Chapter 15 - Isabella’s Real Will
Margaret’s Boston townhouse was empty when Victor’s team arrived.
No Damien.
No Helena.
No Margaret.
But somebody had left the study unlocked.
Victor knew immediately it was intentional.
A white envelope lay in the center of the desk.
VICTOR.
He opened it.
Inside was a copy of Isabella’s will.
Not the version Thomas had read after her death.
This document had been signed eleven days before the accident.
Isabella revoked Ethan’s inheritance of the disputed Voss properties.
Instead, those properties were to be transferred into a restitution trust.
Beneficiaries included every living Voss descendant.
Including Helena.
Including Margaret.
Including Evelyn’s children if they were proven to be Alexander Blackwood’s descendants through claims tied to the disputed properties.
Victor stared.
Isabella had already solved the inheritance conflict.
Eleven days before she died.
Lily looked at him.
“If this had been filed…”
“No one needed Ethan dead.”
“Evelyn would have received something through Serena.”
“Helena would have received her share.”
“Margaret too.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Thomas buried it.”
Catherine found the reason in an attached note.
Thomas,
File this immediately.
No more fighting.
Ethan does not need land stained by people hating him.
—Isabella
Victor sat down.
His wife had tried to end the war.
Thomas prevented it.
Why?
They traced the assets.
If Isabella’s new will had been filed, several Blackwood-controlled real estate companies would have lost billions in collateral.
Thomas owned hidden equity in two of them.
His personal fortune would have collapsed.
Victor stared.
Thomas had not killed Isabella merely because Evelyn blackmailed him.
He had a financial motive too.
Every confession Thomas had given contained enough truth to hide another lie.
Victor called prosecutors.
“Re-interview Reed.”
“He is already cooperating.”
“He is still lying.”
“About what?”
“Everything that costs him money.”
At the clinic, Serena listened.
“He always said Mother controlled him.”
Victor looked at her.
“She didn’t.”
“Not completely.”
Victor turned toward Catherine.
“Thomas used Evelyn’s revenge.”
“He used Margaret’s resentment.”
“He used Serena and Damien.”
“And he protected assets worth billions.”
Catherine nodded.
Lily asked.
“Then who was actually in charge?”
Victor looked at Isabella’s will.
“Everyone thought someone else was.”
That was the genius of it.
Evelyn believed she was using Thomas.
Thomas believed he was manipulating Evelyn.
Margaret thought she was pressuring Isabella.
Helena wanted family assets returned.
Serena wanted recognition.
Damien wanted revenge.
Rachel wanted money.
Charles wanted money.
Dr. Ames wanted his family protected.
Each person pushed the conspiracy in a different direction.
Until murder became the easiest shared solution.
Lily looked toward Ethan.
“And he was caught in the middle.”
“Yes.”
Victor took the original will copy.
“Where is the original?”
Serena answered.
“Margaret’s bank vault.”
“Which bank?”
“She never told me.”
Then Catherine noticed a number handwritten behind the envelope.
B-314.
Victor remembered Margaret’s townhouse alarm code.
Her husband’s birthday.
March fourteenth.
Catherine searched property records.
B could mean Beacon.
Margaret owned a storage vault beneath an old private bank near Beacon Hill.
Victor went there.
The vault had been emptied thirty minutes earlier.
Security footage showed Margaret.
Damien beside her.
Helena behind them.
Margaret carried a red leather document case.
Victor watched them enter a black sedan.
Then he noticed Damien’s posture.
He kept one hand inside his coat.
Pointed toward Margaret.
“She isn’t with him willingly.”
Marco nodded.
“Hostage.”
Serena looked at the footage remotely.
“Damien thinks the will destroys his claim.”
Victor frowned.
“It gives him one.”
“Not what Mother promised.”
Serena shook her head.
“He believes he was cheated out of being a Blackwood heir.”
“He wants half the empire.”
Victor almost laughed.
“He is Adrian’s son.”
“He knows.”
Serena looked exhausted.
“He doesn’t care anymore.”
Victor understood.
Damien had spent his life being told someone owed him everything.
Truth had not freed him.
It had only changed the name of the person he blamed.
The sedan was found outside an old Voss family estate in Rhode Island.
Victor recognized the property.
Isabella had spent summers there as a child.
Lily stayed behind with Ethan.
Victor entered with Marco.
The estate looked abandoned.
Inside, voices echoed from the ballroom.
Damien stood beside a fireplace.
Margaret sat in a chair.
