Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BESIDE THE LAKE
Marlene Ross had served as Serena’s assistant for three years.
She managed private appointments, clothing deliveries, and charitable events.
She knew every place Serena went when Victor was away.
Her car was found near Lake Michigan.
The driver’s door stood open.
A bloodstained scarf lay on the ground.
There was no body.
Victor sent Cole and four men to search the shoreline.
He also contacted Detective Elena Ruiz.
Ruiz was one of the few Chicago officers Victor trusted.
She did not accept his money.
That was why he trusted her.
When she arrived, Serena objected.
“You are bringing police into a private family matter?”
Victor looked at her.
“You tried to drug my son.”
“That has not been proven.”
Sofia entered with the laboratory result.
“It has now.”
The bottle and syringe contained a prescription sedative intended for adult surgical patients.
Even a small amount could cause breathing problems in a child.
Serena’s face remained still.
Only her fingers moved.
She twisted the engagement ring Victor had given her.
Ruiz noticed.
“Where did you obtain the medication?”
“My doctor prescribed it.”
“For a fourteen-month-old child?”
“I never gave it to him.”
“The bottle proves otherwise.”
Serena looked at Victor.
“You know me.”
Victor’s reply was quiet.
“I thought I did.”
Ruiz questioned Lily next.
The nanny described Serena’s behavior over the previous months.
She explained that Serena sometimes entered Ethan’s room after midnight.
She changed his bottles.
She dismissed the night nurse.
She repeatedly asked Lily whether Victor had signed Ethan’s guardianship documents.
“Guardianship?” Victor asked.
Lily looked at him.
“She said the wedding would make her Ethan’s legal mother.”
“She asked what would happen to his inheritance if you died before the ceremony.”
Serena interrupted.
“That is a normal question.”
“No,” Ruiz said.
“It is not.”
Victor’s estate had been divided before Ethan’s birth.
If Victor died, his son would inherit the Blackwood shipping businesses, legitimate properties, and several protected trusts.
A guardian would control those assets until Ethan turned twenty-five.
Victor looked toward Serena.
“Our wedding was in nine days.”
Serena’s composure returned.
“Exactly.”
“I would have become his mother.”
“Not automatically.”
Ruiz removed a document from Serena’s handbag.
It was a temporary guardianship petition.
Victor’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Victor examined it.
“I never signed this.”
Serena said nothing.
The petition stated that Victor suffered from emotional instability and violent behavior.
It requested that Serena receive emergency authority over Ethan after the wedding.
The supporting physician was Dr. Malcolm Price.
Victor knew him.
Price had treated Victor’s late wife, Isabella, before she died.
A message arrived from Cole.
Marlene had been found alive.
She was hiding inside an abandoned boathouse.
May you like
She refused to return to the mansion.
She would speak only if Victor promised protection from Serena.
