Chapter 2 — The Alliance Against Her

By morning, the Blackwood family had already formed an alliance.

Adrian, Eleanor, and two uncles met secretly with the company’s senior executives.

Their plan was simple.

They would declare Victoria incapable of managing the company.

Then they would challenge the will in court.

But there was one problem.

Victoria had inherited more than money.

She had inherited voting control.

Without her signature, they could not take control of Blackwood Holdings.

So they changed their strategy.

They needed her to trust them.

At breakfast, Adrian approached her.

“We’re family,” he said. “We should solve this together.”

Victoria almost smiled.

Yesterday, he had called her inheritance a mistake.

Today, he called her family.

“I don’t need your help.”

Adrian’s face hardened.

“You don’t understand what you’re dealing with.”

“Then perhaps you should explain.”

He leaned closer.

“Grandfather didn’t leave you the company because he loved you.”

Victoria stared at him.

“He left it because he knew you could be controlled.”

That sentence stayed in her mind.

Later that afternoon, Victoria met Daniel Mercer privately.

“Tell me about my father.”

The lawyer hesitated.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because your grandfather instructed me to reveal the truth only after you accepted the inheritance.”

Victoria froze.

“I accepted it yesterday.”

Mercer nodded.

Then he gave her another envelope.

Inside was a bank record.

Twenty-two years earlier, shortly before her father’s supposed death, a large amount of money had been transferred from Blackwood Holdings to an offshore account.

The recipient?

Sebastian’s father.

Victoria’s hands went cold.

“My father wasn’t killed in an accident, was he?”

Mercer looked away.

“We don’t know what happened.”

“But my grandfather did.”

“Yes.”

“And Sebastian knows.”

Mercer remained silent.

That was answer enough.

That evening, Victoria confronted her fiancé.

“Did you know my father?”

Sebastian didn’t move.

“Victoria…”

“Did you know?”

He closed his eyes.

“My father knew him.”

“Did you?”

“Not personally.”

“Then why was your father’s name in my grandfather’s photograph?”

Sebastian said nothing.

Victoria stepped closer.

“Tell me the truth.”

Finally, he whispered:

“Your grandfather destroyed my family.”

Victoria stared at him.

“What?”

“My father lost everything after your grandfather accused him of stealing company funds. He spent years trying to prove he was innocent.”

“And the money?”

“He didn’t steal it.”

“Then who did?”

Sebastian looked directly into her eyes.

“Your father.”

Victoria felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.

“No.”

“Your father discovered that your grandfather was using the company to hide illegal transactions. He tried to expose him.”

“Then why did he disappear?”

“Because someone made sure he couldn’t speak.”

Victoria’s mind raced.

“My grandfather?”

Sebastian nodded.

But something didn’t feel right.

She remembered the letter.

Your father never died in the accident you were told about.

Not your father was killed.

Never died.

The distinction suddenly mattered.

That night, Victoria secretly followed Sebastian.

He drove to an abandoned warehouse outside the city.

Inside, she saw him meeting Adrian.

Victoria hid behind a concrete pillar.

Adrian handed Sebastian a folder.

“So we’re agreed?” Adrian asked.

Sebastian nodded.

“Once Victoria signs the transfer papers, she loses control.”

Victoria’s heart sank.

Adrian continued.

“And you get the company?”

“Not all of it,” Sebastian replied. “Just the division I was promised.”

Victoria covered her mouth.

Her fiancé had been working with her brother.

But then Sebastian said something that made her stop.

“I never intended to marry her for the inheritance.”

Adrian laughed.

“Then why marry her?”

Sebastian looked toward the dark warehouse.

“Because I need to find out where her grandfather hid the evidence.”

Victoria’s blood ran cold.

Evidence.

There was something more important than the company.

Something powerful enough to destroy both families.

She quietly stepped backward.

A loose piece of metal fell to the floor.

Clang.

Both men turned.

“Who’s there?”

Victoria ran.

She reached her car just as footsteps echoed behind her.

She drove away without looking back.

But she didn’t notice the figure standing across the road.

An older man watched her disappear into the night.

He lowered his newspaper.

His face was pale.

His eyes were unmistakable.

Victoria’s father.

Alive.