Chapter 17 - THE FINAL BLACKWOOD WAR
Victor’s escape triggered a federal manhunt.
Airports were locked down.
Private airfields were searched.
Blackwood properties were raided.
But Ethan knew Victor would not run immediately.
Men like Victor did not flee while unfinished business remained.
His business was Lily and Rose.
Ethan moved Amelia and both girls to a secure federal location.
He refused to tell Charles where.
He refused to tell the Blackwood board.
He trusted almost nobody.
That evening, Samuel received a call from his father.
For the first time in twelve years, he heard the man’s voice.
“Samuel.”
Samuel almost dropped the phone.
“Dad?”
“Do not trace this call.”
“Where are you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“You helped Victor escape.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he has something I need.”
Samuel’s hands shook.
“What?”
“Evidence that Charles Blackwood killed your mother.”
Samuel looked toward Ethan.
Charles had always told Samuel that his mother died in an accident.
Hayes Sr. claimed otherwise.
Victor had apparently spent decades turning grief into loyalty.
But Hayes Sr. gave them one useful clue.
Victor planned to leave the country before dawn.
He needed one final object from Ethan’s mansion.
The original Blackwood trust.
The copy stolen earlier was incomplete.
Only Ethan possessed the notarized version containing the guardianship restrictions.
Without destroying it, Victor could never legally control Lily and Rose.
Ethan returned to Blackwood Manor with federal agents.
The estate appeared empty.
At 3:12 a.m., the power failed.
Ethan almost smiled.
Victor had finally come home.
A window shattered downstairs.
Gunfire followed.
Agents moved through the east wing.
Ethan remained near the vault.
Then the door behind him opened.
Victor entered.
He held Amelia at gunpoint.
Ethan’s blood froze.
“She was secure.”
Victor smiled.
“Nothing is secure.”
Amelia’s lip was bleeding.
But she looked fully awake.
Victor held out his hand.
“The trust.”
Ethan placed a folder on the desk.
“Let her go.”
Victor laughed.
“You still think this is about paper?”
“Then what is it about?”
Victor looked around the study.
“This company.”
“This name.”
“Everything Charles gave you because you happened to be his son.”
“You were always the heir.”
“I was always the spare.”
Ethan understood.
Victor had spent his entire life competing with Charles’s son.
This had never been about money alone.
It was resentment turned into obsession.
“You burned a hospital because you were jealous.”
“I built this empire while you inherited it.”
“You murdered innocent people.”
“History remembers winners.”
Amelia suddenly drove her elbow backward into Victor’s ribs.
The gun fired.
Ethan lunged.
They crashed against the desk.
Victor reached for the weapon.
Amelia kicked it away.
Federal agents rushed inside.
Victor grabbed a knife from his ankle.
Before he could move, Charles appeared in the doorway.
He was holding a gun.
Victor laughed.
“You won’t shoot me.”
Charles looked at his brother.
“Thirty years ago, you were right.”
“I always protected the company before my family.”
He lowered the weapon.
“But not tonight.”
Victor rushed him.
Ethan tackled Victor from the side.
The knife skidded across the floor.
Agents finally pinned Victor down.
This time, four sets of restraints were placed around him.
Victor looked toward Ethan.
“You think this ends with me?”
Ethan said nothing.
May you like
Victor smiled through blood on his lip.
“Ask Amelia what she found in your father’s safe.”
