Chapter 5 - The Truth She Was Forced To Hide
The door moved slowly.
Not quickly.
Not violently.
Almost carefully.
Like whoever was standing outside already knew what was happening inside.
My hand immediately moved toward the weapon hidden beneath my jacket.
Emily stepped backward.
Her face lost all color.
"Mr. Blackwood..."
I looked at her.
"Stay behind me."
The door opened wider.
For a moment, nobody appeared.
Only darkness.
Then a figure stepped forward.
"Adrian."
I lowered my hand.
It wasn't an enemy.
It was Marcus.
My security chief stood in the doorway.
His expression was unreadable.
But his eyes told me something.
He had heard everything.
"How long were you there?" I asked.
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
That was enough.
Too much time passed.
Too much hesitation.
"Marcus."
He looked at me.
"I came back because I knew you would need answers."
I almost laughed.
Answers.
That was the word everyone used when they were about to reveal only half the truth.
"Did you know about Lily?"
His jaw tightened.
A small reaction.
But I saw it.
"Yes."
Emily gasped.
I didn't move.
For years, Marcus had been the person I trusted most.
The man who stood beside my father.
The man who protected me after my father died.
The man who always told me he would never let anyone hurt me.
And now he was standing inside a hidden nursery admitting he had known about the biggest secret of my life.
"How long?" I asked.
Marcus looked down.
"Since the beginning."
The room became silent.
My anger didn't explode.
It became something colder.
Something more dangerous.
"You knew my father had another daughter."
"Yes."
"You knew Lily existed."
"Yes."
"You knew everyone lied to me."
Marcus looked at me.
"I knew your father was trying to protect you."
I stepped closer.
"By lying to me?"
His expression changed.
Not guilt.
Pain.
"By keeping you alive."
Those words stopped me.
For a second, I remembered the voice on the phone.
Someone inside this mansion wanted Lily dead.
Someone close.
Someone powerful.
"Who wanted her gone?"
Marcus didn't answer.
I already knew why.
Because whoever it was...
he was still afraid of them.
"You were there the night she disappeared," I said.
Marcus slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Emily looked shocked.
"You knew?"
Marcus looked at her.
"I knew more than you."
Her face changed.
"Then why didn't you help her?"
Marcus closed his eyes.
The first time I had ever seen him look defeated.
"Because I failed."
The words were quiet.
But they carried more weight than any confession.
Marcus walked deeper into the nursery.
He looked around.
At the crib.
The books.
The blanket.
For a moment, he wasn't my security chief.
He was an old man remembering something he wished he could forget.
"Your father built this room three months before Lily was born."
I looked at him.
"You knew she was coming?"
He nodded.
"Your father didn't know how to tell you."
"Why?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Because you were nineteen."
I remembered.
I was young.
Angry.
Rebellious.
I hated my father back then.
I thought he cared more about his empire than his family.
I thought he saw me as an investment.
Not a son.
Marcus continued.
"Your father wanted to tell you everything after your mother passed away."
I frowned.
"My mother knew?"
Marcus nodded.
"She was the first person who knew."
That information hit me harder.
My mother.
The woman who had always protected me.
The woman who died when I was still young.
She knew about Lily.
Everyone knew.
Except me.
"Why?"
Marcus looked away.
"Because your mother discovered someone was trying to remove Lily from the family records."
"Who?"
His silence returned.
I hated that silence.
It was the same silence everyone had given me for years.
The silence of people protecting a secret.
"Richard," I said.
Marcus didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
I already knew.
My uncle.
The man who sat beside me at business meetings.
The man who called me his nephew.
The man who had helped control my father's company after his death.
He had been hiding the truth.
But why?
"Richard wanted the inheritance."
Marcus nodded.
"But that wasn't the only reason."
I looked at him.
"What else?"
Marcus took a deep breath.
"Your father discovered Richard had made deals behind his back."
"Illegal deals?"
"More than that."
The room felt colder.
"He was working with people your father considered enemies."
I stared at him.
"Then why didn't my father expose him?"
Marcus looked at the crib.
"Because Richard had something."
"What?"
"A recording."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Of what?"
Marcus hesitated.
"Your father."
The answer confused me.
"My father?"
Marcus nodded.
"Richard threatened to release it if your father went after him."
I looked at Emily.
She was listening carefully.
"What was on the recording?"
Marcus didn't answer.
And that scared me more than if he had.
"Tell me."
Marcus looked directly at me.
"It was the reason your father disappeared from the public eye before his death."
I felt my chest tighten.
"My father died from a heart attack."
Marcus said nothing.
That was not a denial.
The room suddenly felt like it was closing around me.
"Are you saying my father was killed?"
Marcus looked toward the nursery door.
"Not everything is what it seems."
Before I could ask more, my phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
One picture.
My father.
Standing outside this same nursery.
Holding a baby.
Lily.
But that wasn't what made me freeze.
It was the person standing behind him.
The person whose face was clearly visible.
The person I had trusted for years.
Marcus.
I slowly looked up.
Marcus saw the photo.
His expression changed.
Because he knew.
The past had finally caught up with him.
"You need to understand," Marcus said quietly.
"Understand what?"
He looked at me.
"I wasn't protecting Lily from your family."
A pause.
"I was protecting her from me."
Nobody spoke.
Then the nursery lights suddenly turned on.
A hidden screen behind the bookshelf activated.
And on it appeared a live video feed.
A young woman was sitting in a dark room.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was hidden by shadows.
But I knew her voice immediately.
Because it was the voice I had just heard on the phone.
Victoria.
And she was not alone.
Someone was standing behind her.
May you like
Someone who whispered three words before the screen went black.
"Hello, brother."
