THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD NOT EXIST
853 Words
For the first time in ten years, Ethan Blake felt fear.
Not fear of losing a business deal or losing his fortune.
Those were battles he had fought and won countless times.
But the fear crawling beneath his skin at that moment was different.
It was the fear of a truth he had never imagined could exist.
His eyes remained fixed on the old photograph in his hands.
The woman in the picture looked almost like Elisa.
Not exactly.
But enough to make his heart question everything.
The same warm eyes.
The same delicate smile.
The same innocent expression.
It was as though the past had found a way to walk back into the Blake mansion wearing a different face.
"This is impossible," Ethan whispered.
His father remained by the window, his hands clasped behind his back.
"That is exactly what I thought when I saw her."
Ethan turned sharply.
"So, what are you saying? That Elisa came here intentionally?"
His father was silent.
That silence was answer enough.
A dangerous answer.
Anger immediately flared in Ethan's eyes.
"Don't do that."
His father slowly turned.
"Do what?"
"Turn a woman you know nothing about into a villain."
The old man's expression hardened.
"I have spent my entire life protecting this family."
"And in the process, you have spent your entire life controlling it."
The words landed heavily between them.
For a moment, neither man moved.
Neither looked away.
They were no longer just father and son.
They were two powerful men fighting a battle that had begun years ago.
"Tell me who she is."
Ethan's voice was firm.
His father took a slow breath.
"Her name was Amelia Rhodes."
The name echoed through the room.
"Thirty years ago, before I married your mother, Amelia was the woman I intended to spend my life with."
Ethan's eyebrows tightened.
"Mother knows about her?"
A painful expression crossed his father's face.
"She knows enough."
That answer was not enough.
"Father."
"She knows I loved someone before her."
"That's not what I asked."
His father's eyes darkened.
Ethan had inherited his stubbornness from him.
And tonight, neither man was willing to surrender.
"What happened to Amelia?"
The old man walked back to his desk.
For the first time in Ethan's life, he saw something unusual in his father's face.
Regret.
Real regret.
"She disappeared."
The room became silent.
"What?"
"One day, she was there. The next day, she was gone."
"People don't just disappear."
"Exactly."
Ethan's heart slowed.
Something about his father's tone disturbed him.
"Did you look for her?"
"For years."
"And?"
His father looked at him.
"I found nothing."
Meanwhile, Elisa sat alone in Ethan's room.
The luxurious bedroom that had looked like a dream a few hours earlier now felt unfamiliar.
The maid's words continued replaying in her head.
"Everyone who tries to uncover what happened to Mrs. Amelia disappears."
A shiver moved down her spine.
Who was Amelia?
And why did the mere mention of her seem to frighten the people inside this mansion?
She stood and walked toward the large windows.
Outside, the gardens were illuminated by soft golden lights.
Everything looked peaceful.
Perfect.
But she had learned something important about wealthy families.
The more perfect they looked on the outside—
the darker the secrets they hid inside.
Her eyes drifted toward the old family portraits hanging along the wall.
A thought crossed her mind.
She wasn't sure why.
But she felt drawn to them.
As if something was calling her.
She stepped outside the room.
The hallway was empty.
Everyone had gone to bed.
The silence of Blake Manor at night was almost unnatural.
Her footsteps echoed against the marble floor as she walked down the corridor.
One portrait after another.
Generations of the Blake family stared down at her.
Power.
Pride.
Legacy.
Then she stopped.
Her breath caught.
Her heart skipped.
At the very end of the hallway was a portrait covered with a black silk cloth.
Unlike every other painting, this one had been hidden.
Forgotten.
Or perhaps—
buried.
Slowly, Elisa reached for the fabric.
Something inside her screamed to walk away.
But curiosity was stronger.
Her fingers wrapped around the cloth.
She pulled.
The silk fell to the floor.
And Elisa froze.
"No…"
The whisper escaped her lips.
Her knees almost gave way.
Because the woman in the portrait was not merely similar to her.
She looked exactly like her.
At that exact moment, upstairs in the study, Ethan's father looked at him with eyes filled with dread.
"There is something else I never told anyone."
Ethan's expression darkened.
"What?"
The old man swallowed.
His voice came out barely above a whisper.
"The night Amelia disappeared…"
He looked toward the door as though he feared the walls themselves could hear him.
"She was carrying my child."
Elisa came to Blake Manor pretending to be someone she was not.
But what if she had been living a lie her entire life?
And what happens when Ethan discovers that the woman he is beginning to fall for might be connected to the greatest scandal in his family's history?
- Writer
