Chapter 2 - The Blood-Stained Envelope
Adrian Blackwood had opened hundreds of doors in his life.
Some led to business deals.
Some led to enemies.
Some led to secrets people thought they had buried forever.
But the staff room door in his mansion was different.
Because the moment his fingers touched the handle, he already knew something was wrong.
The room was supposed to be locked.
Nobody entered without permission.
Nobody.
Yet the door stood slightly open.
And on the floor inside was a blood-stained envelope.
Adrian stared at it for several seconds.
Behind him, the mansion staff remained completely silent.
Nobody breathed too loudly.
Nobody moved.
Because they knew that silence was safer when Adrian Blackwood was angry.
But this time, something else was happening.
He wasn't angry.
Not yet.
He was trying to understand.
He stepped inside.
The room was small compared to the rest of the mansion. Unlike the elegant halls outside, this place was plain. A few wooden shelves. Old cleaning supplies. Extra uniforms hanging neatly on the wall.
Nothing unusual.
Until Adrian looked closer.
A small wooden box sat underneath the old cabinet.
The box was covered in dust.
Except for one place.
A handprint.
Someone had recently touched it.
Adrian picked up the envelope.
The blood on the corner had already dried.
His eyes moved toward Sadie.
She was standing at the doorway.
Pale.
Frozen.
Like she already knew what was inside.
"Leave."
Adrian's voice was calm.
The staff immediately stepped away.
Except Sadie.
She remained there.
"Mr. Blackwood..."
"Everyone."
The second time he said it, nobody hesitated.
The hallway emptied.
Only Adrian and Sadie remained.
He looked at her.
"How long have you known about this?"
Sadie swallowed.
"I don't."
"Don't lie to me."
The words weren't shouted.
That made them worse.
Adrian opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
An old photograph.
His expression changed slightly.
Sadie noticed.
She had never seen Adrian look surprised before.
Not once.
"What is it?" she asked quietly.
He didn't answer.
His eyes stayed on the picture.
It showed a young woman.
A woman standing outside the Blackwood mansion years ago.
Beside her was a little girl.
A little girl holding a stuffed rabbit.
Adrian recognized the woman.
But the child...
The child was someone he had never known existed.
He flipped the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
One sentence.
"She saved your life. You destroyed hers."
Adrian's fingers tightened around the picture.
Sadie watched his face carefully.
For the first time since she entered this mansion, she saw something behind the powerful man everyone feared.
Pain.
"What does this mean?" Adrian asked.
Sadie looked away.
"I don't know."
Another lie.
A smaller one.
But still a lie.
Adrian noticed.
He always noticed.
"Sadie."
Her shoulders lowered.
"I found that box months ago."
The confession came out quietly.
Adrian looked at the wooden box.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Because she knew what happened to people who brought him bad news.
Because she had seen employees disappear after making mistakes.
Because she had spent years believing powerful people only cared when something affected them.
But there was another reason.
One she couldn't say.
"Because nobody listens to people like me."
The sentence was barely a whisper.
Adrian looked at her.
The words hit harder than he expected.
Because they weren't an accusation.
They were a fact.
At least, that was how she believed the world worked.
He opened the wooden box.
Inside were several documents.
Old papers.
Medical records.
A small silver bracelet.
And a letter.
Adrian picked up the letter.
The paper was worn from age.
The handwriting was shaky.
He unfolded it.
The first line made him stop.
"Adrian, if you are reading this, then I failed to protect her."
His eyes moved faster.
The letter was addressed to him.
But the person who wrote it was someone who should have been gone.
Someone from his past.
Someone he had buried.
Sadie watched him carefully.
"Who wrote it?"
Adrian didn't answer.
His jaw tightened.
The woman in the letter had been his first love.
The only person who ever saw him before he became the man everyone feared.
Her name was Elena.
And fifteen years ago, Elena disappeared.
Everyone told him she left.
Everyone told him she betrayed him.
Everyone told him to move on.
But this letter said something different.
It said she had been running.
Not from him.
For him.
Adrian read the next line.
"Your enemies found out about the child."
His hand stopped.
Child.
A word that changed the entire meaning of the letter.
He looked at Sadie.
She immediately looked frightened.
"Why are you looking at me?"
Adrian didn't respond.
Because suddenly he remembered something.
The first day Sadie arrived at the mansion.
The paperwork.
The background check.
The missing information.
A maid with no family records.
No relatives.
No history before five years ago.
He had ignored it.
Because she was just a servant.
Now he wasn't so sure.
"How old are you?" he asked.
Sadie blinked.
"Twenty-eight."
Adrian looked back at the letter.
The timeline matched.
Too perfectly.
"Who is your mother?"
The question made Sadie's face change.
Her fingers moved unconsciously toward her injured arm.
A protective gesture.
A habit.
"My mother is dead."
Adrian studied her.
"Name."
She stayed silent.
"Sadie."
Her eyes filled with fear.
Not because of him.
Because of the memory.
"My mother's name was Elena."
The room became completely still.
Adrian felt like the ground beneath him had shifted.
For years, he believed Elena abandoned him.
For years, he believed she chose to disappear.
And now the woman standing in front of him might be the daughter she left behind.
His daughter.
But before he could ask another question, Sadie's injured arm slipped from her cardigan.
The bandage had loosened.
Adrian immediately noticed the bruising.
Dark marks.
Old and new.
His expression changed.
"Who hurt you?"
Sadie quickly covered her arm.
"No one."
"Sadie."
"I said no one."
For the first time, her voice became louder.
Then she realized what she had done.
She lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Adrian stared at her.
A woman with a broken arm.
A hidden letter.
A secret child.
And someone inside his own mansion who had been hurting her.
He walked closer.
"Look at me."
Slowly, Sadie raised her eyes.
"How long?"
She didn't answer.
"How long have you been hiding this?"
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Since the day I started working here."
Adrian's face became unreadable.
"Why?"
Sadie hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"Because the person who did it told me if I ever told you... they would show you what happened to my mother."
Adrian froze.
"What did you say?"
Sadie looked terrified.
"I never wanted you to know."
"Know what?"
Her lips trembled.
Before she could answer, a phone inside the wooden box began ringing.
Both of them looked down.
There was no phone in the box before.
Adrian slowly removed a hidden device beneath the documents.
The screen showed one incoming call.
A name appeared.
A name that made Sadie lose all color from her face.
Adrian answered.
May you like
And the voice on the other side said only four words.
"She was never your daughter."
