Chapter 4 - THE DEAD WOMAN’S KEY
Lily drove her elbow backward.
The attacker grunted.
His hand slipped from her mouth.
She turned and caught only a glimpse of a dark hood before he shoved her toward the crib.
Lily struck the wooden railing with her hip.
Pain shot through her abdomen.
Ethan woke and began crying.
The attacker reached for him.
Lily threw herself between them.
“No.”
Her voice came out low and fierce.
The man seized her shoulder.
She grabbed the metal lamp from the bedside table and swung it.
The lamp struck his forearm.
He recoiled.
Lily screamed.
“Victor!”
Footsteps thundered through the corridor.
The attacker ran toward the service door hidden behind the nursery curtains.
Lily lunged and caught the back of his jacket.
The fabric tore.
A small metal object fell onto the floor.
The attacker disappeared through the passage.
Victor entered seconds later with Dominic and two guards.
He saw Lily beside the crib.
He saw Ethan crying.
Then he saw the open service door.
“Where?”
Lily pointed.
“Behind the wall.”
Dominic ordered the guards inside.
Victor crossed to Ethan and lifted him carefully.
The baby clung to his shirt.
“What happened?”
“Someone was waiting in the room.”
“He tried to reach Ethan.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No.”
“He wore gloves and a hood.”
Lily looked at the floor.
“He dropped something.”
Dominic picked it up with a handkerchief.
It was a cuff link.
Black enamel.
Silver border.
A carved raven in the center.
Victor recognized it.
The cuff links had belonged to his father.
After the old man’s death, Victor and Adrian each received one pair.
Victor’s set remained locked in his office safe.
Adrian wore his at formal family gatherings.
Dominic looked toward Victor.
“Adrian.”
Victor did not answer.
The guards returned from the passage.
“It leads to the west staircase.”
“The exterior service door is open.”
“No one on the grounds saw him.”
Dominic spoke into his radio.
“Seal the estate.”
“Search every vehicle.”
“Use thermal cameras in the woods.”
Victor turned to Lily.
“You are coming downstairs.”
“I’m not leaving Ethan.”
“He comes with us.”
They moved to the reinforced safe room beneath Victor’s office.
The room had its own ventilation system, medical supplies, and independent communications.
Victor placed Ethan in a portable crib.
The baby refused to release Lily’s finger.
She remained beside him.
Dominic examined the cuff link beneath a light.
“The clasp is damaged.”
“It may have torn loose when Lily grabbed him.”
Victor looked at the fragment of jacket fabric in her hand.
“Send both to the lab.”
“DNA.”
“Fibers.”
“Everything.”
Dominic nodded.
Victor turned toward him.
“How did Adrian leave the guest room?”
“There is a concealed panel behind the fireplace.”
Victor’s stare hardened.
“I did not know about it.”
“Neither did I.”
The mansion had been built by Victor’s grandfather during Prohibition.
It contained tunnels, hidden rooms, and service corridors designed for people who did not want to be seen.
Victor knew most of them.
Adrian had spent his childhood exploring every wall.
“He planned for the lockdown,” Victor said.
Dominic looked uncomfortable.
“Or someone knew enough to imitate him.”
Victor picked up a secure phone.
“Bring Serena here.”
Dominic hesitated.
“Into the safe room?”
“No.”
“To my office.”
Serena arrived under guard.
She had changed from the ivory dress into a cream silk robe.
Her hair remained perfectly arranged.
She looked irritated rather than frightened.
Victor stood behind his desk.
The cuff link rested between them inside a clear bag.
Serena looked at it.
“Adrian’s.”
“You recognize it.”
“He wears them.”
“He disappeared.”
“That is not my problem.”
“Someone entered the nursery.”
For the first time, genuine alarm crossed her face.
“What happened to Ethan?”
Victor watched her carefully.
“He is alive.”
Serena exhaled.
It could have been relief.
It could have been disappointment.
Lily stood near the office door.
Serena noticed her.
“You survived again.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Serena recovered quickly.
“I mean after the attack.”
“How did you know Lily was attacked?”
Serena stared at him.
“The guards brought me here.”
“They said there was an intruder.”
“They did not mention Lily.”
Serena folded her arms.
“Who else would an intruder attack?”
“My son.”
“Your brother.”
“Me.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Yet you knew it was Lily.”
She looked toward Dominic.
“He must have said something.”
Dominic remained silent.
Serena’s expression hardened.
“You are trying to trap me.”
“No.”
“You continue walking into traps by yourself.”
Victor placed Amelia’s necklace beside the cuff link.
“What does the key open?”
“I told you.”
“I do not know.”
“You knew Amelia was wearing the necklace when she died.”
