Chapter 12 - Serena’s Real Choice
Serena had escaped Damien.
Or Damien had released her.
Victor did not know which possibility was worse.
The photograph of Sofia contained no location metadata.
Only a message.
MOTHER FAILED.
NOW I FINISH IT.
Victor stared at Serena’s face.
The woman who had dragged Ethan across the floor.
The woman who had lied to his face.
The woman who knew he was her half-brother and still planned to marry him to obtain his name.
Evelyn laughed from custody.
“You underestimated her.”
Victor turned.
“So did you.”
For the first time, Evelyn’s smile disappeared.
Victor understood.
Serena was no longer obeying anyone.
Not Evelyn.
Not Damien.
Not Thomas.
She had taken a child on her own.
Which meant the plan had changed.
Daniel survived surgery.
Marco remained beside him.
Victor took Lily and Ethan back to New York under military-level security.
Evelyn was extradited.
Thomas remained in federal custody.
Rachel faced attempted murder charges.
Charles entered protective detention.
Yet Serena was still free.
And Sofia was still missing.
Lily watched Victor study maps in the mansion’s library.
“You haven’t slept.”
“Neither have you.”
“I slept on the plane.”
“Twenty-seven minutes.”
Lily raised an eyebrow.
“You counted?”
Victor ignored the question.
She sat opposite him.
“What does Serena want?”
“The same thing she always wanted.”
“Power?”
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
“Recognition.”
Lily frowned.
Victor continued.
“She spent her life believing she was Alexander Blackwood’s discarded daughter.”
“She doesn’t only want the money.”
“She wants the name.”
“She already forged the marriage.”
“Yes.”
“That made her Serena Blackwood.”
“Temporarily.”
“So what comes next?”
Victor looked toward Ethan’s trust papers.
“She proves she is Alexander’s biological child.”
Lily understood.
“If the DNA becomes public…”
“She can claim family status independent of the marriage.”
“Does that give her anything legally?”
“Not automatically.”
“But it gives her leverage.”
Victor nodded.
“She can challenge old estates.”
“Damage the companies.”
“Expose my father’s crimes.”
“And threaten every member of the board.”
Lily looked at him.
“Would you fight her if she told the truth about your father?”
Victor paused.
“No.”
Lily seemed surprised.
“My father framed Evelyn.”
“He hid Adrian.”
“He covered crimes.”
“If Serena wants that truth public, she can have it.”
Lily studied him.
“Then what can she threaten you with?”
Victor looked toward Ethan.
“Him.”
The answer arrived an hour later.
A video call.
Serena.
Sofia was beside her.
Unharmed.
Victor controlled his expression.
“Let her go.”
Serena smiled.
“You sound just like Mother.”
“She always thought commands were power.”
“What do you want?”
“A press conference.”
Victor stared.
“Tomorrow.”
“You stand beside me.”
“You acknowledge me publicly as Alexander Blackwood’s daughter.”
“You announce that fifty percent of the family voting shares will transfer to me.”
Victor almost smiled.
“You know those shares don’t belong to me personally.”
“Make it happen.”
“You learned business from Evelyn.”
Serena’s eyes hardened.
“Careful.”
Victor looked at Sofia.
“If the child is frightened—”
“She’s fine.”
Sofia whispered.
“Uncle Victor?”
Serena muted the microphone.
Victor’s expression changed.
“Let me hear her.”
“No.”
“You wanted recognition.”
“You have my attention.”
“I don’t want your attention.”
Serena leaned closer.
“I want your surrender.”
Victor studied her.
“Why did you hurt Ethan?”
For the first time Serena looked uncomfortable.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try.”
Her mouth tightened.
“Every time I looked at him, I saw what I never had.”
“A father who claimed him.”
“A house with his name.”
“A future decided before he could speak.”
Victor’s voice became cold.
“So you punished a baby because my father abandoned you.”
“I was teaching him.”
“No.”
“You were becoming the person who hurt you.”
Serena flinched.
Lily watched from across the room.
Victor continued.
“Evelyn made you hate a child.”
“She told me the truth.”
“She told you enough truth to make her lies useful.”
Serena’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you dragged a fourteen-month-old across marble.”
“I know you planned to frame Lily.”
“I know you discussed poisoning my son.”
Serena looked away.
Victor noticed.
“Damien wanted Ethan dead.”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Victor leaned forward.
“You didn’t.”
Serena was silent.
Something shifted.
“You hurt him.”
“You drugged him.”
“But you didn’t want him killed.”
Serena’s breathing changed.
“Shut up.”
“Damien said Ethan becomes the tragedy.”
“You argued.”
“Stop.”
“You hid the flash drive under the bottle.”
Serena froze.
Lily looked at Victor.
He had realized it too.
The video incriminating Serena, Damien, and Thomas had been attached to the formula bottle.
Someone had wanted Victor to find it.
Victor continued.
“You recorded that meeting.”
Serena said nothing.
“You planted the flash drive.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Victor’s voice softened slightly.
