All Chapters of The Bride in the Blackwood File : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The dial tone echoed through the silent study.Damien slowly lowered the receiver, his expression unreadable.Lucas was the first to speak."'You've been chasing the wrong Blackwood.' What does that mean?"Damien looked toward the rain-soaked window."It means whoever called us wants us to question everything."Ava tightened her grip on the letter in her hands."No."Both men looked at her."They wanted us to hear one thing."She held up her mother's letter."St. Mary's Hospital."Damien nodded."We're done chasing ghosts.""We find the living."---Less than an hour later...The Blackwood convoy pulled into the parking lot of St. Mary's Hospital.The aging building looked untouched by time.Its faded walls carried decades of forgotten stories.Ava stared at the entrance."This is where I was born."Damien glanced at her."And where someone has been waiting for eighteen years."Lucas led the way toward the reception desk.A middle-aged nurse smiled politely."Good afternoon. How may I

The words echoed through the emergency ward."They switched us... the night we were born!"Time seemed to stop.Ava stared at Anna, her mind refusing to accept what she'd just heard.Then another gunshot shattered the silence.The bullet struck the wall inches above Ava's head."Move!" Damien shouted.He grabbed Ava's hand and pulled her behind a concrete pillar as shattered glass rained across the floor.Lucas fired two quick shots.The attackers ducked behind overturned hospital trolleys.Patients screamed and rushed toward the emergency exits.The entire ward dissolved into chaos.---One of the masked men spoke into an earpiece."Target located."A calm voice answered."Forget the other woman.""Bring Ava Carter to me.""Alive."Damien heard enough."They're after you," he said to Ava."I know.""No."His voice hardened."You don't understand.""They don't care who gets hurt.""They only want you."Ava swallowed."Why?""Because you're the only person who can destroy them."---Th

The archive seemed to stop breathing.Ava stared at the man standing in the doorway.Lucas.Her mind refused to accept what her eyes were showing her.He was holding a gun.Behind him stood three masked men.Damien moved instantly, stepping in front of Ava."Lucas."His voice was low.Dangerously calm.Lucas didn't answer.He simply raised his weapon."Put the gun down," Damien ordered.One of the masked men laughed."Still giving orders, Mr. Blackwood?"Damien's eyes remained fixed on Lucas."You were with me at the cemetery.""At the hospital.""At my grandfather's manor.""You knew about the file."Lucas's expression remained cold."I knew more than you realized."Ava's heart pounded."You were the one helping them?"Lucas finally looked at her."Not all of them.""Just the ones who were willing to pay."Damien's jaw tightened."How long?"Lucas hesitated."Long enough."The answer hit harder than Ava expected.Damien took one step forward."You knew about my sister."Lucas's expre

The words hung in the vault like a death sentence.You're the Blackwood heir.Ava stared at Ethan."No."Her voice was barely audible."You don't get to lie to me again."Ethan's expression remained calm."I'm not lying."Damien stepped between them."Choose your next words carefully."Ethan gave a bitter laugh."Still protecting her?""Even after everything you've discovered?"Damien's eyes narrowed."What exactly are you claiming?"Ethan held up the envelope."That Ava Carter was born into the Blackwood family."Ava shook her head."My parents are the Carters.""Your mother raised you," Ethan replied."That's not the same thing."Ava's heart pounded."Then who are my real parents?"Ethan looked at Damien."That's the question you should be asking him."Damien's expression hardened."Don't involve me in your games.""I'm not."Ethan tossed the envelope onto the table."Open it."Ava hesitated.Then she reached for it.Inside was a copy of an old birth record.Her eyes moved across th

Damien couldn't move.Neither could Ava.Outside the window stood a man Damien had buried seventeen years ago.His father.Daniel Blackwood.Older now.His hair was streaked with gray, and a deep scar ran along the side of his face.But there was no mistaking him.Damien's hands curled into fists."That's impossible."Lucas stared through the glass."Sir...""I saw my father's body.""I attended his funeral."Lucas swallowed."Then who is that?"Damien didn't answer.Because somewhere inside him, a terrible possibility had already formed.His father had never died.---The front door opened.The footsteps echoed through the manor.Ava instinctively moved closer to Damien.The mysterious woman entered first.She stopped several feet away.Her eyes locked onto Ava.For a moment, neither woman spoke.Then the woman whispered,"You're alive."Ava frowned."You know me."The woman gave a sad smile."I've known you all your life."Damien stepped forward."Who are you?"She looked at him."M