Chapter 8 - The Betrayal Inside the Family
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His mother.
Standing beside Vanessa.
A secret meeting.
A hidden alliance.
“No.”
His voice was barely audible.
Emily looked at him.
“You didn’t know?”
Daniel shook his head.
“My mother and Vanessa hate each other.”
Emily looked at the photograph.
“Maybe that’s what they wanted everyone to believe.”
The discovery changed everything.
Margaret had always appeared distant.
Cold.
But never dangerous.
Daniel immediately called her.
She didn’t answer.
They found her twenty minutes later.
Inside the old garden house behind the mansion.
She was sitting alone.
Waiting.
Daniel walked in.
“Tell me the truth.”
Margaret looked at him.
And sighed.
“I knew this day would come.”
Emily felt the same words repeating again.
Everyone knew.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone had been waiting.
“Did you help Vanessa frame Emily?”
Daniel asked.
Margaret looked shocked.
“No.”
“Then explain the photograph.”
Margaret looked down.
“Because I was trying to stop her.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Margaret stood slowly.
“Vanessa was never my friend.”
She looked at Emily.
“She was my mistake.”
Emily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret explained.
Years ago, after Daniel’s father became suspicious of Vanessa, Margaret investigated her past.
She discovered the identity change.
The stolen records.
The hidden inheritance.
But before she could expose Vanessa…
Vanessa found out.
“She threatened me.”
Daniel stared.
“With what?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with shame.
“With the truth about your father.”
The room became silent.
Emily realized the pattern.
Everyone was trapped by something.
Every person had a secret.
Margaret continued.
“I met Vanessa that night because I wanted the original documents.”
“The same documents Emily found?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let her accuse Emily?”
Margaret looked devastated.
“I didn’t know she would do that.”
Daniel looked away.
The disappointment on his face hurt more than anger.
Then Margaret reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small key.
“I kept this because I knew one day someone would need it.”
Daniel took it.
“What does it open?”
Margaret looked toward the mansion.
“Your father’s private vault.”
Emily felt a chill.
“There is a vault?”
Margaret nodded.
“And inside it is the truth Vanessa has spent twenty years trying to destroy.”
That night, Daniel opened the vault.
Inside were hundreds of documents.
But one file stood out.
A red folder.
Marked:
THE ORIGINAL BLACKWOOD HEIR
Daniel opened it.
The first page contained a name.
And Emily realized why Vanessa was terrified.
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Because the heir wasn’t missing.
She had been living among them.