“You were trying to protect yourself.”
Serena laughed bitterly.
“Don’t turn me into a hero.”
“I’m not.”
“You hurt my son.”
“You don’t get absolution.”
Her expression cracked.
Victor continued.
“But you wanted Damien and Evelyn exposed before they killed him.”
Serena stared.
Finally she whispered.
“Damien changed.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“He stopped talking about inheritance.”
“He started talking about bloodlines.”
“About removing everyone who stole our life.”
Lily felt cold.
“Did you give Ethan the digoxin?”
Serena’s eyes moved toward her.
“No.”
“The clonazepam?”
Silence.
Victor’s face hardened.
Serena answered.
“Twice.”
Lily stared at her.
“Why?”
“To make him sleep.”
“I hated the crying.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“But digoxin?”
“No.”
“Damien did that.”
“Mother knew.”
Victor looked at Sofia.
“Then help us end this.”
Serena laughed.
“You still think I called to confess?”
“No.”
“I think you called because you are alone.”
Her eyes flickered.
Victor saw it.
Damien had abandoned her.
Evelyn had used her.
Thomas had betrayed everyone.
Serena had a hostage and no plan beyond tomorrow.
Victor leaned closer.
“Where is Damien?”
She whispered.
“I don’t know.”
“Does he know you have Sofia?”
“No.”
Victor believed her.
“Then Damien is still running Evelyn’s final plan.”
Serena’s face changed.
“What final plan?”
Victor watched her carefully.
“You don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“The Continuity Trust destroys the empire if Ethan and I die.”
Serena stared.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Mother said it transfers everything.”
“She lied.”
Serena went completely silent.
Victor continued.
“She used you.”
“All of you.”
Serena looked away.
For several seconds the polished mask vanished.
Underneath was a frightened woman who had spent her life inside somebody else’s war.
Then Sofia whispered something.
Serena looked down.
Victor heard a distant chime.
Three notes.
Lily’s eyes sharpened.
She wrote on a piece of paper.
TRAIN STATION ANNOUNCEMENT.
Victor nodded almost imperceptibly.
Serena continued.
“Tomorrow.”
“Eleven a.m.”
“The press conference.”
“Or Sofia disappears.”
She ended the call.
Lily immediately searched transit terminals.
Victor looked at the sound recording.
European?
No.
American public announcement.
Marco called from the hospital.
“Daniel remembers something.”
“What?”
“Serena once asked him about the old Blackwood rail depot.”
Victor froze.
An abandoned freight terminal in New Jersey.
Owned by Blackwood Maritime.
Scheduled for demolition.
Victor looked at Lily.
“Station chime.”
She nodded.
“They’re there.”
They mobilized quietly.
No police sirens.
No visible convoy.
Victor arrived before dawn.
He entered through an old loading tunnel.
Lily remained in a secured vehicle with Ethan.
Marco, despite his injured brother, went with Victor.
They found Sofia first.
Alone.
Locked in an office.
Marco grabbed his daughter.
She cried into his chest.
“Where is Serena?”
Sofia pointed toward the tracks.
“She said she had to stop the bad man.”
Victor froze.
“What bad man?”
“She said Damien.”
Victor and Marco ran.
Beyond the freight platforms, Serena stood facing Damien.
A gun trembled in her hand.
Damien held another.
“You betrayed Mother.”
Serena’s voice shook.
“She betrayed us first.”
Damien laughed.
“She made us strong.”
“She made us sick.”
“You hurt the baby too.”
Serena flinched.
“I know.”
Victor remained hidden.
Damien continued.
“You think saving him now changes what you did?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
Serena raised the gun.
“Stopping you.”
Damien smiled.
“You never had the courage.”
A shot rang out.
Serena fell.
Victor stepped from the shadows.
Damien turned.
Victor fired once into Damien’s shoulder.
The weapon fell.
Marco rushed him.
Victor went to Serena.
Blood spread beneath her.
She looked at him.
“I didn’t know…”
Victor pressed his hand against the wound.
“Don’t talk.”
“Mother said…”
“I know.”
Serena’s eyes filled with tears.
“I hated Ethan.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“I know.”
“But I didn’t want him dead.”
Victor said nothing.
Serena grabbed his sleeve.
“There’s another bomb.”
Victor froze.
“What?”
“Damien…”
She coughed.
“He set one.”
“Where?”
“Not here.”
Victor leaned closer.
“Where, Serena?”
She whispered.
“Your house.”
Victor went cold.
“At the mansion?”
Serena shook her head weakly.
“Not the mansion.”
“Then where?”
Her eyes began closing.
Victor shook her gently.
“Serena.”
She forced one final sentence.
“The house Isabella bought for Ethan.”
Victor stopped breathing.
Nobody used that house.
Nobody even discussed it.
A small coastal property Isabella had purchased secretly before her death.
A property Victor had planned to give Ethan when he grew older.
Lily and Ethan had been moved there thirty minutes earlier as a security precaution.
Victor looked at Marco.
May you like
Then he ran.
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