Chapter 5 — The Mother Who Wasn't Dead

“Adrian!”

Elena heard her own scream before the gunshot stopped echoing.

For one terrible second, there was nothing but darkness.

Then emergency lights flickered on.

Elena looked around wildly.

Adrian was on one knee.

Blood stained the sleeve of his shirt.

“Adrian!”

She rushed toward him.

“Don't.”

His voice was firm.

“Stay back.”

“But you're hurt!”

“It's a graze.”

He pressed one hand against his upper arm.

“I'm fine.”

Elena looked toward Victor.

He was gone.

The warehouse door stood open, moving slightly in the cold morning wind.

“Where did he go?”

Adrian stood.

“Forget him.”

“How can I forget him?”

“He wanted us distracted.”

Elena stared at him.

“What?”

Adrian looked around the warehouse.

“Where's Daniel?”

Elena froze.

She turned.

The spot where Daniel had fallen was empty.

Her heart dropped.

“He was here.”

“I know.”

“He was shot.”

“I know.”

“But he's gone.”

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

“Then someone took him.”

Elena's hand closed around the memory card in her pocket.

Victor's words returned to her.

Your real mother is still alive.

She felt dizzy.

“Adrian…”

He looked at her.

“Victor said something.”

“I heard him.”

“He said my mother is alive.”

Adrian's expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Elena saw it.

“You knew.”

“No.”

“You knew something.”

“Elena—”

“You knew.”

Her voice broke.

“My entire life, I believed my mother died three years ago.”

Adrian stepped toward her.

“I never knew she was alive.”

“Then why did you look like that?”

“Because Victor is a liar.”

“And if he isn't?”

Adrian said nothing.

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

“What if my mother is alive?”

He reached toward her.

She stepped away.

“Don't.”

“Elena.”

“Don't touch me.”

She turned and walked toward the exit.

“Where are you going?”

“To find the truth.”

Adrian followed.

“So am I.”

---

They returned to the Blackwood estate forty minutes later.

The security team had already searched the surrounding roads.

Nothing.

No, Victor.

No, Daniel.

No trace of either man.

Elena stood in the library, staring at the memory card in her palm.

“This is all I have.”

Adrian stood across from her.

“It's encrypted.”

“You can open it?”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“I don't know.”

“Then start.”

Adrian nodded to his security chief.

“Get our best analyst.”

The man left.

Elena paced the room.

“My mother's piano.”

Adrian looked at her.

“What?”

“Daniel said my mother had a piano.”

“And?”

“I don't remember one.”

“Maybe he's lying.”

“Maybe.”

She stopped.

“But I remember something.”

“What?”

“When I was little, my mother used to sing before I went to sleep.”

Adrian watched her carefully.

“She had a song.”

“Do you remember it?”

“Only one line.”

Elena closed her eyes.

“Something about a house where the roses never die.”

Adrian's expression changed.

“What?”

She opened her eyes.

“What?”

“My father owned a property outside the city.”

“Where?”

“Near Rosewood.”

Elena's heart skipped.

“Rosewood?”

“There was an old estate there.”

“Does it still exist?”

“Yes.”

“Then that's where we're going.”

Adrian shook his head.

“No.”

She stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because Victor knew about it.”

“That's exactly why we need to go.”

“It's a trap.”

“Everything is a trap.”

Elena stepped closer.

“I can't sit here while my mother might be alive.”

Adrian's eyes softened.

“I understand.”

“Then let me go.”

“I didn't say you were going alone.”

“You're hurt.”

“I can still drive.”

“You're impossible.”

“So I've been told.”

For the first time since the warehouse, Elena almost smiled.

Then Adrian's phone rang.

He answered.

“Yes?”

His expression immediately hardened.

“Send it.”

He ended the call.

“What happened?” Elena asked.

“A message from the security team.”

“What message?”

He showed her the screen.

A photograph of an old house.

The caption beneath it read:

ROSEWOOD ESTATE — EMPTY SINCE 2008.

Elena's breath caught.

“That house.”

Adrian nodded.

“That's where we're going.”

---

The road to Rosewood was long and empty.

Elena sat beside Adrian in silence.

His injured arm rested against the steering wheel.

“You should let someone else drive.”

“I can drive.”

“You're bleeding.”

“It's not serious.”

“You always say that.”

“Because it's usually true.”

She looked at him.

“You could have been killed.”

“So could you.”

“I wasn't the one standing in front of a gun.”

“You were standing behind me.”

“I didn't ask you to protect me.”

