Chapter 8: The Wife Who Wasn't The Villain
For the first time in months, I had no answer.
Victoria stood in front of me.
The woman I believed was my enemy.
The woman I believed wanted me dead.
Was telling me she had been protecting me.
I wanted to laugh.
I wanted to call her a liar.
But then I looked at the files scattered across the desk.
The evidence.
The connections.
The pieces that still didn’t make sense.
“Protecting me?””
My voice was low.
“You poisoned my tea.””
Victoria looked down.
“Yes.””
The honesty surprised me.
“I did.””
“Then explain.””
She took a deep breath.
“The tea wasn’t poisoned.””
Silence.
I stared at her.
“What?””
She walked toward the desk.
“The substance I added was not meant to hurt you.””
I shook my head.
“I saw the footage.””
“You saw me add something.””
She looked directly at me.
“You didn’t see what it was.””
My mind raced.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“No.””
She pointed at the broken cup.
“I expected you to find the truth.””
I said nothing.
Victoria continued.
“Evelyn wanted me to make you sick enough that the board would remove you permanently.””
My expression hardened.
“So you were working with her.””
“At first.””
The words landed heavily.
“At first?””
Victoria nodded.
“She approached me before our marriage. She knew I was young. She knew I had debt from my family’s problems.””
She looked away.
“She offered me money to marry you and report your condition.””
I listened.
“But after I entered this house, I realized something.””
“What?””
Her eyes met mine.
“That she never cared about your company.””
A pause.
“She wanted revenge.””
The room became silent.
Victoria walked toward the window.
“She believed your father destroyed her life.””
I looked at the files.
“My father?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Victoria hesitated.
Then answered:
“Because Evelyn believed your father betrayed her.””
I frowned.
“Did he?””
“I don’t know.””
That was the first honest answer I had heard.
“I spent months trying to find out.””
I looked at her.
“Then why hide everything from me?””
Her expression changed.
“Because every person who tried to expose Evelyn disappeared.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Disappeared?””
Victoria nodded.
“Your father’s former assistant. A company accountant. A private investigator.””
She looked terrified.
“They all found something.””
“And?””
“They all stopped talking.””
A cold silence filled the room.
I looked at Victoria differently.
Not as an innocent woman.
Not as a victim.
But as someone who had been trapped in the same nightmare.
“Why did Martha know?””
Victoria looked surprised.
“She doesn’t.””
“She saved me.””
Victoria shook her head.
“Martha saved you because she’s loyal to you.””
She paused.
“But she doesn’t know the entire truth.””
I looked back at the files.
Then I found one more document.
A property transfer.
My father’s private estate.
Signed before his death.
My eyes moved across the page.
There was a hidden clause.
A condition.
If control of Blackwood International was ever taken through illegal actions, ownership would transfer to someone else.
Someone nobody expected.
Victoria saw my expression.
“What?””
I slowly turned the paper toward her.
“My father planned for this.””
She looked confused.
“What do you mean?””
I pointed at the name.
The name listed as the emergency successor.
Victoria read it.
Then her face changed.
Because she knew the person.
“No…”
I looked at her.
“Who is it?””
Her voice became a whisper.
“Someone Evelyn thought was dead.””
Before I could ask another question, a loud crash echoed from downstairs.
Martha screamed.
We ran out of the room.
The mansion security alarms started blaring.
When we reached the main hall, we found Daniel Cross standing near the entrance.
His face was covered in fear.
But he wasn’t alone.
A woman stood behind him.
Older.
Elegant.
Calm.
The same woman from the photograph.
Evelyn Blackwood.
She looked at me like she had been waiting years for this moment.
Then she smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.””
My entire body froze.
Because the woman my family buried twelve years ago was standing in my home.
May you like
And she was holding the one thing my father had hidden from everyone.
His final confession.
