Marcus had no answer.
For fifteen years, I had believed this man was one of the few people who would never betray me.
Now I was standing in a hidden nursery while a stranger accused him of helping destroy my family.
"Leave the room," I ordered.
Marcus looked shocked.
"Sir?"
"You heard me."
The guards looked at each other.
Nobody expected it.
Marcus slowly nodded.
Then he walked out.
But before leaving, he looked at Emily.
Not with anger.
With fear.
That worried me more.
After Marcus left, I closed the nursery door.
Only Emily, the phone, and I remained.
"Tell me everything."
Emily sat on the edge of the old chair.
She looked exhausted.
Like she had carried this secret for too long.
"I didn't know who to trust."
"You could have come to me."
She looked at me.
"Could I?"
The question caught me off guard.
"What does that mean?"
She looked around the room.
"Your father hid this room from you."
I said nothing.
"Your employees knew."
Silence.
"Your relatives knew."
More silence.
"And you didn't."
Her words were painful because they were true.
For years, I had believed my family respected me.
But maybe they had only protected a version of the truth that benefited them.
"When did you learn about Lily?"
Emily took a deep breath.
"Six months ago."
She looked at the crib.
"I was cleaning the east wing after a pipe broke. I found a loose panel behind the bookshelf."
"That led here?"
She nodded.
"I found the documents."
"What documents?"
"Birth records. Letters. Photos."
She looked at me.
"Proof that Lily was your father's daughter."
I frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
Emily looked confused.
"What?"
"My father already had a son."
Me.
She nodded.
"That's why everyone wanted the truth buried."
I walked closer.
"What are you saying?"
Emily lowered her voice.
"Lily wasn't just your father's daughter."
A pause.
"She was the rightful heir."
I stared at her.
The words felt impossible.
My father's empire.
The companies.
The properties.
The fortune.
Everything had been built around me.
But if Lily existed...
Everything changed.
"Who knew?"
Emily looked down.
"Several people."
"Names."
She hesitated.
Then said:
"Your uncle."
I froze.
My uncle.
Richard Blackwood.
My father's younger brother.
The man who had helped me manage the company after my father's death.
The man who always told me:
"Family protects family."
I had trusted him.
Maybe because I wanted to.
"Richard knew?"
Emily nodded.
"And he wasn't the only one."
"Who else?"
She looked at me.
"The person who raised Lily after she disappeared."
I waited.
"Your aunt."
I felt my expression change.
"My aunt died years ago."
Emily shook her head.
"No."
She reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small envelope.
"I found this with the documents."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A young woman holding a baby.
Behind them was a hospital entrance.
The date was visible.
Eight years ago.
The woman was someone I recognized.
Someone still alive.
Someone who had attended every major Blackwood family event.
Someone who had smiled beside me for years.
My father's sister.
Victoria Blackwood.
But that wasn't the part that made my blood run cold.
On the back of the photograph were handwritten words.
"She is safe because they believe she is gone."
I looked at Emily.
"Victoria raised Lily?"
Emily nodded.
"But why would she hide her?"
Before Emily could answer, the phone rang again.
The same hidden phone.
This time, the caller ID was different.
Unknown.
I answered.
The voice was different.
Older.
A woman.
"Adrian."
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
I hadn't heard it in years.
"Victoria?"
Emily covered her mouth.
The woman on the phone was crying.
"Please listen to me."
I stood completely still.
"Where is Lily?"
A shaky breath came through the speaker.
Then Victoria whispered:
"She's closer to you than you think."
I looked toward the nursery door.
The hallway outside was silent.
Too silent.
Then Victoria said the words that changed everything.
"Adrian... the person who has been protecting Lily was never trying to hide her from you."
A pause.
"They were hiding her from the person standing beside you right now."
May you like
The call suddenly ended.
And behind me, the nursery door slowly began to open.
