CHAPTER 4: The Man Who Was Erased From the Blackwood Legacy

The name remained on the document.

Noah Voss Blackwood.

Three words.

Three words that should not exist.

Ethan Blackwood stared at the page as if staring long enough would make the truth disappear.

But it didn’t.

The name stayed.

A ghost from the past.

A person his family had erased.

A brother he never knew he had.

“Who is Noah?”

Emma’s voice was quiet.

But Ethan had no answer.

Because his entire life had been built around one belief.

He was the only heir.

The only son.

The future of the Blackwood empire.

Everything his father built would one day belong to him.

But now…

That foundation was cracking.

Detective Ryan Cole closed the file.

“Ethan, there’s something you need to understand.”

Ethan looked up.

“What?”

“This was not a mistake.”

Ryan pointed at the documents.

“Someone intentionally removed Noah from every official record.”

Emma frowned.

“Why would someone erase a child?”

Ryan looked at her.

“Because that child had a claim.”

“A claim to what?”

Ryan answered:

“The Blackwood empire.”

The room became silent.

Ethan looked at the photograph again.

His father.

Elena Voss.

A baby.

A hidden family.

A hidden betrayal.

“How old would Noah be now?”

Ryan checked the documents.

“Twenty-eight.”

Ethan froze.

Only a few years older than him.

Meaning…

While Ethan grew up inside the mansion…

Someone else grew up without a name.

Without a family.

Without knowing the truth.

Emma noticed Ethan’s expression.

“Ethan…”

He looked at her.

“I spent my whole life thinking I was the one who lost something.”

A pause.

“But someone else lost everything.”

Meanwhile…

At the Blackwood mansion…

Margaret Blackwood stood in the old family library.

The room had not been opened in years.

Dust covered the shelves.

Old portraits watched from the walls.

She walked toward a hidden cabinet.

With trembling hands, she entered a code.

The door opened.

Inside were documents.

Photos.

Letters.

Everything she had spent twenty years hiding.

She picked up one photograph.

A younger version of herself.

William Blackwood.

And Elena Voss.

Margaret’s expression hardened.

“You should have stayed gone.”

The door suddenly opened.

Claire entered.

“Mother.”

Margaret quickly hid the photograph.

“What do you want?”

Claire looked nervous.

“The police are still investigating.”

Margaret didn’t react.

“They won’t find anything.”

“But Emma already found enough.”

A pause.

Claire lowered her voice.

“What about Ethan?”

Margaret looked at her.

“What about him?”

“He knows about Noah.”

For the first time…

Margaret looked afraid.

“Impossible.”

Claire nodded.

“The file was discovered.”

Margaret walked toward the window.

She had spent twenty years protecting one secret.

And now…

One woman.

One detective.

One pregnant outsider.

Had started destroying everything.

“Then we change the story.”

Claire frowned.

“How?”

Margaret turned around.

“By making Ethan believe the wrong people are his enemies.”

At the hospital…

Emma watched Ethan sleep.

He had barely rested.

Every few hours, he woke up and looked at the photograph.

She understood why.

His entire identity had been questioned.

But Emma also saw something else.

Guilt.

Deep guilt.

Because while she was fighting for herself…

Ethan was realizing his family had hurt others too.

The next morning, Ryan returned with new information.

“I found Noah.”

Ethan immediately stood.

“What?”

Ryan placed a file on the table.

“He’s alive.”

Emma held her breath.

“Where?”

Ryan hesitated.

“That’s complicated.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“Tell me.”

Ryan looked at him.

“Noah Voss Blackwood is currently the CEO of a competing company.”

Ethan frowned.

“Which company?”

Ryan answered:

“Voss International.”

The name shocked everyone.

Voss International.

One of the few companies powerful enough to challenge Blackwood Enterprises.

Ethan slowly sat down.

“My father’s rival…”

Ryan nodded.

“Was his son.”

The pieces started connecting.

The business wars.

The old hatred.

The attacks.

The secrets.

Everything led back to Noah.

“Why would Noah attack Emma?”

Ethan asked.

Ryan looked serious.

“That’s what we need to find out.”

A pause.

“But there’s something else.”

“What?”

Ryan placed another document down.

“Before Emma was pushed down the stairs…”

Someone contacted Noah.

Ethan looked up.

“Who contacted him?”

Ryan pointed at the record.

The name appeared.

Everyone froze.

Claire Blackwood.

Emma’s expression changed.

“No.”

Ethan stared at the evidence.

His sister-in-law.

The woman who claimed Emma attacked her.

The woman who pretended to be innocent.

Had been communicating with the missing heir.

At that exact moment…

Claire was sitting in a private restaurant.

Across from her was a man.

A man wearing a black suit.

Calm.

Powerful.

Cold.

Noah Voss Blackwood.

Claire looked nervous.

“I did what you asked.”

Noah didn’t answer.

“You promised you would protect me.”

Still silence.

Claire became impatient.

“You said Emma’s removal would be enough.”

Noah finally looked at her.

“Emma was never the target.”

Claire froze.

“What?”

Noah leaned back.

“The target was always Ethan.”

Claire’s face changed.

“What are you talking about?”

Noah smiled.

“Your family destroyed my life.”

A pause.

“And I’m going to destroy theirs.”

Claire whispered:

“You’re using me.”

Noah looked at her.

“Everyone uses everyone.”

Back at the hospital…

Ethan received another message.

This time from Noah.

Only one sentence.

“You want the truth about your father? Meet me alone.”

Emma saw the message.

“Don’t go.”

Ethan looked at her.

“He knows something.”

“So do the people who hurt you.”

A pause.

“You can’t trust him.”

Ethan knew she was right.

But he also knew one thing.

If Noah was telling the truth…

Then the biggest enemy of the Blackwood family…

Was not outside the mansion.

It was inside their history.

That night, Ethan went to meet Noah.

At an abandoned Blackwood factory.

The same place where his father built his first empire.

Noah stood waiting.

Older.

Cold.

Familiar.

Ethan stopped when he saw him.

Because there was something impossible about Noah’s face.

Something that felt like looking into a mirror.

“You’re Ethan.”

“Yes.”

Noah smiled.

“The son who got everything.”

Ethan’s expression hardened.

“And you’re the son they erased.”

Silence.

Then Noah said:

“Finally.”

A pause.

“Someone understands.”

Ethan stepped closer.

“Did you hurt Emma?”

Noah looked at him.

“No.”

“Did you work with Claire?”

“Yes.”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

Noah answered calmly:

“Because Claire wanted Emma gone.”

A pause.

“And I wanted something else.”

“What?”

Noah looked directly into his eyes.

“I wanted you to discover the truth.”

Ethan frowned.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Noah smiled sadly.

“It will.”

He handed Ethan an old letter.

A letter written by William Blackwood.

Ethan opened it.

The first sentence destroyed everything.

“To my sons, Ethan and Noah…”

Ethan stopped breathing.

His sons.

Plural.

The word he had never seen before.

Noah whispered:

“Your father didn’t abandon me.”

A pause.

“He abandoned both of us.”

Ethan looked at the letter.

And realized something terrifying.

The Blackwood family secret wasn’t just about a missing heir.

It was about a betrayal that destroyed two brothers before they ever met.

Then Noah said the words that changed everything:

“Your mother didn’t die because of an accident.”

Ethan looked up.

“What?”

Noah’s expression became dark.

“She died because she tried to expose the truth.”

The past was coming back.

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And this time…

Nobody could bury it.