The man who feared the truth

Alexander Blackwood stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable.

Nobody spoke.

His eyes moved from Evelyn to the silver box on the bedside table. For the first time since Elena had known him, he looked genuinely unsettled.

“It's been a long time, Evelyn,” he said.

Evelyn remained seated.

“Not long enough.”

Alexander stepped into the room.

“I see you've finally decided to come out of hiding.”

“I never hid from you. You spent thirty years making sure nobody could find me.”

Adrian moved between Alexander and the table.

“You're not taking anything from this room.”

Alexander barely glanced at him.

“Still pretending you understand the family you're trying to protect?”

“I understand enough to know you've been lying.”

A faint smile crossed Alexander's face.

“Then perhaps your grandmother should explain why Jonathan trusted her with a secret that destroyed everyone around him.”

Elena stepped forward.

“Stop using Jonathan's name to frighten us. Tell us what happened.”

Alexander turned towards her.

“You should be careful, Elena. Some truths are more dangerous than the lies protecting them.”

Evelyn suddenly laughed.

“That's exactly what you told Jonathan before you betrayed him.”

Alexander's expression hardened.

“Be quiet.”

“No. I've been quiet for thirty years.”

Evelyn opened the silver box and placed the crown ring on her palm.

Alexander's eyes fixed on it.

“You still have it.”

“Of course. Jonathan trusted me with it.”

“That ring belongs to the Blackwood family.”

Evelyn shook her head.

“It belongs to the person Jonathan selected. And you know very well that person was never you.”

The room fell silent.

---

Samuel moved closer to Adrian.

“That's why Alexander came himself,” he whispered. “He's afraid the ring will expose the original agreement.”

Alexander heard him.

“Samuel, you have always been too curious for your own good.”

Samuel stood his ground.

“And you've always mistaken silence for obedience.”

Alexander ignored him and addressed Evelyn.

“Give me the seal. I can still protect what's left of this family.”

Evelyn's eyes narrowed.

“Protect it? You destroyed it. You separated children from their parents, changed records and made people believe their loved ones were dead.”

Margaret began to cry.

Elena turned towards her.

“Mum, what else happened?”

Margaret shook her head.

“There's something I never told you.”

Alexander immediately interrupted.

“Margaret, don't.”

That single warning made Elena's stomach tighten.

“What is it?”

Margaret looked at Evelyn.

Evelyn nodded slowly.

Margaret took a deep breath.

“Before Jonathan disappeared, he asked me to take Elena away from the Blackwood family. He believed Alexander would eventually discover her identity.”

Elena frowned.

“But you told me Daniel raised me because he wanted to protect me.”

“He did. But there was another reason.”

Margaret's voice broke.

“Alexander wanted you returned to the family before you were old enough to understand what your name meant.”

Elena looked at Alexander.

“Why?”

He said nothing.

Evelyn answered instead.

“Because Jonathan's agreement required three heirs. Alexander believed that if he controlled the third heir, he could control the entire inheritance.”

Adrian's expression changed.

“And Elena was the third heir?”

Evelyn looked down at the ring.

“I never said that.”

---

Alexander suddenly stepped towards the bedside table.

Adrian blocked his path.

“Don't.”

Alexander stopped.

“You think this is a game? You have no idea what you're interfering with.”

“Then explain it.”

Alexander's eyes narrowed.

“Your father understood the consequences of challenging me. That's why he disappeared.”

Adrian went still.

“My father?”

Alexander looked at him carefully.

“Yes. The man whose identity you've spent years trying to uncover.”

Adrian took a step forward.

“You know who he is?”

“Of course.”

“Then tell me.”

Alexander gave a cold smile.

“Not until the agreement is complete.”

Adrian's hands tightened.

“You don't get to bargain with my family anymore.”

Alexander turned towards Elena.

“Your grandmother has told you half the story. Ask her what happened to Jonathan's original declaration. Ask her why your mother was allowed to raise you while Lydia was sent elsewhere.”

Elena looked at Margaret.

“Lydia?”

Margaret's face changed.

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Alexander smiled.

“Ah. So that part is still a secret.”

---

Elena moved towards her mother.

“What does he mean?”

Margaret wiped her tears.

“Lydia was not simply separated from you. Jonathan arranged for her to be raised away from the family because someone had threatened both of you.”

“Who threatened us?”

Margaret looked directly at Alexander.

“He did.”

For a moment, Alexander's composure disappeared.

“You have no proof.”

Evelyn lifted the ring.

“I have more than proof. I have the original declaration, and I know where Jonathan left it.”

Alexander's expression changed immediately.

“Where?”

Evelyn smiled sadly.

“Somewhere you can never reach without the person you betrayed.”

Samuel looked at her.

“Who is that?”

Evelyn turned towards the window.

“Richard Blackwood.”

Adrian frowned.

“Richard?”

“Yes. Jonathan entrusted him with the final location before he disappeared. Richard was supposed to deliver the declaration to me, but someone intercepted him.”

Alexander's jaw tightened.

“Enough.”

Evelyn continued.

“Richard never knew the full truth. He believed he was protecting a secret about his own birth. In reality, he was protecting the evidence that could bring this entire arrangement down.”

Adrian looked at Alexander.

“Where is Richard now?”

Alexander remained silent.

Then his phone rang.

He checked the screen.

Something about the message made his expression change.

He quickly turned towards the door.

Adrian noticed.

“What's happened?”

Alexander slipped the phone into his pocket.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

But before he could leave, Samuel's phone vibrated.

He read the message and immediately looked at Adrian.

“It's Richard.”

“What did he say?”

Samuel turned the screen towards them.

The message contained only one sentence:

I FOUND JONATHAN. HE'S NOT ALONE.

Elena's heart raced.

“Where is he?”

Samuel began typing, but another message arrived.

This time, it contained a photograph.

A man stood outside an old building, his face partly hidden beneath a hat.

Behind him was Richard.

And beside Richard stood a woman Elena recognised immediately.

She stared at the photograph in disbelief.

“That's impossible.”

Adrian looked at her.

“What is it?”

Elena slowly raised her eyes.

“The woman standing beside Richard…”

Margaret covered her mouth.

Evelyn whispered a name nobody in the room expected to hear.

“Victoria.”

Alexander suddenly turned pale.

Because Victoria Blackwood was supposed to be at the mansion.

And the message beneath the photograph was even more disturbing:

DO NOT COME LOOKING FOR JONATHAN. ONE OF YOU HAS ALREADY LED HIM TO ALEXANDER.