Chapter 13 - RICHARD BLACKWOOD FINALLY STEPPED OUT OF THE GRAVEHangar Three smelled like dust and old fuel.
Evelyn entered first.
Her body hurt.
Every step pulled at the fresh surgical incision beneath her clothes.
She kept going.
“Thomas?”
Lights flickered on.
Her son lay sleeping in a portable bassinet.
Evelyn rushed forward.
Thomas stepped from behind an aircraft wing.
“No closer.”
She froze.
“My baby.”
“He is unharmed.”
“Give him to me.”
“In a moment.”
Victor and Garrett entered behind her.
Thomas looked at Victor.
“You got old.”
Victor’s hand hovered near his jacket.
“So did you.”
Then another man emerged.
Garrett stopped moving.
Richard Blackwood.
Silver hair.
Scar beside his mouth.
Black suit.
Gold ring with a dark stone.
Garrett whispered:
“Dad?”
Richard looked at him.
No warmth.
No shock.
“Hello, Garrett.”
Garrett’s face collapsed.
“You’re alive.”
“Obviously.”
“You let me bury you.”
“It was necessary.”
“For seven years?”
“Yes.”
Garrett laughed painfully.
“You sound like everyone else.”
Richard’s eyes moved toward Evelyn.
Charles Mercer’s adopted daughter.
Victor Hale’s biological daughter.
The woman who now controlled Mercer Holdings.
“You look like Anna.”
Evelyn hated him instantly.
“Don’t say her name.”
Richard smiled.
“You have her temper too.”
“Did you kill her?”
“No.”
“Did Eleanor?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Complications after childbirth.”
Victor’s voice became dangerous.
“You hunted her.”
Richard looked at him.
“She stole documents.”
“She was terrified of you.”
“She should have been.”
Victor took one step.
Thomas moved between them.
“Not yet.”
Evelyn pointed toward her son.
“What do you want?”
Richard smiled.
“The trust.”
“You can’t have it.”
“I don’t need ownership.”
“Then what?”
“The archive.”
“Why?”
“To destroy it.”
Garrett laughed.
“So that’s what all of this was.”
Richard looked at him with irritation.
“You were supposed to secure it quietly.”
Garrett stared.
“What?”
“Your mother became impatient.”
“My mother?”
“Eleanor was useful but emotional.”
Evelyn almost laughed at the irony.
Garrett looked sick.
“You told her to make me marry Evelyn?”
“I told her to place someone close to Evelyn.”
“You used me.”
Richard shrugged.
“You benefited.”
“My entire marriage—”
“Was supposed to be temporary.”
Evelyn looked at Garrett.
Richard continued.
“You were meant to gain Evelyn’s confidence, identify the archive location, then leave.”
Garrett whispered:
“I fell in love with her.”
Richard smiled with contempt.
“That was your first mistake.”
Something changed in Garrett.
For the first time, Evelyn saw him looking at Richard the way she had once looked at Eleanor.
Not as a parent.
As an enemy.
Richard continued.
“Then the trust provision surfaced. The children became useful.”
Evelyn’s entire body chilled.
“Useful?”
“If you controlled the twins, you controlled the shares.”
Garrett stepped toward him.
“Don’t talk about my children like assets.”
Richard laughed.
“Now you discover morality?”
The insult landed.
Garrett stopped.
Richard looked at Evelyn.
“Your husband knew enough.”
Evelyn already knew that.
But hearing Richard say it reopened everything.
“He knew the marriage had financial purpose.”
Garrett looked at her.
“Evelyn—”
Richard smiled.
“He knew before the first date.”
“Stop.”
“He knew before he kissed you.”
“Stop.”
“He knew when he proposed.”
Evelyn looked at Garrett.
“Is that true?”
Garrett’s eyes filled.
“At first.”
“At first?”
“I loved you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Yes.”
The word cut cleanly.
Evelyn turned away.
Richard seemed pleased.
Pain was another tool to him.
Victor noticed.
“Enough.”
Richard looked at Victor.
“You still think you’re the hero.”
“No.”
“Good.”
Richard approached the bassinet.
Evelyn tensed.
“Don’t touch him.”
Richard smiled.
“Then give me Box 417.”
Evelyn had brought copies.
Not originals.
She handed over the folder.
Richard opened it.
His expression changed.
“This isn’t everything.”
“No.”
“Where is the recorder?”
“Safe.”
He pulled a gun.
Garrett moved instantly.
Richard aimed at Evelyn’s chest.
“Don’t.”
Garrett froze.
Evelyn stared into Richard’s eyes.
“You won’t shoot me.”
“Why?”
“Because you need my authorization.”
Richard smiled.
“I needed it.”
Past tense.
Victor noticed too.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked toward Garrett.
“Your mother spent six months obtaining Evelyn’s signatures.”
Evelyn’s stomach dropped.
Forged documents.
Richard continued.
“One of them transferred access rights upon the birth of the twins.”
Samuel had warned her.
Documents she didn’t remember signing.
Richard reached into his jacket.
A notarized authorization.
Evelyn’s signature.
Almost perfect.
Then her son began crying.
Thomas looked toward the bassinet.
Richard turned for half a second.
Garrett lunged.
The gun fired.
Evelyn screamed.
Garrett hit the ground.
May you like
Blood spread across his shirt.
And Victor attacked Richard.
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