Chapter 6 - THE BLACKWOOD DINNER
Conrad Blackwood believed in appearances.
That was why Victor invited him to dinner.
Not to an office.
Not to a courtroom.
To Blackwood Manor.
The same house where Conrad had spent decades pretending the family was untouchable.
Victor invited the entire Blackwood board.
Eleanor.
Senior attorneys.
Several family members.
He even arranged for Noah to remain safely elsewhere with Lily and armed security.
Conrad arrived at seven.
He wore a dark tuxedo and carried a bottle of wine.
“My dear Victor.”
He embraced him.
Victor forced himself not to react.
“I heard about Serena. Terrible business.”
“Terrible.”
Conrad shook his head.
“Some women are excellent actresses.”
Victor looked at him.
“Apparently.”
Alexander entered ten minutes later.
That surprised Conrad.
Victor watched the older man's expression change.
Alexander smiled coldly.
“Uncle.”
Conrad recovered quickly.
“What are you doing here?”
Victor answered.
“I invited him.”
Alexander had surrendered voluntarily that afternoon after Daniel contacted him.
Not because he had become honorable.
Because he realized Conrad was preparing to blame everything on him.
Victor had offered protection in exchange for testimony.
Dinner began.
Nobody ate much.
Conrad remained charming.
He discussed markets.
Charity.
The upcoming board vote.
Finally he raised his glass.
“To family.”
Victor almost laughed.
Instead, he stood.
“Yes.”
Everyone looked at him.
“To family.”
Daniel closed the dining-room doors.
Conrad's smile faded.
Victor placed the voice recorder on the table.
Serena's recording played.
Then the greenhouse footage.
Then footage showing Serena meeting Alexander.
Conrad remained calm.
“I fail to see what this has to do with me.”
Alexander leaned back.
“Should I tell him?”
Conrad looked at him.
“Be careful.”
Alexander smiled.
“You said that when you sent me into Victor's house.”
Murmurs filled the room.
Victor looked at Conrad.
“You used Alexander to recover evidence.”
“Absurd.”
Alexander placed his phone on the table.
Messages appeared on the large television.
Instructions from Conrad.
ENTER THROUGH EAST SERVICE DOOR.
SERENA WILL DISABLE CAMERAS.
REMOVE ANY RECORDINGS FROM EMILY'S STUDY.
Victor watched Conrad.
For the first time, the old man's confidence cracked.
“You can fabricate messages.”
“True,” Daniel said. “Which is why we obtained the carrier records.”
Conrad looked toward the exits.
Security stood there.
Victor placed another folder on the table.
“Dr. Creed's financial records.”
Silence.
Another folder.
“Emily's original medication logs.”
Conrad stopped blinking.
Another.
“Sebastian Blackwood's sealed inheritance petition.”
Eleanor looked down.
Then Victor placed the DNA test at the center.
“Noah's genetic report.”
Conrad finally spoke.
“You had no right.”
Victor smiled faintly.
“No right?”
“That child's genetic information belongs to the family.”
The sentence revealed more than Conrad intended.
Victor leaned closer.
“You knew.”
Conrad said nothing.
“You knew Noah was Thomas Bennett's biological son.”
Still silence.
“Which means you knew Thomas existed.”
Conrad's expression hardened.
“Thomas is an opportunist.”
“He has never requested a dollar.”
“Because he knows lawsuits attract attention.”
“His father asked for medical assistance.”
Conrad scoffed.
“Sebastian made his choices.”
“He chose love.”
“He chose disgrace.”
The room went quiet.
Victor looked around the table.
“This is the man who has been protecting our family legacy.”
Conrad stood.
“You think you're morally superior because you inherited everything without having to fight for it?”
Victor remained calm.
“No.”
“You have no idea what your father and I built.”
“You mean stole.”
Conrad's face changed.
Victor continued.
“Sebastian never signed away his inheritance.”
Several relatives gasped.
Conrad turned toward Eleanor.
“You told him?”
“No.”
Victor lifted the original forensic report.
“The signature was forged.”
Conrad laughed.
“Even if that were true, the statute—”
“Fraudulent trust administration has different consequences.”
The family's senior attorney looked disturbed.
Conrad realized he was losing the room.
Then he made his mistake.
He looked directly at Victor.
“You should be thanking me.”
Victor stared.
“For what?”
“For protecting you from humiliation.”
“What humiliation?”
“Raising another man's child.”
Victor's expression went cold.
“You think Noah humiliates me?”
Conrad shrugged.
“He isn't yours.”
Victor slowly walked around the table.
“He calls me Daddy.”
Conrad said nothing.
“I held him the first night he couldn't sleep.”
Victor came closer.
“I sat beside him when he had pneumonia.”
Another step.
“I know which song makes him laugh and which stuffed animal he refuses to sleep without.”
Victor stopped directly in front of him.
“You understand money, Conrad. You understand ownership.”
His voice dropped.
“But you don't understand fatherhood.”
Conrad's face tightened.
“Sentimentality doesn't change blood.”
“No.”
Victor looked toward Thomas, who entered from the adjoining room.
“But blood changes your company.”
Conrad went white.
Thomas walked slowly to the table.
Victor had deliberately kept him hidden until now.
Conrad stared as if seeing a ghost.
“You.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Hello, Uncle Conrad.”
Conrad backed away.
“This is nonsense.”
Thomas placed Sebastian's original birth records and DNA results on the table.
The lawyers began examining them.
Conrad looked toward Alexander.
“You fool.”
Alexander smiled.
“You were going to sacrifice me.”
“You deserved worse.”
Alexander's smile disappeared.
Victor noticed something.
“Worse?”
Alexander stood.
“What does that mean?”
Conrad said nothing.
Victor looked at Alexander.
“What haven't you told me?”
Alexander hesitated.
Then he reached into his jacket.
Security immediately reacted.
“Easy.”
He removed a small envelope.
“I found this in Conrad's safe three years ago.”
Inside was a photograph.
Victor stared.
Emily stood outside the fertility clinic.
Beside her was Thomas.
Across the street, partially visible in a parked car, was Serena.
On the back, handwritten:
PHASE TWO - IF EMILY TALKS, USE SERENA.
Victor looked up.
Serena had been selected long before Emily died.
Conrad hadn't merely taken advantage of Victor's grieving vulnerability.
He had engineered Serena's entrance into his life.
Victor remembered meeting her at a charity auction six months after Emily's death.
Too perfect.
Too accidental.
It hadn't been accidental at all.
“You placed Serena near me.”
Conrad stayed silent.
“To marry me.”
Nothing.
“Why?”
Thomas answered.
“Because marriage would give her access to the trust.”
Victor looked at the revised documents Serena had photographed.
Then he understood.
After marriage, Serena intended to persuade Victor to amend Noah's inheritance provisions.
If Victor died afterward…
Everything could move away from Noah.
Victor looked back at Conrad.
“You weren't protecting my inheritance.”
Conrad's eyes turned cold.
“You were preparing to take it.”
Conrad smiled.
May you like
And for the first time, he stopped pretending.
“You finally understand.”
