Chapter 8 - My Daughter Was Taken to the House Where My Father Had Been MurderedThe old manor had been abandoned since my father's death.
Anthony had chosen it deliberately.
He wanted me to remember.
The house was dark.
Rain beat against the windows.
I entered alone.
Or so Anthony thought.
Michael followed from another entrance.
Vincent covered the rear.
We moved quietly.
The house smelled like old wood and smoke.
I remembered being a child there.
My father shouting.
My mother crying.
Anthony smiling.
Then a gunshot.
The night my father supposedly died.
I had been told it was natural.
Now I knew.
Anthony had been there.
He had killed him.
We found Emma in the old study.
She was sitting on my father's chair.
Anthony stood behind her.
“Come closer.”
I did.
“Let her go.”
“Not yet.”
He looked at me.
“You finally understand.”
“What?”
“Your father was weak.”
“He tried to stop you.”
“He failed.”
“You killed him.”
“Yes.”
I froze.
For years, I had suspected.
Now he admitted it.
“Why?”
“Because he chose Sofia.”
“And that offended you?”
“He chose love.”
Anthony laughed.
“Love makes men stupid.”
“No.”
“It makes them controllable.”
I looked at Emma.
“You are wrong.”
He stared.
“She is your weakness.”
I shook my head.
“She is my strength.”
He laughed.
Then he pressed a gun against Emma's shoulder.
“Give me the trust.”
“No.”
“I'll kill her.”
I stepped closer.
“You don't want to.”
“Why not?”
“Because you need her.”
He froze.
I continued.
“If you kill her, the trust disappears.”
He stared.
“You don't know that.”
“I do.”
He lowered the gun slightly.
Michael appeared.
“Now.”
Gunfire.
Vincent entered.
Anthony ran.
Emma jumped toward me.
I grabbed her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“He is bad.”
“Yes.”
We found the hidden safe.
Inside was my father's final recording.
He appeared on screen.
“Daniel.”
“If you're seeing this, Anthony has likely come for Emma.”
“He will try to tell you that power belongs to the strongest.”
“He is wrong.”
“The strongest person is the one who protects without becoming a monster.”
I cried.
My father continued.
“Your daughter is not a weapon.”
“She is not an heir in the traditional sense.”
“She is a promise.”
I looked at Emma.
The recording ended.
Sofia appeared behind us.
She was holding a box.
“The final key.”
Inside was a small crystal.
“What is it?”
“The original trust key.”
“How do we use it?”
“Emma.”
My daughter touched it.
The crystal lit up.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside were documents.
One stood out.
BLACKWOOD FAMILY FOUNDATION.
My father had planned to dissolve the empire.
He wanted the money used to help victims.
Anthony had been trying to prevent it.
The final authorization required Emma.
We completed it.
The criminal fortune was frozen.
The legal assets were transferred.
The remaining companies became legitimate.
Anthony lost everything.
But he escaped.
Again.
One last time.
He left the country.
We thought it was over.
Then three weeks later, Emma received a package.
Inside was a birthday card.
No name.
Only one sentence:
I WILL SEE YOU WHEN YOU TURN EIGHTEEN.
I stared at it.
May you like
The nightmare had not ended.
It had only gone quiet.
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