“I know.”

“Then why did you?”

Adrian's hands tightened around the steering wheel.

“Because I couldn't do anything else.”

Elena stared at him.

“What does that mean?”

He didn't answer.

“Adrian.”

He looked at her.

“When I saw that gun pointed at you, I didn't think.”

“Why?”

His eyes returned to the road.

“Because the thought of losing you scared me.”

Elena's heart beat faster.

She looked away.

Neither spoke for several minutes.

Then she whispered, “This marriage is supposed to last one year.”

“Yes.”

“And after that?”

Adrian's voice was quiet.

“We'll see.”

Elena looked at him.

“What if I don't want it to end?”

He glanced at her.

The car slowed.

Neither looked away.

Then Adrian's phone rang.

The moment broke.

He answered.

“Blackwood.”

A voice came through.

Adrian's face changed.

“Who is this?”

Silence.

Then the caller said something.

Adrian abruptly pulled the car to the side of the road.

“What did you say?”

Elena watched him.

His knuckles turned white.

“Say that again.”

The caller spoke.

Adrian's expression became unreadable.

Then the call ended.

“What happened?”

He didn't answer.

“Adrian.”

He looked at her.

“Your mother may have contacted us.”

Elena's breath caught.

“What?”

“She left a message.”

“Where?”

“Rosewood.”

---

The gates to Rosewood Estate were rusted and half-covered by vines.

Adrian stopped the car.

Elena stared through the windshield.

The house stood beyond a long driveway.

It looked abandoned.

But something was wrong.

One upstairs window was open.

“She lives here?”

“We don't know.”

Elena stepped out.

Adrian followed.

“Stay close.”

She looked at him.

“I'm not a child.”

“I know.”

They walked toward the house.

The front door was unlocked.

Elena pushed it open.

Dust covered the floor.

Old furniture stood beneath white sheets.

A grandfather clock had stopped at 3:17.

Elena walked inside.

Something about the house felt familiar.

She couldn't explain it.

She walked down the hallway.

“Have you been here before?” Adrian asked.

“I don't know.”

She touched the wall.

A faint memory surfaced.

A little girl running through the hallway.

A woman laughing.

A piano.

Elena pulled her hand away.

“I remember.”

“What?”

“There was a piano.”

Adrian looked around.

“Where?”

“I don't know.”

She walked toward the back of the house.

A door stood closed.

She opened it.

A small room appeared.

Empty.

Except for a faded outline on the floor.

The shape of a piano.

Elena's breath caught.

“It was here.”

Adrian crouched near the floor.

“There are marks.”

“Someone moved it.”

He looked at her.

“Recently.”

Elena's pulse quickened.

“Then someone has been here.”

A sound came from upstairs.

Both looked up.

Footsteps.

Elena whispered, “Someone's here.”

Adrian reached for her hand.

“Stay behind me.”

They climbed the stairs.

The footsteps stopped.

At the end of the hallway stood a bedroom.

The door was slightly open.

Elena pushed it.

Inside was a child's room.

A small bed.

Old toys.

A faded pink curtain.

And photographs.

Hundreds of them.

Elena stepped closer.

The first photograph showed a little girl.

Her.

The next showed her mother holding her.

Elena touched the glass frame.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“She was here.”

Adrian stood behind her.

“Yes.”

Elena picked up another photograph.

Her mother was younger.

Happy.

Alive.

Beside her stood Elena's father.

And a third person.

Richard Blackwood.

Elena's breathing became uneven.

“Why was my grandfather in my mother's house?”

Adrian stared at the photograph.

“I don't know.”

Elena looked at another.

Her mother was standing beside a piano.

She was pregnant.

Elena's eyes widened.

“Adrian.”

He turned.

“Look.”

She held up the photograph.

Her mother was clearly pregnant.

But the date on the back was two years before Elena was born.

Adrian's expression darkened.

“That's impossible.”

Elena's fingers trembled.

“Unless…”

She couldn't finish.

A sound came from inside the wall.

Three soft knocks.

Elena and Adrian looked at each other.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Adrian moved toward the wall.

“Stand back.”

He pressed his hand against it.

“There.”

A hidden panel opened.

Behind it was a narrow staircase leading downward.

Elena stared.

“My mother had a secret room.”

Adrian reached for his phone.

“No signal.”

“Of course.”

They descended.

At the bottom was a small underground room.

A desk stood in the center.

On it was a tape recorder.

Beside it was a handwritten note.

Elena picked it up.