“I saw it often.”
“You said you had never seen it.”
“I was confused.”
“You also knew Detective Mercer investigated the crash.”
“Everyone knows that.”
“No one outside my family knows that.”
Serena laughed.
“You think you control information in Chicago?”
“I think you are afraid of the number engraved on that key.”
Her gaze flicked toward the brass key.
Victor saw it.
“Four-seventeen,” he said.
Serena’s face remained still.
“Union Continental Bank.”
Her fingers tightened around the edge of her robe.
Victor continued.
“Amelia opened the vault six days before she died.”
“She listed Lily as co-owner.”
Serena looked toward the nanny.
The hatred in her eyes was immediate and unhidden.
“She was not supposed to be here yet.”
The room fell silent.
Victor took one step forward.
“What did you say?”
Serena realized her mistake.
“I said she was not here when Amelia opened it.”
“That is not what you said.”
Serena turned toward Lily.
“You have been lying since the moment you entered this family.”
“I didn’t know Mrs. Blackwood.”
“You expect anyone to believe that?”
Lily looked at Victor.
“I’m telling the truth.”
Victor believed her fear.
He also believed Serena had just revealed that Lily’s arrival had been anticipated.
“Who was supposed to be here?” he asked.
Serena did not answer.
Victor’s phone rang.
The bank manager had arrived at Union Continental.
Victor ordered three armored vehicles prepared.
Serena looked toward the window.
“You are going now?”
“Yes.”
“That vault could be a trap.”
“Then you know more than you claim.”
“I know Amelia.”
“You knew her for four months.”
“I knew she hated your family.”
Victor’s face changed.
Serena saw it and pushed harder.
“She was preparing to leave you.”
“She opened accounts.”
“She contacted attorneys.”
“She was going to take Ethan.”
Victor had discovered some of those facts after the crash.
Amelia had consulted a family-law attorney.
She had transferred money.
He had assumed she feared his enemies.
Now Serena used those truths like weapons.
“She was afraid,” Victor said.
“Of you.”
“Of this house.”
“Of the life you gave her.”
Lily watched Victor absorb the words.
She saw grief beneath his anger.
Serena saw it too.
Her voice softened.
“I loved you when she never could.”
“You came to me when I was broken.”
“I helped you raise her child.”
Victor looked toward Lily.
“No.”
“You helped isolate him.”
“That is her story.”
“The sedative was in your room.”
“It was planted.”
“Amelia’s necklace was in your safe.”
“Planted.”
“The cameras were disabled.”
“Not by me.”
“You threatened Lily on a recording.”
Serena went still.
Victor played the audio.
Her own voice filled the office.
Victor already lost one woman.
Do you think he will tear Chicago apart over a nanny?
Serena’s face paled.
Victor stopped the recording.
“What happened to Amelia?”
Serena looked at him for a long moment.
Then she smiled faintly.
It was not the smile she used at galas.
It was smaller.
Crueler.
“You should ask your brother.”
Before Victor could respond, the office windows shook.
A distant explosion rolled across the estate.
Dominic’s radio erupted with voices.
“Vehicle fire at the south gate.”
“Possible breach.”
Victor turned toward the door.
Serena moved suddenly.
She grabbed a letter opener from the desk and lunged toward Lily.
Victor caught her wrist before the blade reached its target.
He twisted the weapon away and forced Serena against the desk.
Her composure shattered.
“She cannot open that vault.”
“Do you hear me?”
“She cannot open it.”
Victor stared at her.
“What is inside?”
Serena struggled against his grip.
“She will destroy everything.”
Dominic took her from Victor and restrained her.
Victor looked at Lily.
The fear in Serena’s voice had answered the question.
Whatever Amelia left behind could expose more than abuse.
It could expose the reason she died.
An hour later, Victor, Lily, Dominic, and four guards entered Union Continental through a private underground entrance.
The bank manager led them past two steel doors into the vault corridor.
Box 417 was larger than expected.
It required two keys.
The bank held one.
Lily inserted Amelia’s brass key into the second lock.
Her hand trembled.
Victor stood beside her.
“Open it.”
The lock turned.
Inside the vault was a black document case.
A sealed envelope rested on top.
LILY HART was written across it in Amelia’s handwriting.
Lily stared at the name.
Victor opened the envelope carefully.
The letter began with one sentence.
If Lily is reading this, then Serena has reached Ethan, and Victor still does not know the truth.
Beneath the letter was a flash drive.
A ledger.
A second key.
And a photograph of Serena kissing Adrian outside a hotel.
The photograph had been taken three weeks before Amelia died.
On the back, Amelia had written another message.
May you like
They are not trying to enter the Blackwood family.
They are trying to inherit it.
