The original inheritance

The darkness lasted only a few seconds.

Then emergency lights flickered on.

Elena looked toward the steel door.

It was locked.

Victoria rushed toward it.

“Open this!”

Nothing happened.

Richard checked the control panel.

“Someone changed the system.”

Catherine's eyes narrowed.

“From outside?”

Richard nodded.

“We're trapped.”

A slow clap echoed through the corridor.

Everyone turned.

A speaker mounted in the ceiling crackled.

Then a man's voice filled the room.

“Welcome home.”

Adrian immediately recognized it.

“Alexander.”

The voice laughed.

“My grandson.”

Adrian stepped toward the speaker.

“Show yourself.”

“Not yet.”

“You've hidden long enough.”

“Have I?”

Elena felt Lily's hand tighten around hers.

Amelia moved closer to her son.

Alexander's voice continued.

“You finally know who you are.”

Adrian's jaw tightened.

“I know enough.”

“No.”

A pause.

“You know almost nothing.”

A screen on the wall suddenly turned on.

An old recording appeared.

Alexander Blackwood sat behind a large desk.

He looked much younger.

Beside him stood Jonathan Vale.

Elena stared.

The recording began.

“You cannot take what belongs to my family,” Jonathan said.

Alexander smiled.

“Your family financed the beginning of my empire.”

“And the agreement says the inheritance returns to my bloodline.”

“Agreements can be changed.”

Jonathan stepped forward.

“Not this one.”

Alexander's expression became cold.

“They can if everyone who signed it agrees.”

Jonathan shook his head.

“Catherine won't.”

“She already has.”

Elena looked at Catherine.

Catherine's face had gone pale.

“I never agreed to anything.”

The recording continued.

Alexander placed a document on the desk.

“Your sister did.”

Jonathan froze.

“Amelia?”

Alexander nodded.

“She signed.”

Amelia gasped.

“That isn't true.”

The recording continued.

Jonathan looked furious.

“You're lying.”

Alexander leaned back.

“Then ask her.”

The screen went black.

Adrian turned toward Amelia.

“Did you sign something?”

Amelia shook her head.

“No.”

Catherine stepped closer.

“Alexander forged signatures before.”

Richard suddenly spoke.

“But not Amelia's.”

Everyone looked at him.

Richard reached into his coat.

He pulled out another document.

“This is the original.”

Catherine took it.

Her hands shook.

Elena moved closer.

The document was old, almost fragile.

At the top was written:

THE ORIGINAL BLACKWOOD-VALE INHERITANCE AGREEMENT.

Catherine read the first paragraph.

“The Blackwood fortune shall remain under the stewardship of the current family until the rightful bloodline returns.”

Adrian stared.

“That's me.”

Catherine nodded.

“But there's more.”

She continued.

“Should the rightful heir be removed, concealed, or declared dead, the agreement shall remain dormant until the heir's direct descendant reaches adulthood.”

Elena's heart raced.

“Direct descendant.”

Catherine looked at Lily.

“Yes.”

Lily looked confused.

“So what happens now?”

Catherine turned the page.

Her expression changed.

“What?”

Elena asked.

“There is a final condition.”

“What condition?”

Catherine read silently.

Then she looked at Adrian.

“The heir must willingly accept the inheritance.”

Adrian frowned.

“And if I don't?”

“The agreement remains incomplete.”

A voice came through the speaker again.

“Exactly.”

Alexander.

Elena looked up.

Alexander continued.

“Adrian must accept the inheritance publicly.”

Adrian stepped toward the speaker.

“Why do you care?”

“Because once you accept it, the agreement exposes everything.”

“Everything?”

“Every crime.”

The room fell silent.

Alexander continued.

“The stolen funds. The false contracts. The disappearances. Jonathan's attempted murder. Amelia's imprisonment.”

Elena's eyes widened.

“You're admitting it?”

Alexander laughed.

“You wanted the truth.”

Adrian clenched his fists.

“Where is Jonathan?”

Silence.

Then Alexander answered.

“Dead.”

Catherine shook her head.

“You said he disappeared.”

“He disappeared because he was dying.”

Amelia covered her mouth.

“No.”

Alexander continued.

“Jonathan tried to expose me. I stopped him.”

Adrian's voice became cold.

“You killed my father.”

“I protected what I built.”

“You destroyed everything.”

“No.”

Alexander's voice became sharper.

“I created everything.”

Adrian stepped closer to the speaker.

“You stole it.”

A long silence followed.

Then Alexander said:

“Perhaps.”

The screen suddenly changed.

A map appeared.

One location was marked in red.

Elena recognized it.

“The old Vale estate.”

Catherine stared.

“Why is that location marked?”

Alexander answered.

“Because that is where the final inheritance record is hidden.”

Adrian looked at Elena.

“We're going.”

Richard shook his head.

“You can't.”

“Why?”

“Because it's a trap.”

Alexander laughed through the speaker.

“Of course it's a trap.”

Everyone froze.

Alexander continued.

“But it is also your only chance to learn the truth.”

The screen went black.

The steel door suddenly unlocked.

Victoria stared at it.

“He wants us to go.”

Catherine nodded.

“Yes.”

Elena looked at Adrian.

“You don't have to do this alone.”

Adrian took her hand.

“I know.”

The moment was brief, but Elena saw the exhaustion in his eyes.

He had finally found his mother.

He had finally learned who his father was.

And now he had discovered that accepting his inheritance might expose the darkest crimes of the Blackwood family.

Lily stepped forward.

“Mom?”

Elena knelt.

“What is it?”

Lily held out the black envelope she had found earlier.

“I think this belongs to you.”

Elena opened it.

Inside was a single photograph.

She stared at it.

The photograph showed Jonathan Vale standing outside the old Vale estate.

Beside him stood a woman Elena had never seen before.

And in Jonathan's arms was a baby.

Adrian stepped closer.

“That can't be me.”

Elena turned the photograph over.

There was a handwritten message.

THE CHILD WAS NOT THE ONLY HEIR.

Elena's heart stopped.

Catherine read the message.

Her face drained of color.

“What?”

Adrian looked at her.

“What does it mean?”

Catherine slowly shook her head.

“Jonathan had another child.”

The corridor went silent.

Amelia's eyes widened.

“No.”

Catherine looked at Elena.

“If this is true…”

She couldn't finish.

Adrian stared at the photograph.

“Where is this child?”

Catherine looked toward the open door.

“I don't know.”

Then Elena noticed something written beneath the photograph.

A name.

ELENA ROSE VALE.

Her breath caught.

“That’s my name.”

Catherine looked at her.

“No.”

Elena's hands began to tremble.

“The child in this photograph…”

She looked at Adrian.

“…isn't you.”

Adrian's expression changed.

Catherine whispered:

“It may be you, Elena.”

Before anyone could speak, the mansion alarm began screaming.

And somewhere above them, every door in the Blackwood estate locked at once.