Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Wanted Me Dead Had the Key to My Mother’s Last SecretChloe waited outside the Viscari estate.
She wasn't alone.
Four lawyers.
Two security teams.
And a judge's representative.
Adrien walked toward her.
“What are you doing here?”
She lifted a document.
“Protecting my future.”
“You don't have one.”
She smiled.
“That depends on what Lena knows.”
I stood behind him.
Chloe looked at me.
“You really don't know who you are.”
I stepped forward.
“Then tell me.”
She studied me.
“You are the daughter of Elena Hart.”
I already knew.
“And?”
“You are also the legal beneficiary of a trust your mother created.”
“What trust?”
“The Blackwell Trust.”
Adrien frowned.
“That was destroyed.”
“No.”
She handed him a document.
“It's active.”
I looked at the page.
My name.
My signature wasn't there.
But the trust required my consent.
“What does it control?”
“Assets.”
“Which assets?”
“Those belonging to the Blackwell Group.”
Adrien's face changed.
“How much?”
“Billions.”
I stared.
“I don't want it.”
Chloe smiled.
“Neither did your mother.”
“Then why create it?”
“To stop your father.”
I looked at her.
“How do you know all this?”
She hesitated.
“Because my father worked for him.”
The same answer everyone gave.
Everyone had a reason.
Everyone claimed they were trapped.
I was tired of excuses.
“Did you help Marcus?”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
Adrien's eyes hardened.
“Why?”
“Because he threatened my family.”
“Did you know he would hurt her?”
“No.”
“Would you have stopped him?”
She hesitated.
“I would have tried.”
Adrien laughed coldly.
“Convenient.”
Chloe looked at me.
“I came to warn you.”
“About what?”
“Your father isn't dead.”
I already knew.
“Then?”
“He wants the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because he needs your signature.”
I looked at Adrien.
“And if I refuse?”
“He kills everyone connected to you.”
The threat hung in the air.
Adrien stepped closer.
“He'll have to get through me.”
Chloe smiled sadly.
“You're still exactly like your father.”
Adrien's eyes narrowed.
“I am not him.”
“Then prove it.”
She handed me another document.
A court order.
The trust had been frozen.
Unless I appeared before the judge.
At midnight.
I looked at Adrien.
“They're forcing me.”
“Yes.”
“What do we do?”
“We go.”
“To court?”
“To the trap.”
I stared.
He smiled.
“Your mother wouldn't leave you without a plan.”
We followed Chloe.
The courthouse was empty.
Too empty.
The judge was absent.
Only one man waited.
My father.
Daniel Carter.
I stared.
He looked older.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
He smiled.
“Lena.”
My throat tightened.
“You're alive.”
“So are you.”
He looked at Adrien.
“You brought the Viscari boy.”
Adrien raised his weapon.
“Stay where you are.”
My father laughed.
“You still don't understand.”
“You were raised to protect her.”
“No.”
“You were raised to inherit.”
I looked at my father.
“What do you want?”
“The trust.”
“Why?”
“Because it belongs to me.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Because I created it.”
“Mother created it.”
“She created the shell.”
“I created the empire.”
I shook my head.
“You destroyed it.”
He stepped closer.
“You think you know me.”
“I know enough.”
“Then tell me why your mother ran.”
“Because of you.”
He smiled.
“She ran because she betrayed me.”
“No.”
He laughed.
“She fell in love with your guardian.”
I froze.
“Who?”
Adrien.
My father looked at him.
“Your father.”
Adrien's face changed.
“My father and Elena?”
“Yes.”
I felt dizzy.
My mother had trusted Adrien's father.
Maybe more than trusted.
They had loved each other.
And I suddenly understood why my father hated the Viscari family.
The war wasn't business.
It was personal.
My father reached into his coat.
“Come home, Lena.”
“No.”
“Then people die.”
Adrien stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Gunfire erupted.
The courthouse exploded into chaos.
I ran.
Adrien grabbed my hand.
We escaped through a side corridor.
Behind us, my father disappeared.
But before he left, he shouted:
“Ask Adrien what happened the night his father died!”
Adrien stopped.
I stared at him.
He wouldn't look at me.
“What happened?”
He said nothing.
I understood.
May you like
There was another secret.
And it was about his father.
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