Helena stood near the window.
The red document case rested on a table.
Victor entered alone.
Damien smiled.
“There he is.”
Victor looked at Margaret.
She could not meet his eyes.
Then at Helena.
“You called yourself The Widow.”
Helena shook her head.
“Evelyn used my identity.”
Victor frowned.
“She wanted us looking at you.”
“Yes.”
“Why help her at all?”
Helena’s expression hardened.
“Because Isabella’s grandfather did cheat my branch of the family.”
“She knew it.”
“She tried to fix it.”
“After years.”
Victor looked at the red case.
“Give me the will.”
Damien laughed.
“You still think papers matter.”
“They matter enough for you to steal.”
Damien picked up the case.
“If this gets filed, the Blackwoods keep their companies.”
“The Voss family gets properties.”
“And I get what?”
Victor looked at him.
“A chance to stop becoming your mother.”
Damien’s face twisted.
“Don’t.”
“Adrian loved you.”
“You knew him for an hour.”
“He died trying to tell you the truth.”
Damien raised his gun.
“Shut up.”
Victor saw Adrian in him now.
Same eyes.
Same jaw.
A son raised to hate the only father who had tried to save him.
Victor continued.
“Evelyn put Adrian in that wheelchair.”
“She told you Alexander did.”
“Shut up.”
“She lied because hatred made you easier to control.”
Damien fired.
The bullet struck the wall beside Victor.
Margaret screamed.
Marco’s team prepared outside.
Victor did not move.
Damien’s hand shook.
“Why didn’t he come for me?”
“He tried.”
“No.”
“He tried to take you away from Evelyn.”
“That’s when she caused his accident.”
Damien’s face broke.
Helena looked at him.
“Damien…”
He turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Helena said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Damien stared.
“You knew.”
Helena whispered.
“Evelyn said it was necessary.”
Damien laughed.
A terrible sound.
“Everyone knew except me.”
Margaret stood slowly.
“Put down the gun.”
Damien pointed it toward her.
“You helped too.”
Margaret stopped.
“You let Isabella die.”
Her face collapsed.
“Yes.”
Victor looked at her.
Margaret began crying.
“I knew they were going to sabotage the car.”
“I thought she would be frightened.”
“I thought she would come home to us.”
“You keep saying that.”
Victor’s voice was quiet.
“She was already home.”
Margaret looked at him.
“She chose you.”
“She chose Ethan.”
“She chose peace.”
“And none of you could tolerate that choice.”
Margaret lowered her head.
Damien grabbed the red case.
“No more speeches.”
He pulled a lighter.
Victor’s expression changed.
“If you burn that, Isabella’s final will disappears.”
“That’s the point.”
Damien lit the corner.
Helena lunged.
“No.”
Damien shoved her.
Victor moved.
The burning case hit the carpet.
Marco’s team entered.
Damien fired twice.
Helena fell.
Margaret screamed.
Victor kicked the gun away.
Damien ran toward the balcony.
Victor followed.
They fought near the railing.
Damien swung wildly.
Victor blocked him.
“You think you deserve everything.”
Damien punched him.
Victor staggered.
“You had everything.”
Damien shouted.
“You had the name.”
“The father.”
“The power.”
Victor hit him back.
“And none of it made my father good.”
Damien froze.
Victor grabbed his coat.
“You spent your life chasing a name that poisoned everyone who carried it.”
Sirens grew closer.
Damien looked toward the dark water below.
Then back at Victor.
“For what?”
Victor released him.
“That is the question you should have asked thirty years ago.”
Damien suddenly smiled.
“You still don’t know.”
Victor narrowed his eyes.
“Know what?”
Damien looked toward the burning document case inside.
“Isabella made two originals.”
Victor froze.
“One with Margaret.”
“And one with someone else.”
“Who?”
Damien laughed.
“The nanny.”
Victor’s face changed.
“What?”
Damien jumped over the railing.
He hit the water below.
Security rushed to the edge.
Victor stared.
Then his phone rang.
Lily.
He answered immediately.
Her voice was shaking.
“Victor.”
“What happened?”
“I found something inside Pearl.”
Victor frowned.
“Who is Pearl?”
“The stuffed elephant Isabella left for Ethan.”
Victor remembered it.
A toy sealed in a memory box.
Lily had opened the box after returning from the ruined coastal house.
She continued.
“There’s a document sewn inside.”
Victor stopped breathing.
“What document?”
Lily whispered.
May you like
“Isabella’s will.”
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