Chapter 3 - THE MESSAGE FROM A DEAD WOMAN -Adrian read the email three times.
Claire’s account had not been accessed since the week she died.
The server record showed that the message had been scheduled for delivery years earlier.
A hidden trigger had released it after someone opened the folder containing her medical records.
Claire had built a warning system.
She had known someone might eventually search for the truth.
Marcus began tracing the email.
Adrian ordered the estate gates sealed.
“No one leaves.”
“No one enters without my approval.”
Lily sat beside Ethan on the edge of her bed.
The boy’s wrist was swelling.
Adrian called the family doctor, but Ethan panicked when Marcus approached.
“No hospitals.”
He pressed himself against Lily.
“Vanessa said doctors can make children sleep forever.”
Adrian’s face tightened.
Lily gently lifted Ethan’s chin.
“Your father won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Ethan looked at Adrian uncertainly.
The distrust wounded him.
Adrian had spent years building a billion-dollar corporation.
He had negotiated with hostile investors, politicians, and competitors.
Yet he had failed to notice that his own son was living in fear.
He knelt near the bed.
“I should have been here.”
Ethan stared at him.
“I’m sorry.”
The boy’s lower lip trembled.
“Are you going away again?”
“No.”
Adrian glanced at Lily.
“Not until I know you’re safe.”
The doctor arrived through a guarded entrance.
X-rays revealed that Ethan’s wrist was badly sprained but not broken.
There were older bruises along his arms.
Some were yellow and fading.
Others were recent.
The doctor documented everything.
Adrian stood in the hallway while the examination continued.
His hands shook.
“How long has this been happening?”
Lily joined him.
“I noticed changes about six weeks ago.”
“He stopped eating breakfast.”
“He began hiding food in his room.”
“He cried whenever Vanessa’s car entered the driveway.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“You were in Singapore.”
“I sent three messages.”
Adrian remembered receiving them.
Vanessa had told him Lily was exaggerating because she disliked the upcoming wedding.
He had forwarded the messages to his assistant and asked the household manager to investigate.
The household manager had reported no evidence of mistreatment.
Adrian suddenly looked toward the lower floor.
“Where is Mr. Hale?”
Thomas Hale had managed Blackwood Manor for twelve years.
He had access to every room, every security record, and every staff report.
Marcus checked his radio.
No one had seen Hale since the alarm.
Security officers searched his office.
The desk drawers were empty.
His computer had been destroyed with a heavy object.
Behind a framed photograph, they found a hidden safe.
Inside were stacks of cash, duplicate access cards, and copies of Adrian’s private travel schedule.
There was also a photograph of Vanessa kissing Julian Blackwood outside a hotel.
Lily studied it.
“They were together before she met you.”
Adrian’s humiliation sharpened into anger.
Vanessa had entered his life at a charity event eighteen months earlier.
She had appeared compassionate and patient.
She had told him she understood grief because she had lost her sister.
She had spent months earning Ethan’s trust.
Then, slowly, Adrian had begun traveling more frequently.
Vanessa had volunteered to supervise the manor.
The pattern was too precise to be accidental.
Marcus opened Hale’s bank records.
Several deposits had been made by a consulting company registered in Switzerland.
The company was linked to Julian.
Adrian turned toward the windows.
Dark clouds covered the grounds.
“They placed Vanessa inside this house.”
Lily nodded.
“They wanted access to Ethan.”
“But why hurt him?”
Adrian knew the answer before he spoke.
“Control.”
Under the Blackwood family trust, Ethan would inherit Adrian’s voting shares if Adrian died or became incapacitated.
Until Ethan reached twenty-one, his legal guardian would control those shares.
Once Vanessa married Adrian, she could petition to become Ethan’s guardian.
If Adrian suffered a fatal accident, Vanessa and Julian could take Blackwood Industries.
The same way someone might have taken Claire out of the way.
A call came through the manor’s private line.
Marcus answered.
Thomas Hale was on the other end.
His voice shook.
“Mr. Blackwood, I can explain everything.”
“Where are you?”
“I need protection.”
“From whom?”
“Your brother.”
A loud noise sounded behind Hale.
He breathed faster.
“Julian knows Claire survived the crash.”
Adrian gripped the phone.
“What did you say?”
“She was alive when they pulled her from the car.”
“They moved her before the police arrived.”
“Where?”
“The hospital on the map.”
Adrian’s knees nearly weakened.
Claire might have survived.
Hale continued.
“I helped them erase the records.”
“I thought she died afterward.”
“Then, last month, I received a photograph.”
“She was standing near the lake.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Adrian forced himself to speak.
“Send me the photograph.”
“I can’t.”
“They took my phone.”
“Hale, tell me where you are.”
“I’m at the old greenhouse near the north road.”
“I’ll tell you everything.”
“But don’t bring the police.”
The line went dead.
Marcus organized a security team.
Adrian insisted on going.
Lily remained with Ethan in the medical room.
Before Adrian left, she caught his sleeve.
“This could be a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t go alone.”
Adrian looked toward Ethan.
The boy had finally fallen asleep.
“I already left my family alone for too long.”
“I won’t make that mistake again.”
Adrian and Marcus drove toward the greenhouse with four guards.
The abandoned structure stood behind a wall of dead vines.
Its glass roof was cracked.
The door hung open.
Inside, they found Thomas Hale tied to a chair.
His face was bruised.
A thin wire ran from his wrist to a device beneath the table.
Marcus raised one hand.
“Don’t move.”
Hale’s eyes widened.
“It’s not for me.”
Adrian looked down.
The device was connected to the manor’s central gas system.
A digital timer counted backward.
Nine minutes remained.
Hale whispered through split lips.
“They knew you would come here.”
“They wanted the house unprotected.”
Adrian grabbed his phone.
There was no signal.
Marcus tried his radio.
Only static answered.
Hale began sobbing.
“Julian is already inside the manor.”
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Back at the house, Lily woke to the sound of Ethan’s bedroom door locking from the outside.
Then someone slowly turned off the lights.
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