Her mother's handwriting.

She knew it immediately.

Elena, if you found this, I'm sorry.

Her vision blurred.

Adrian stood beside her.

“Read it.”

She continued.

Everything your father told you was a lie.

Elena's hands shook.

“What?”

She read the next line.

You were never supposed to know who your real father was.

Her heart stopped.

Adrian looked at her.

“Elena…”

She dropped the note.

“No.”

She backed away.

“No, this isn't real.”

Adrian picked up the note.

“There's more.”

He read silently.

His face changed.

“What?”

He looked at Elena.

“Your mother says the man you called your father wasn't your biological father.”

Elena stared at him.

The room spun.

“Then who was?”

Adrian turned the paper over.

There was a name.

He read it.

Then it went completely still.

“Elena…”

“Who?”

He couldn't answer.

“Who is my father?”

Adrian finally looked at her.

“Victor Blackwood.”

The room fell silent.

Elena stared at him.

“That's impossible.”

Adrian shook his head.

“I don't know.”

“You just said it.”

“I said that's what the letter says.”

“Victor Blackwood is your uncle.”

“Yes.”

“So that means…”

Her voice disappeared.

Adrian finished for her.

“That would make you part of the Blackwood family.”

Elena stumbled backward.

“No.”

She grabbed the edge of the desk.

“My father was Daniel Hart.”

“Your legal father.”

“He raised me.”

“I know.”

“He loved me.”

“I know.”

Tears rolled down her face.

“Then why did my mother lie?”

Adrian didn't answer.

The tape recorder suddenly clicked.

Both turned.

Neither had touched it.

A woman's voice filled the room.

“Elena.”

Elena froze.

Her mother's voice.

Older.

Tired.

But unmistakable.

“If you're hearing this, then they failed to stop you.”

Elena covered her mouth.

Adrian stood completely still.

The recording continued.

“I need you to know that I never abandoned you.”

A sob escaped Elena.

“I was forced to leave because Victor found out the truth.”

The tape crackled.

“I thought keeping you away from him would protect you.”

Elena whispered, “Mom…”

Then her mother's voice said something that made Elena's blood turn cold.

“Your father is not Victor.”

Adrian's eyes widened.

The recording continued.

“Victor is your uncle.”

Elena's knees nearly gave way.

“But he believes you are his daughter because…”

The recording stopped.

Elena stared at the machine.

“No.”

She pressed the button.

Nothing.

“Come on.”

She pressed it again.

Nothing.

Adrian crouched beside the recorder.

“The tape is damaged.”

“No.”

Elena shook her head.

“She was about to tell me.”

Adrian looked at the machine.

“There may be another recording.”

They searched the room.

Nothing.

Then Elena noticed a small metal box beneath the desk.

She pulled it out.

Inside was a single envelope.

Her name was written across it.

ELENA HART.

She opened it.

Inside was a birth certificate.

Elena stared at the document.

Her mother's name was there.

Her legal father's name was there.

But the space for biological father had been left blank.

Underneath was a second piece of paper.

A handwritten sentence.

The man who raised you died believing you were his daughter.

Elena's eyes filled with tears.

Then she saw the final line.

The man who is truly your father is the reason I had to disappear.

A noise came from upstairs.

Adrian stood.

“Someone's here.”

Elena grabbed his arm.

“Who?”

He listened.

Footsteps moved across the floor above them.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Then a man's voice called from upstairs.

“Adrian.”

Adrian went rigid.

The voice came again.

“You've been looking for me for a very long time.”

Elena's blood turned cold.

Victor.

Adrian moved in front of her.

“Stay here.”

“No.”

“Don't argue.”

“I won't let you face him alone.”

Adrian looked back at her.

For a second, his expression softened.

Then he whispered, “Whatever happens, don't tell him about the letter.”

“Why?”

“Because if Victor knows you found it…”

The footsteps stopped directly above them.

Adrian's eyes darkened.

“He'll know you discovered the one secret he's been killing people to protect.”

The hidden door suddenly slammed open.

Victor stood at the top of the stairs.

But this time, he wasn't holding a gun.

He was holding a photograph.

He looked directly at Elena.

“Your mother lied to you about one thing.”

Elena's heart pounded.

“What?”

Victor slowly smiled.

“She wasn't running from me.”

He raised the photograph.

“She was running from the man who is standing beside you.”

Elena turned toward Adrian.

Adrian's face had gone completely pale.

Victor's voice echoed through the room.

“Ask your husband who killed your father.”