Chapter 6: The Betrayal At The Table
I moved everyone into the dining room because I needed space.
Not physical space.
Mental space.
The kind where a person could separate emotion from action.
In my world, anger was useful.
But uncontrolled anger got people killed.
I sat at the head of the table where my father used to sit.
The irony wasn’t lost on me.
For years, I had hated that chair.
I thought it represented everything wrong with my family.
Control.
Fear.
Power.
Now I understood something.
The chair wasn’t the problem.
The secrets were.
Clara sat beside Lily.
My daughter held her mother’s hand tightly.
Vincent stood across from me.
For the first time in fifteen years, he looked like a stranger.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Vincent remained silent.
“From the beginning.””
He nodded.
“Your father knew someone was trying to take control of the family business before he died.””
I listened.
“He suspected Damian wasn’t acting alone.””
“Who was helping him?””
“That was the part he never discovered.””
I leaned forward.
“But you did.””
Vincent looked away.
“Not completely.””
“Enough to hide it from me.””
He accepted that.
“Yes.””
I tapped my fingers against the table.
A habit I inherited from my father.
“When Clara found the documents, what did they show?””
Vincent took a breath.
“They showed financial transfers.””
“How much?””
“Millions.””
Nobody spoke.
“From my accounts?””
“No.””
That surprised me.
“Then whose?””
Vincent looked at Clara.
“Your family foundation.””
My stomach tightened.
The foundation was something my mother created.
A charity.
A way to help neighborhoods, schools, and families who needed support.
It was one of the few things connected to my family name that wasn’t built on fear.
“Someone was stealing from it?””
“Yes.””
“Who had access?””
Vincent hesitated.
Too long.
“Who had access?”” I repeated.
“Your sister.””
The room became still.
I closed my eyes.
My sister, Elena.
The person who had stood beside me after our father died.
The person who told me she wanted nothing to do with the family business.
The person who cried when I offered her protection.
“No,” I said quietly.
Vincent looked at me.
“I know what you’re thinking.””
“No, you don’t.””
Because he didn’t.
He didn’t know what it felt like to have your family disappear one piece at a time.
First your father.
Then your innocence.
Then the belief that the people closest to you were safe.
“Elena wouldn’t do this.””
Clara spoke softly.
“Adrian…”
I looked at her.
She didn’t say anything else.
She didn’t need to.
Because I saw the doubt in her eyes.
And that hurt more than I expected.
“You think she did.””
Clara looked down.
“I don’t know.””
Honesty.
At least she gave me that.
Then the dining room doors opened.
Everyone turned.
A guard stepped inside.
“Boss.””
His face was tense.
“What?””
He looked uncomfortable.
“There’s someone at the front entrance.””
“Who?””
The guard swallowed.
“Elena Blackwood.””
My entire body went still.
Of course.
Of course she would appear now.
Like she could feel the moment her name entered the room.
“Let her in.””
Vincent immediately stepped forward.
“No.””
I looked at him.
“No?””
His eyes were serious.
“Adrian, don’t.””
The old me would have trusted Vincent.
The old me would have listened.
But the old me also had a missing wife hidden beneath his floor.
“Open the door.””
The guard nodded.
A few moments later, Elena walked into the dining room.
She looked exactly as I remembered.
Elegant.
Calm.
Controlled.
But there was something different.
Something I had never noticed before.
She looked nervous.
Her eyes moved around the room.
First to Clara.
Then to Vincent.
Then to me.
“What happened?”” she asked.
Nobody answered.
I watched her carefully.
“You tell me.””
Her expression changed.
“Adrian?””
I placed the photograph on the table.
The one of Vincent and my father.
Then I placed the financial records beside it.
Elena stared.
“What is this?””
I leaned back.
“The truth.””
Her face became pale.
And for the first time in my life, I saw my sister afraid of me.
Not because of my power.
Because she knew what I was about to uncover.
“Tell me,” I said.
My voice was quiet.
“Why was my wife trapped under my house?””
Elena looked at Clara.
Then at Vincent.
Then back at me.
And when she finally spoke, her answer destroyed the last piece of my family I still trusted.
“Because she found out what our father really left behind.””
I stood slowly.
“What did he leave behind?””
Elena’s eyes filled with fear.
“A name.””
The room went silent.
“Whose name?””
She looked toward the mansion windows.
As if she expected someone to be watching.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Damian Blackwood.””
