CHAPTER 4: The Daughter Victoria Tried to Erase
The Blackwell mansion had always been filled with expensive paintings, priceless decorations, and memories carefully chosen to show perfection.
But Arthur Blackwell had learned something important:
The most beautiful houses often hide the darkest secrets.
That morning, he walked through the mansion differently.
Before, he saw a home.
Now…
He saw a crime scene.
Every hallway reminded him of the woman he had spent twenty years protecting.
Every photograph of Victoria smiling beside him felt like a carefully created illusion.
And the question that haunted him was no longer:
"Why did Victoria hurt people?"
It was:
"What else has she done?"
Arthur sat in his private office with the documents Elena had given him spread across the desk.
Birth records.
Medical files.
Adoption papers.
Every page revealed another piece of a story Victoria had buried.
The name on the documents was the same.
Victoria Sterling.
But the child’s name had been removed.
Someone had deliberately erased it.
Arthur stared at the missing information.
Someone had gone through great effort to hide this.
And only someone powerful could have done it.
His phone rang.
Daniel.
Arthur answered.
“What did you find?”
The assistant hesitated.
“Mr. Blackwell…”
“Speak.”
“There are no official records connecting Victoria to a daughter.”
Arthur frowned.
“No records?”
“None.”
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel continued.
“Someone removed them.”
Arthur leaned back.
“How?”
“Through legal channels.”
A pause.
“Someone with influence.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“The Sterling family.”
At the same time, Victoria stood inside her childhood bedroom.
A room untouched for years.
Everything was still exactly as she left it.
The expensive furniture.
The designer dresses.
The photographs of a perfect family.
But behind one painting was something nobody knew about.
A small hidden compartment.
Victoria opened it.
Inside was an old envelope.
Yellowed with age.
She touched it carefully.
For a moment…
The confident, ruthless woman disappeared.
And the frightened young girl she once was appeared again.
Inside the envelope was a photograph.
A baby.
A little girl with bright eyes.
Victoria stared at the picture.
Her expression became complicated.
Regret.
Pain.
Fear.
Then anger.
“No.”
She whispered.
“I won’t let the past destroy me.”
She put the photograph back.
Locked the compartment.
And returned to being Victoria Blackwell.
The woman who never apologized.
Later that afternoon, Arthur returned home.
He found Maya sitting in the garden again.
She was quietly drawing flowers.
Arthur watched her for a moment.
There was something about her innocence that reminded him how cruel the world could be.
“Maya.”
She looked up.
“Yes, Mr. Blackwell?”
He sat beside her.
“Do you like living here?”
She hesitated.
Before answering, she looked toward the mansion.
“It’s beautiful.”
“But?”
Maya lowered her eyes.
“Beautiful places can still feel scary.”
Arthur was silent.
Because that sentence was more mature than anything a twelve-year-old should have to say.
“Were you always afraid of Victoria?”
Maya nodded.
“She didn’t like me asking questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
Maya looked around.
Then lowered her voice.
“She had a room nobody was allowed to enter.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“What room?”
“An old room upstairs.”
“Did you ever see inside?”
Maya shook her head.
“No.”
Then she added:
“But once…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“I heard her crying.”
Arthur froze.
Victoria?
Crying?
Maya continued.
“She was holding something.”
“What was it?”
“A picture.”
Arthur’s heartbeat increased.
“What picture?”
Maya looked at him.
“A little girl.”
That night, Arthur searched the mansion.
Not secretly.
Not carefully.
He had spent years respecting Victoria’s privacy.
But now he realized…
That privacy had protected lies.
He reached the second floor.
At the end of the hallway was a locked door.
The room Maya mentioned.
Arthur tried the handle.
Locked.
He called Daniel.
“Find me a locksmith.”
“Sir?”
“Now.”
Thirty minutes later, the door opened.
Arthur stepped inside.
The room was frozen in time.
A small bed.
Children’s books.
A wooden toy horse.
And on the wall…
A name.
Carved into the wood.
"LILY."
Arthur stopped breathing.
Lily?
The same name as Maya’s mother.
Impossible.
He walked closer.
On the table was an old diary.
The first page contained only one sentence.
"I failed my daughter."
Arthur opened the diary.
The handwriting belonged to Victoria.
Twenty years ago…
I was afraid.
Everyone expected me to be perfect.
My father told me a child would ruin my future.
He said I had to choose.
My family…
Or my daughter.
Arthur’s hands tightened.
He continued reading.
I chose wrong.
The next pages were missing.
Someone had torn them out.
Arthur searched the room.
Then he found another photograph.
A young Victoria holding a baby.
Behind the photo was written:
"Lily Sterling — My daughter."
Arthur stared.
The name hit him.
Lily.
Not Lily Collins.
But Lily Sterling.
The daughter Victoria erased.
Suddenly…
A voice came from behind him.
“You should have left that door closed.”
Arthur turned.
Victoria stood there.
Her face was pale.
For the first time in twenty years…
She looked afraid.
“Tell me the truth.”
Arthur held up the photograph.
“Who is Lily?”
Victoria said nothing.
“Who is your daughter?”
Her eyes filled with anger.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
Arthur stepped back.
“You lied to me.”
Victoria’s expression changed.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
Silence.
A long, painful silence.
Finally Victoria whispered:
“She was supposed to disappear.”
Arthur stared at her.
“What did you do?”
Victoria looked away.
And for the first time…
She looked like someone carrying a burden too heavy to hide.
“I didn’t abandon her because I hated her.”
Arthur waited.
“I abandoned her because my father made me believe she had no future with me.”
A tear appeared in her eye.
But then her cold expression returned.
“He took her away.”
Arthur frowned.
“Your father?”
Victoria nodded.
“He told me she was dead.”
The room went silent.
Arthur looked at the photograph again.
“Then how is this possible?”
Victoria’s face changed.
Fear replaced anger.
“Because…”
She whispered:
“Someone lied to both of us.”
At that moment, Arthur realized something terrifying.
The secret wasn’t just about Victoria.
Someone else had controlled her life.
Someone powerful.
Someone willing to erase a child from existence.
And as Arthur looked at Victoria…
He saw something he never expected.
Not a monster.
Not a queen.
But a broken woman who had spent twenty years hiding her own pain behind cruelty.
However…
That did not erase what she had done.
Maya had been hurt.
Lily had been hurt.
And the truth was only beginning to come out.
Because somewhere in the city…
A woman named Lily Collins was about to discover that her entire life had been built on a secret.
May you like
A secret connected to the Blackwell family.
TO BE CONTINUED…
