Chapter 16 - PROJECT SUCCESSION
Project Succession had begun before Lily and Rose were born.
Victor’s objective was simple.
Gain complete control of Blackwood Holdings.
But the plan was larger than Ethan realized.
If Ethan died without a legal heir, Victor inherited operating control.
If Ethan’s daughters survived but were minors, Victor intended to become their court-appointed guardian.
Either outcome placed the company in his hands.
Amelia’s pregnancy had changed the timetable.
Twins made the situation more dangerous.
So Victor created two plans.
Erase Lily.
Control Rose.
Then eliminate Ethan before the girls turned eight.
Every step had been documented.
Fake death certificates.
False psychiatric records.
Bribed nurses.
The poisoned tea.
Even Nora’s payments.
Ethan read every page.
He wanted no surprises left.
One entry stood out.
Contingency C.
If Victor was arrested, a designated trustee would complete Project Succession.
The trustee’s identity was encoded.
Samuel’s team worked overnight.
By morning, they broke the cipher.
Ethan stared at the name.
Dr. Samuel Hayes.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Samuel himself looked stunned.
“That’s impossible.”
Ethan did not move.
Samuel had been his private physician for nine years.
He had tested the poisoned tea.
He had helped locate Amelia.
He had helped prove Lily was Ethan’s daughter.
But Victor specialized in placing trusted people close to his targets.
Samuel stepped backward.
“You think I’m part of this?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Security approached him.
Samuel did not resist.
“Check everything.”
“You’ll find nothing.”
They searched his home.
His office.
His financial history.
They found no secret payments.
No communications with Victor.
Nothing.
Then Nora recognized the truth.
“Samuel Hayes isn’t the name in the ledger.”
Ethan frowned.
“It clearly says Samuel Hayes.”
“No.”
She pointed to a notation beside the name.
“Senior.”
Samuel went pale.
“My father.”
Dr. Samuel Hayes Sr. had died twelve years earlier.
Or so Samuel believed.
Once again, a dead man might not be dead.
Samuel remembered his father working briefly for Charles Blackwood.
He had never known the details.
Investigators reopened the death file.
The cremation record was fraudulent.
No DNA confirmation existed.
Then Rose saw an old photograph of Samuel’s father.
Her face changed.
“That’s Doctor Gray.”
Samuel stared at her.
“What?”
“He gave Mommy medicine.”
Samuel looked as though someone had struck him.
“My father is alive?”
Rose nodded.
“He lives at Victor’s other house.”
Ethan’s phone rang before anyone could speak.
It was the prison medical unit.
Victor Blackwood had escaped.
Two officers were dead.
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And the surveillance camera outside his room showed the man who helped him leave.
Samuel Hayes Sr.
