Chapter 4
The Blackwood Manor was a fortress of marble and mahogany, a stark contrast to the damp subway stairwell Clara had occupied just hours prior. After a hot shower, a medical check-up for Lily by the family’s private pediatrician, and a change into elegant, silk loungewear, Clara looked into the gilded mirror. The exhausted, broken street-wanderer was gone; staring back was the mother of the Blackwood heir.
But the battle was far from over.
Downstairs in the grand study, Elias Blackwood was pacing furiously. He had just received word from his informants in the police department about the jewelry store raid. Arthur Pendelton was singing like a canary, babbling about a woman and a baby. Elias knew his carefully constructed lie was collapsing. If Victoria found the girl, his access to the Blackwood trust fund—and his life—would be over.
The heavy mahogany doors swung open. Victoria entered, her expression completely unreadable. Clara walked closely behind her, holding Lily.
Elias stopped dead in his tracks. All the blood drained from his face. "Aunt Victoria... who... who is this?" he stammered, his eyes darting frantically to Clara.
"You know exactly who she is, Elias," Victoria said smoothly, walking to her mahogany desk and taking a seat. "This is Clara. And this is Lily. Julian’s daughter. The true heir to the Blackwood estate."
"This is absurd!" Elias shouted, feigning outrage to cover his panic. "Aunt Victoria, you cannot be serious! This street trash is conning you! Julian didn't have a child. I was there! The doctors told me—"
"The doctors you bribed?" Clara interrupted, her voice ringing clear and authoritative through the silent room. She stepped forward, no longer a victim. "The same doctors who discharged me while I was still concussed, telling me Julian was a nobody and I had no family?"
"Lies!" Elias spat, lunging toward Clara. "You're a gold-digging whore who stole his necklace—"
Before he could take another step, Marcus and two heavily armed security guards stepped out from the shadows, grabbing Elias by the shoulders and slamming him onto the Persian rug.
"I have already run a rapid DNA test using Lily’s swab and Julian’s medical records," Victoria said coldly, tossing a manila folder onto the floor next to Elias’s face. "A 99.99% match. Furthermore, I’ve had Arthur Pendelton’s phone records pulled. He made a call to your burner phone three months ago, demanding more hush money."
Elias thrashed against the guards. "You can't do this! I am a Blackwood! I am your blood!"
"You are a parasite," Victoria sneered. "You orchestrated a cover-up that nearly killed my granddaughter. You left the mother of my grandchild to beg for scraps on the freezing pavement."
"She doesn't belong in our world!" Elias screamed, his mask completely slipping, revealing the venomous jealousy underneath. "She's weak! She sold our family legacy for twenty dollars!"
"She did what she had to do to survive," Victoria replied, her voice dropping to a terrifying calm. "Which is exactly what you will have to do now, Elias. Because I am stripping you of your name, your trust, and your shares. The police are waiting outside to arrest you for fraud, conspiracy, and attempted manslaughter."
May you like
As the guards dragged a screaming, cursing Elias out of the study, Clara held Lily tight. The nightmare was truly ending. The viper had been removed from the nest. Victoria turned to Clara, her harsh features softening into a genuine, grandmotherly smile.
"The house is quiet again," Victoria whispered. "Welcome home, Clara."
