CHAPTER 5: THE BLOODLINE NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW
Emma couldn't speak.
Her legs gave out beneath her as the old man's words echoed through the cemetery.
"Richard Ashford is your older brother."
"No..." she whispered.
"You're lying."
The old man sighed.
"I wish I were."
He slowly handed her the pocket watch.
Inside was another photograph she hadn't noticed before.
A young Margaret sat in a hospital bed.
Beside her stood two children.
A teenage boy...
And a newborn baby wrapped in a white blanket.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten date.
Twenty-six years ago.
Below it were six words.
"My son. My daughter. My future."
Emma stared at the teenage boy.
Even with the faded image...
She recognized him instantly.
Richard.
Across town...
Richard Ashford smashed another whiskey glass against his office wall.
His security chief entered nervously.
"We've located Emma."
Richard looked up.
"Bring her home."
"Sir..."
The guard hesitated.
"Chairman Victor's men reached her first."
Richard's face turned white.
"What?"
"They've surrounded the cemetery."
Richard grabbed his car keys.
"No."
"They can't get to her."
The guard swallowed hard.
"Sir... you gave your word twenty-five years ago."
Richard slammed his fist onto the desk.
"I also promised my mother I'd protect Emma."
For the first time...
The cold billionaire looked frightened.
Back at the cemetery...
Emma stepped backward.
"Who are you?"
The old man smiled.
"My name is Victor Blackwell."
"The founder of Blackwell Holdings."
"I built the Ashford fortune."
Emma frowned.
"I don't understand."
Victor nodded toward the empty coffin.
"That's because you've been told lies since the day you were born."
He pointed toward Richard's mansion on the distant hill.
"The Ashford family isn't a family."
"It's an empire."
"And empires survive by burying the truth."
Emma's voice trembled.
"What truth?"
Victor leaned closer.
"Your mother wasn't Richard's wife."
"She wasn't his girlfriend."
"She was his mother."
Emma's eyes widened.
Victor continued calmly.
"Richard was only seventeen when you were born."
"He spent his entire life believing you died as an infant."
Emma shook her head violently.
"No..."
"My mother raised me."
Victor smiled sadly.
"The woman you called your mother..."
"...was actually your grandmother."
Emma felt the world spin.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Every childhood memory...
Every birthday...
Every family photograph...
Had become a lie.
Suddenly...
A convoy of black SUVs roared through the cemetery gates.
Richard jumped out before the vehicles stopped moving.
"EMMA!"
He ran toward her.
Victor's guards immediately drew their weapons.
Richard didn't stop.
He stood between Emma and every gun pointed at her.
"If anyone wants her..."
"They'll have to kill me first."
Victor laughed quietly.
"So..."
"You finally remembered who she is."
Richard never took his eyes off Emma.
"I'm sorry."
Those were the first words he had spoken to her without anger.
"I'm so... sorry."
Emma stared at him.
"You knew?"
Richard closed his eyes.
"I remembered everything..."
"...three days ago."
"What?"
"My mother left me a letter after she died."
"I finally opened it."
"It told me the truth."
Emma's tears streamed down her face.
"So..."
"You humiliated me..."
"You threw me out..."
"You accused me of stealing..."
Richard's voice broke.
"Because someone inside the mansion convinced me you were trying to destroy our family."
He looked toward Victor.
"And that someone..."
"...was him."
Victor slowly clapped.
"Excellent."
"The siblings have reunited."
"But unfortunately..."
He pressed a small button hidden inside his cane.
A loud explosion echoed across the cemetery.
Richard's mansion...
Nearly five miles away...
Burst into flames.
Emma gasped.
Victor smiled without a trace of emotion.
"I've waited twenty-six years for this moment."
"The Ashford Empire is over."
Richard stared at the burning skyline.
Then Victor delivered the sentence that froze everyone in place.
"That mansion wasn't the real target."
He looked directly into Emma's eyes.
"Your grandmother was still inside."
May you like
Emma screamed.
TO BE CONTINUED...
