Chapter 5: The Face Behind Blackthorn
Chapter 5: The Face Behind Blackthorn
For several seconds, I couldn’t move.
The photograph on the table blurred in front of my eyes.
Not because I couldn’t see it.
Because my mind refused to accept what I was seeing.
The person in the picture was smiling.
A familiar smile.
A smile I had seen countless times.
A smile I had trusted.
A smile that had never once made me suspicious.
“Impossible,” I whispered.
My father said nothing.
He didn’t need to.
The silence itself was an answer.
I slowly picked up the photograph.
My fingers trembled.
The person staring back at me was someone I had known almost my entire adult life.
Someone who had attended my wedding.
Someone who had comforted me when Nathan first became distant.
Someone who had listened while I cried.
Someone who knew every weakness I had.
Because I had trusted her.
“Why?” I finally asked.
My father’s expression became heavy.
“Because sometimes the most dangerous people are not the ones standing against you.”
He looked at the photograph.
“They are the ones standing beside you.”
I placed the picture back on the desk.
“No.”
My voice was quiet.
“But that doesn’t make sense.”
I looked at him.
“She helped me.”
“Did she?”
The question hit harder than I expected.
Because suddenly, memories started returning.
Small moments.
Things I ignored.
Things that seemed harmless at the time.
The way she always asked questions about my marriage.
The way she wanted to know where Nathan was.
The way she encouraged me to forgive him.
The way she always appeared whenever something went wrong.
I had believed she cared.
But what if she was collecting information?
What if she had been watching?
My father opened another file.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Financial records.
Messages.
“This investigation started three years ago.”
My eyes widened.
“Three years?”
He nodded.
“Before Nathan became openly abusive.”
I looked at him.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
My father looked away.
“Because I wanted to protect you.”
I felt anger rising.
“Protect me?”
My voice cracked.
“You let me stay with him.”
“I watched you suffer.”
“I watched him destroy me.”
My father closed his eyes.
“I know.”
For the first time, I saw the guilt on his face.
Not the guilt of a powerful man.
The guilt of a father.
“I thought I could control the situation.”
He looked at me.
“I was wrong.”
The room became silent.
I had spent months believing I was fighting Nathan alone.
But now I realized there had been an entire world hidden behind my marriage.
A world of secrets.
Power.
And betrayal.
I looked back at the photograph.
“Who is she working for?”
My father hesitated.
That hesitation scared me more than any answer.
“Dad.”
Finally, he spoke.
“Her name is Victoria Ashford.”
I froze.
“Ashford?”
He nodded.
“She is not just someone close to Nathan.”
“She is family.”
My stomach tightened.
“Nathan’s family?”
“Yes.”
My father pushed another document toward me.
“Nathan was never the true mastermind.”
I scanned the pages.
A series of financial transfers.
Company records.
Hidden agreements.
At the bottom of the documents was a signature.
Victoria Ashford.
“She controlled the money?”
“She controlled the strategy.”
My father pointed at the papers.
“Nathan was the public face.”
“Victoria was the architect.”
I thought about Nathan.
His arrogance.
His confidence.
His belief that he was always in control.
Then I realized something terrifying.
Nathan wasn’t the mastermind.
He was a weapon.
And someone else had been holding him.
That evening, I returned to Blackthorn Manor.
The police had cleared the house.
Nathan was gone.
Celeste was under investigation.
But the mansion felt different.
Like it was waiting.
I walked through the grand hall slowly.
The same place where Nathan had tried to break me.
The same place where he believed he had won.
But now I saw something else.
A battlefield.
A place where the first attack had happened.
And where the real war was about to begin.
My phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
But something made me answer.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice came through.
Calm.
Elegant.
Familiar.
“Evelyn.”
My blood went cold.
Because I knew that voice.
Victoria.
“You finally found the file,” she said.
I didn’t speak.
“How long did you think you could hide from the truth?”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“You knew?”
A soft laugh.
“Of course I knew.”
The confidence in her voice was terrifying.
“You think your father discovered my secrets?”
A pause.
“He only discovered the parts I wanted him to see.”
My heart sank.
“What do you want?”
Her voice became colder.
“The same thing I wanted from the beginning.”
Silence.
“Your family’s empire.”
I stared into the darkness of the empty mansion.
“You destroyed my marriage for money?”
“No.”
Her answer came instantly.
“I destroyed your marriage because Nathan was becoming useless.”
A chill ran through me.
“Useless?”
“Yes.”
She laughed softly.
“He was too emotional.”
“Too arrogant.”
“Too easy to control.”
I closed my eyes.
“So you used him.”
“Yes.”
The honesty shocked me.
“And now?”
A pause.
“Now I use you.”
The call ended.
I stood frozen.
Because I finally understood.
Nathan’s downfall was not the end of the story.
It was the beginning.
Someone much more dangerous had been watching from the shadows.
And she wasn’t trying to destroy me.
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She was trying to take everything my family owned.
To be continued...
