CHAPTER 5: THE MOTHER WHO DISAPPEARED FOR 17 YEARS
The room was completely silent.
Ethan stared at the woman standing in front of him.
A woman he had only seen in old photographs.
A woman he had cried for every night as a child.
His mother.
Amelia Blackwood.
Alive.
Standing only a few feet away.
Ethan wanted to run toward her.
He wanted to hug her.
He wanted to believe that the nightmare was finally over.
But seventeen years of pain had created a wall inside his heart.
“How?”
His voice cracked.
“How could you leave me?”
Amelia’s eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t leave you.”
She stepped forward.
“I was forced to disappear.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No mother would let her child believe she was dead.”
Amelia closed her eyes.
Those words hurt more than any accusation.
“You’re right.”
A tear rolled down her face.
“And that is the reason I hate myself every single day.”
Margaret quietly walked away, giving them space.
Sophia remained in the corner, watching.
Because she knew something Ethan didn’t.
The truth was much darker than anyone imagined.
Amelia sat down and opened an old suitcase she had carried with her.
Inside were hundreds of letters.
All addressed to Ethan.
But none of them had ever been sent.
“I wrote to you every birthday.”
She touched the letters gently.
“Your first day of school. Your first heartbreak. Your first achievement.”
Ethan stared at them.
“Then why didn’t I receive them?”
Amelia looked at Sophia.
Because the answer was standing right there.
Sophia slowly smiled.
“Finally, the truth comes out.”
Ethan turned around.
“What does she mean?”
Sophia crossed her arms.
“Your mother didn’t abandon you.”
She looked directly at Amelia.
“She was trapped.”
The room became tense.
Sophia continued.
“For seventeen years, someone controlled every move Amelia made. Every message. Every attempt to contact you.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Who?”
Nobody answered.
Then Margaret spoke.
“The same person who killed your grandparents.”
Ethan froze.
His eyes moved between everyone.
“Wait…”
He whispered.
“My grandparents?”
Amelia nodded.
“The Blackwood family wasn’t destroyed by business rivals.”
Her voice became cold.
“It was destroyed by betrayal.”
She opened another file.
Inside was a list of names.
Powerful people.
Politicians.
Business leaders.
Even celebrities.
All connected to one secret organization.
An organization called:
The Crimson Circle.
Ethan looked at the names.
“What is this?”
Amelia took a deep breath.
“They are the people who control everything from behind the scenes.”
Sophia smiled.
“And your father spent years trying to expose them.”
Ethan remembered Daniel’s final message.
The secret room.
The warning.
Trust no one.
Then he understood.
Daniel wasn’t fighting Victor Hayes.
Victor was only one small piece.
The real enemy was much bigger.
Suddenly, every screen in the underground room turned on.
A video appeared.
A man in a dark suit sat in a chair.
Ethan didn’t recognize him.
But Amelia did.
Her face immediately turned pale.
“No…”
Margaret stepped back.
“Impossible.”
The man smiled at the camera.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Everyone froze.
Because the man knew his name.
“I know you have finally discovered the truth.”
He leaned closer.
“And I know you are standing with the people who betrayed me.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“My name is Alexander Blackwood.”
Amelia’s face lost all color.
Because Alexander Blackwood was supposed to be dead.
He was Ethan’s uncle.
The man who disappeared the night the Blackwood family fell.
The man everyone believed was murdered.
But now…
He was alive.
And he had one final message.
“Ethan, you think you are searching for the people who destroyed your family.”
The man smiled.
“But you are wrong.”
The screen flickered.
Then he said:
“The person who betrayed you the most… is standing right beside you.”
The video ended.
Nobody moved.
Slowly…
Ethan turned around.
Looking at the people he trusted.
His mother.
Margaret.
Sophia.
And for the first time…
He wondered.
Who was really protecting him… and who was secretly destroying him?
May you like
Because the biggest betrayal…
Was still waiting to be revealed.
