Chapter 13 - The Daughter They Tested
The six-year-old DNA report destroyed Victor’s claim that Lily’s identity was uncertain.
It also proved Thomas and Charles knew.
The test compared Lily’s sample to Ethan’s archived medical DNA.
Probability of paternity:
99.99 percent.
Ethan stared at the date.
Lily had been one year old.
One year.
They had known.
They chose to continue.
Nora had once told Ethan Victor needed to see whether Ethan recognized Lily.
That had been partly true.
But Thomas never relied on recognition.
He relied on science.
He simply buried the result.
Charles Monroe began cooperating within hours.
Fear made him efficient.
He admitted Thomas had controlled a secret voting group inside Blackwood Holdings.
Their plan was long-term.
If Ethan remained alive but unmarried and childless, Victor could eventually inherit.
If Ethan remarried and had another child, Thomas intended to expose Lily.
The resulting scandal would weaken Ethan and create a succession battle.
Lily was not only insurance.
She was a bomb Thomas could detonate whenever convenient.
Amelia’s survival served the same purpose.
If Victor became uncontrollable, Thomas could reveal Amelia and destroy him.
Ethan looked toward Sarah.
“So everyone was waiting to betray everyone.”
“That’s usually how conspiracies like this end.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Then Lily entered with a nurse.
She held three drawings.
One showed a house.
One showed Ethan.
One showed Amelia.
The third showed Nora standing far away.
Ethan crouched.
“Who’s this?”
Lily pointed.
“Aunt Nora.”
“Why is she far away?”
“Because she did bad things.”
Ethan nodded.
Lily looked at him.
“Does that mean she never loved me?”
The question hurt.
Ethan chose carefully.
“I think Nora cared about you.”
“But she also made choices that hurt you.”
“Both can be true.”
Lily frowned.
“That’s confusing.”
“Yes.”
“Grown-ups are sometimes confusing.”
She handed him the drawing.
“Can Mommy come home today?”
Ethan looked toward Amelia.
She was stronger.
Doctors believed she could leave soon with outpatient care.
“Yes.”
Lily smiled.
The first real family homecoming happened that evening.
Ethan had imagined Amelia returning to Blackwood Manor thousands of times after her supposed death.
Never like this.
Police outside.
Medical equipment upstairs.
Lily holding both their hands.
Amelia stopped in the front hall.
Her wedding portrait still hung above the staircase.
She looked at it for a long time.
“I hate that picture.”
Ethan blinked.
“What?”
“I always hated that dress.”
He laughed.
For the first time in seven years, the mansion sounded alive.
Then Marcus approached quietly.
“Sir.”
Ethan saw his expression.
“What happened?”
“We found something in Victor’s files.”
“Another threat?”
Marcus hesitated.
“A video.”
“From the night of the fire.”
Ethan looked at Amelia.
She went pale.
“What’s on it?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Your mother.”
Ethan froze.
His mother, Margaret Blackwood, had died five years before the fire.
May you like
Or so he had believed.
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