Chapter 13 – The Mother Who Never Died
The vault door opened inch by inch.
Every person inside raised their weapon.
Nobody spoke.
Nobody breathed.
Because standing on the other side of that door was impossible.
A ghost.
A memory.
A woman who had been dead for twenty-eight years.
Elena Blackwood.
Grace's mother.
Alive.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably alive.
Grace stared at her.
Her entire body refused to move.
The woman she had mourned her whole life was standing only a few feet away.
The woman whose voice had existed only in old recordings.
The woman whose face appeared only in faded photographs.
Her mother.
"Mom..."
The word escaped before Grace could stop it.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"My little girl."
Grace shook her head.
"No."
She stepped backward.
"No, this isn't real."
Daniel moved closer to her.
"Grace..."
"Everyone keeps coming back from the dead!"
Her voice cracked.
"How am I supposed to believe anything anymore?"
Elena looked at her with pain.
"Because I never stopped loving you."
Grace's tears fell.
"Then why did you leave me?"
The question silenced the entire vault.
Elena lowered her eyes.
"Because I thought leaving you alive was better than staying and watching you die."
Grace laughed bitterly.
"That's what everyone says."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Grace pointed around the vault.
"My father disappeared."
"My sister was hidden."
"My memories were erased."
"My whole identity was stolen."
Her voice broke.
"And now you walk in here and tell me it was all for my protection?"
Elena didn't defend herself.
She simply whispered:
"Yes."
That answer hurt more than an excuse.
Grace looked away.
Daniel quietly said,
"We need answers."
Elena looked at him.
"And you are?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Daniel Ashcroft."
Elena's expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"You have your mother's eyes."
Daniel froze.
"My mother?"
Elena nodded.
"Isabelle."
Daniel went completely still.
"You knew her?"
"She was my sister."
The room fell silent.
Grace stared.
"Your sister?"
Elena nodded.
"Your entire life was built on a family war that started before you were born."
Emily stepped forward.
"Then explain something."
Everyone looked at her.
Emily's voice was cold.
"Why was I abandoned?"
Elena looked devastated.
"I didn't abandon you."
Emily laughed.
"You weren't there."
"No."
"I wasn't."
The answer shocked everyone.
Elena continued:
"Because someone took you."
Emily froze.
"What?"
"The night the attack happened..."
"I thought all three of my daughters were dead."
Grace frowned.
"All three?"
Elena looked at her.
"Yes."
"The Circle didn't know about the triplets."
"They only knew about the youngest heir."
Arthur whispered:
"Because of the will."
Elena nodded.
"They believed killing Grace would end the Blackwood line."
"But they didn't know Emily and Isabella existed."
Isabella's voice suddenly came from the speaker.
"Stop pretending you cared."
Everyone looked upward.
The hidden cameras activated.
Isabella appeared on the screen.
Her expression was emotionless.
"You left me."
Elena closed her eyes.
"Isabella..."
"No."
"You don't get to say my name."
Grace looked between them.
"Why are you doing this?"
Isabella looked at her.
"Because I spent twenty-eight years being invisible."
She smiled sadly.
"You had a family."
"Emily had a mission."
"Daniel had a purpose."
"And me?"
Her expression hardened.
"I had nothing."
Elena whispered:
"I was trying to find you."
"Too late."
Isabella pressed something.
The vault lights changed.
Nathan immediately looked at the control panel.
"What did she activate?"
Arthur's face went pale.
"The archive release."
The floor beneath them opened.
A hidden compartment rose from the center of the room.
Inside was a metal case.
Older than everything around them.
Thomas stepped forward.
"No."
Elena looked at him.
"You knew about it."
Thomas said nothing.
Grace noticed.
"You all knew."
Nobody answered.
The metal case opened automatically.
Inside were four envelopes.
Each one had a name.
GRACE.
EMILY.
ISABELLA.
DANIEL.
Grace stared.
"Letters?"
Elena nodded.
"Written by your grandfather."
"For the four heirs."
Daniel picked up his envelope.
His hands shook.
"I don't understand."
"You will."
Grace opened hers first.
The paper inside was old.
The handwriting was shaky.
My dearest granddaughter Grace,
If you are reading this, then the world failed to protect you.
I need you to know one truth.
The person you should fear most is not the person who attacked our family.
It is the person who convinced everyone they were saving it.
Grace stopped.
She looked around.
Eleanor.
Thomas.
Daniel.
Everyone.
She continued reading.
The Blackwood tragedy was not caused by outsiders.
It was created by someone who had my trust.
Her hands trembled.
Then she reached the final line.
And froze.
The traitor carries the Blackwood name.
Everyone looked at one another.
Emily opened her letter.
Her face changed immediately.
Daniel noticed.
"What does yours say?"
Emily didn't answer.
"Emily."
Slowly, she handed him the paper.
Daniel read the first line.
His expression turned to horror.
"What?"
Grace stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Daniel looked at her.
"The person who ordered the attack..."
He swallowed.
"...was not Thomas."
Elena closed her eyes.
Everyone waited.
Daniel finished:
"It was Eleanor Ashcroft."
The entire room turned toward the entrance.
Because Eleanor was no longer there.
She had disappeared.
Nathan checked the cameras.
"She was here thirty seconds ago."
Thomas looked terrified.
"That's impossible."
Grace frowned.
"Why?"
Thomas whispered:
"Because Eleanor doesn't run."
Daniel looked at him.
"Then where would she go?"
A small alarm sounded.
The vault screen changed.
A message appeared.
SECONDARY LOCATION UNLOCKED
Coordinates appeared beneath it.
Nathan recognized them.
His face changed.
"No..."
Grace looked at him.
"What?"
Nathan stared at the coordinates.
"Those coordinates belong to..."
He stopped.
Daniel finished the sentence.
"The Ashcroft family cemetery."
Everyone froze.
Grace felt a chill.
"Why would Eleanor go there?"
No one answered.
Then Thomas quietly said:
"Because that's where we buried the first secret."
The lights flickered.
And from somewhere deep inside the mansion...
A phone began ringing.
An old-fashioned phone.
One that had not existed in the vault before.
Grace slowly walked toward it.
Nobody stopped her.
She picked up.
For several seconds...
Only breathing could be heard.
Then a man's voice whispered.
A voice she had heard before.
The masked man.
"You found your mother."
Grace froze.
The voice continued:
"Now find your brother."
Her blood ran cold.
"I don't have a brother."
A quiet laugh.
"Oh, Grace..."
"You really still believe that?"
The line went dead.
At the same moment, the vault screen displayed a new file.
BLACKWOOD CHILDREN: SUBJECTS 1–5
Grace stared.
Five names appeared.
Not three.
Not four.
Five.
And the fifth name...
May you like
Was one nobody expected.
DANIEL ASHCROFT
