CHAPTER 2 The Seven-Day Countdown
No one breathed.
Victoria Blackwood stared at the message lying on the dining table.
You have seven days before everything you stole begins to return to its rightful owner.
For the first time in years...
Her confidence cracked.
Only for a moment.
Then the smile returned.
Cold.
Calculated.
Dangerous.
She slowly folded the paper and tossed it into the fireplace.
The flames swallowed it instantly.
"There."
She dusted off her hands.
"Problem solved."
Sophia watched the paper burn without reacting.
"You've always believed that destroying evidence destroys the truth."
Victoria smirked.
"And doesn't it?"
Sophia's green eyes never left hers.
"No."
"It only proves you're afraid."
Victoria's patience snapped.
"Enough."
She turned toward the head of security.
"Throw them both out."
Four bodyguards stepped forward.
Lily instinctively moved in front of Sophia.
"No!"
"Please don't hurt her!"
Sophia gently squeezed her sister's shoulder.
"Lily."
"It's okay."
"They're not going to touch us."
The bodyguards hesitated.
Victoria shouted again.
"What are you waiting for?"
Before anyone could move—
The mansion's intercom chimed.
A calm voice echoed through every room.
"Mrs. Blackwood."
"There are officers from the Boston Police Department requesting entry."
Silence.
Victoria frowned.
"Police?"
She looked toward Sophia.
"You called them?"
Sophia smiled faintly.
"I invited them."
Minutes later...
Two detectives entered the grand hall, accompanied by a woman in a dark navy suit.
She wasn't wearing a police uniform.
She carried a leather briefcase.
Her silver badge read:
Assistant District Attorney — Rebecca Collins
Victoria laughed.
"This is amusing."
"You think prosecutors frighten me?"
Rebecca calmly placed several folders on the table.
"No."
"I think evidence does."
Victoria glanced at the folders.
"What evidence?"
Rebecca opened the first file.
"Medical records."
The second.
"Employment contracts."
The third.
"Financial transfers."
The fourth.
"Photographs."
Victoria's smile faded.
"Where did you get those?"
Rebecca answered simply.
"People eventually grow tired of being afraid."
The room fell silent.
One by one...
The servants began looking at Sophia instead of Victoria.
Not because they trusted her.
Because she had done something no one else had ever managed.
She had brought the law into Blackwood Mansion.
Victoria crossed her arms.
"This girl is my employee."
Rebecca nodded.
"So your employment records should exist."
Victoria didn't answer.
Rebecca continued.
"We searched."
"There are none."
Lily looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Sophia turned toward her.
"It means..."
"You've worked here fifteen years."
"But legally..."
"You never existed."
Lily's face drained of color.
"I..."
"I cleaned this house."
"I cooked."
"I washed."
"I..."
Rebecca finished the sentence.
"You were never paid."
The servants exchanged nervous glances.
They knew it was true.
Every maid received a salary.
Except Lily.
Victoria had always claimed she was "repaying a family debt."
No one had questioned it.
Until today.
Victoria laughed dismissively.
"I fed her."
"I clothed her."
"I gave her shelter."
Rebecca closed another file.
"Under Massachusetts law..."
"That's still forced labor."
The words echoed through the mansion.
Forced labor.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
Sophia walked toward Lily.
"Do you remember signing any work contract?"
Lily slowly shook her head.
"No."
"Receiving wages?"
"No."
"Having a day off?"
"...No."
"A bank account?"
Lily looked embarrassed.
"I've never had one."
Rebecca quietly wrote another note.
Victoria suddenly clapped her hands.
"This has become ridiculous."
She looked at Lily.
"Tell them."
"Tell them I treated you like family."
Lily froze.
She wanted to speak.
But years of fear trapped every word inside her throat.
Victoria smiled.
"Go ahead."
Sophia gently reached for Lily's trembling hand.
"You don't have to protect her anymore."
Lily looked at her sister.
Then...
Very quietly...
She whispered,
"I wasn't allowed to eat until everyone else finished."
Silence.
"I slept in the laundry room."
Another silence.
"If I broke a plate..."
Victoria interrupted sharply.
"Enough!"
But Lily kept speaking.
"If I got sick..."
"I still had to work."
"If guests came..."
"I wasn't allowed to look them in the eyes."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I thought..."
"...that was normal."
No one in the room moved.
Even the bodyguards lowered their heads.
One elderly housekeeper quietly began crying.
Rebecca closed her notebook.
"Thank you."
Victoria laughed again.
"Crocodile tears."
"She's manipulating all of you."
Sophia slowly turned.
"No."
"You manipulated her."
"For fifteen years."
Suddenly—
An elderly voice came from the back of the room.
"It wasn't fifteen."
Everyone turned.
The speaker was Mrs. Agnes.
The oldest servant in the mansion.
She had worked for the Blackwood family for forty-two years.
Victoria stared at her.
"What did you say?"
Mrs. Agnes stepped forward.
Her hands trembled.
But her voice did not.
"It wasn't fifteen years."
"It was twenty."
Lily blinked.
"What?"
Mrs. Agnes looked at her sadly.
"You came here when you were five."
"You don't remember because..."
Victoria shouted,
"Be quiet!"
Mrs. Agnes continued anyway.
"Because someone made sure you wouldn't."
The entire room fell silent.
Sophia slowly looked toward the elderly woman.
"You know."
Mrs. Agnes nodded.
"I've carried this secret..."
"...for twenty years."
Victoria's face twisted with rage.
"You old fool!"
She rushed forward.
Before she could reach Agnes—
Dante slammed his cane against the marble floor.
Everyone turned.
The old family attorney had entered unnoticed.
Eighty years old.
Impeccably dressed.
Loyal to the Blackwood family for half a century.
Victoria smiled in relief.
"Mr. Harrington."
"Tell them."
"Tell them this circus is over."
Instead...
The old lawyer removed his glasses.
Then slowly placed a thick envelope beside Sophia.
Victoria frowned.
"What are you doing?"
His answer was quiet.
"I'm resigning."
Silence.
"You can't."
"I already have."
"You've worked for my family for fifty years!"
He nodded sadly.
"And for fifty years..."
"I convinced myself that loyalty mattered more than conscience."
He looked at Lily.
"I was wrong."
Victoria couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You'll regret this."
"I already do."
Mr. Harrington turned toward Rebecca.
"Everything I know..."
"I'll testify."
The mansion exploded into whispers.
The Blackwood family's own attorney...
Had become a witness against them.
Victoria's hands shook.
"You think one old man can destroy me?"
"No."
Sophia answered.
"I think the truth can."
Mr. Harrington pushed the envelope toward Sophia.
"I promised your mother..."
"...that if I ever found enough courage..."
"...I'd give this to her daughters."
Lily stared.
"Our mother?"
He nodded.
"This belonged to her."
Sophia carefully opened the envelope.
Inside lay dozens of photographs.
Old letters.
A hospital bracelet.
And one faded document.
At the very top...
Written in elegant handwriting...
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
Signed by...
Elizabeth Ashford.
Sophia's breathing stopped.
Lily looked confused.
"Who's Elizabeth Ashford?"
Mr. Harrington slowly removed his glasses again.
His eyes filled with tears.
"Your grandmother."
Lily shook her head.
"Our grandmother died."
"No."
The old lawyer whispered.
"She was murdered."
The room froze.
Victoria's face turned deathly pale.
Because only one other person in the world...
Knew that secret.
And he had died...
May you like
Twenty years ago.
Or so she believed.
