Chapter 4 - SHADOWS OF THE ESTATE
The storm outside Blackwood Manor intensified as the last police cruiser disappeared down the long, winding drive, its flashing red and blue lights swallowed by the dense pine forest.
Inside, the grand hall was silent once again, save for the hum of the central heating and the distant tap of rain against the high stained-glass windows.
Lily stood in the center of the vast room, holding Maya close to her side. The little girl had finally stopped crying, her head resting against Lily’s hip, her thumb tucked securely into her mouth—a childhood habit she hadn't displayed since she was three years old.
Marcus walked back from the front doors, locking the heavy brass deadbolts with a deliberate, heavy clack. He wiped a smear of James’s blood from his knuckles using a clean white handkerchief, his face grim under the chandeliers.
"The police captain said the preliminary hearing will be set for Thursday in Oslo," Marcus said, his voice deep and weary. "They have enough from the server logs to hold him without bail."
Lily didn't look at him immediately. Her eyes were fixed on the dark hallway leading toward the east wing of the manor—the private wing where James had kept his private office locked behind an electronic keypad for three years.
"He was talking about the second account, Marcus," Lily said, her tone flat, devoid of the triumph one might expect after such a victory.
Marcus paused, folding his handkerchief. "What second account?"
"Before he was arrested, he looked at you and asked if I thought you were going to let me keep her," Lily said, turning her dark eyes to meet Marcus's gaze. "He wasn't talking about Maya's trust fund. He was talking about the agreement you signed with him six months before the Geneva fire."
Marcus's expression didn't change, but his jaw tightened, the muscles along his neck hardening into rigid cords.
"Lily, this isn't the time—"
"I know what you did, Marcus," Lily interrupted, her voice dropping into a razor-thin whisper so as not to startle the child at her side. "I know why you helped me fake my death in Switzerland. It wasn't to save me from James. It was because James had proof of your involvement in the shipping fraud at the Gothenburg docks."
Maya stirred, looking up at the two adults with wide, tired eyes. "Mommy? Are we going home now?"
Lily looked down at her daughter, her soft smile returning like a mask being carefully adjusted back into place. "Soon, my love. Just a few more minutes while Uncle Marcus and I finish packing your things."
She looked back up at Marcus, her eyes cold, calculating, and completely dangerous.
"We are going to go upstairs, Marcus," Lily said quietly. "And you are going to open James's safe in the east wing. And whatever documents are inside that safe... we are going to burn them together in the fireplace."
May you like
Marcus stared at her for three long seconds, realizing that the woman standing before him was no longer the fragile heiress he had helped escape three years ago. She was the sole remaining master of Blackwood Manor.
"Lead the way," Marcus said softly.
