THE BILLIONAIRE’S FORBIDDEN BRIDE

THE SUMMONS

Alexander drove through the Blackwood estate gates with Victoria’s words still echoing in his head. Your father wasn’t the only Blackwood who knew Daniel Carter was innocent. He had heard his mother say many things over the years, but never that. Not once. For seven years, the Carter case had been treated inside the family as an ugly chapter that needed to remain closed. Daniel Carter had been accused, his company had collapsed, his reputation had been destroyed, and his death had been accepted as the tragic ending of a disgraced man's story. Yet tonight, Alexander had found the old report hidden inside the archive and the handwritten warning from his father.Find the ledger before they do. Then Victoria had called. She hadn't sounded surprised that Elena was searching for answers. She had sounded afraid of what Elena might find. That frightened him more than anything else.

He entered the house and found Victoria waiting in the private sitting room. She was standing beside the fireplace, one hand resting against the mantel, her expression controlled but unusually tense. Alexander closed the door behind him and stared at her. “You said my father wasn't the only Blackwood who knew Daniel Carter was innocent.” Victoria didn't pretend not to understand. “I said Daniel Carter was innocent.” “You knew.” His voice was quiet, but there was anger underneath it. “You knew all these years.” Victoria looked at him for several seconds before answering. “Knowing something and being able to prove it are not the same thing.” “Don't do that.” Alexander stepped farther into the room. “Don't give me one of those answers that says everything and explains nothing. I found Father's note tonight. I found the report connected to the account that disappeared after the transfer. Someone altered those records, Mother. Someone wanted Daniel blamed.” Victoria's expression tightened. “And you believe Elena?” “I believe the evidence.” “Elena is not looking for evidence, Alexander. She is looking for the person who destroyed her family.” “And what exactly is wrong with that?” Victoria's eyes hardened. “Because she doesn't know what she's walking into.”

Alexander studied her. “You recognized her immediately.” Victoria didn't deny it. “Yes.” “From seven years ago?” “Yes.” “And you knew she would eventually come back?” A pause. “I knew Daniel's daughter would never accept the story they gave her.” Alexander's jaw tightened. “Then why didn't anyone tell me?” “Because you were nineteen.” “I was old enough to be sent to Daniel's house looking for the ledger.” Victoria's eyes flickered. “Your father sent you because he believed you could retrieve it without attracting attention.” “He told me Daniel had something belonging to Blackwood.” “He told you what you needed to know.” Alexander gave a bitter laugh. “Apparently, he didn't.” He pulled the folded copy of the report from his pocket and placed it on the table. “This account was used before Daniel was accused. Then it disappeared. The money didn't disappear. The record did.” Victoria stared at the paper but didn't touch it. “Where did you find that?” “In the archive.” “And Elena saw it?” “She found the transfer authorization before I did.” Victoria closed her eyes briefly. “Then she is closer than I thought.”

Alexander caught the words immediately. “Closer to what?” Victoria opened her eyes. “The truth.” “That's not an answer.” “It is the only one I can give you tonight.” “Why?” His voice sharpened. “Because you are still protecting someone?” Victoria looked at him, and for the first time there was something almost like pain in her expression. “I'm protecting this family from a truth that could destroy more than the Blackwood name.” “Maybe the Blackwood name deserves to be destroyed.” The words landed heavily between them. Victoria's face went cold. “Be careful.” “I'm tired of being careful.” Alexander turned away, dragging a hand through his hair. “I spent seven years believing Daniel Carter was responsible for what happened. Then Elena walks into my company and suddenly everything I thought I knew begins falling apart.” “She didn't walk into your company by accident.” Alexander looked back at her. “What does that mean?” Victoria hesitated. “It means you should ask yourself why she chose Blackwood.” “I already know why.” “Do you?” “She wants answers.” “And if someone wants her to find them?” Alexander went still.

The question stayed in the room.

Victoria walked toward the window. “There are people who benefited from Daniel's downfall. People who lost everything when the truth disappeared, and people who gained everything because it did. Some of them are still alive.” Alexander's gaze narrowed. “Who?” “I won't give you a name I can't prove.” “Then tell me what you do know.” “I know your father wasn't the only person involved. I know Daniel was investigating something before his death. I know the ledger mattered. And I know someone has spent years making certain that nobody finds it.” Alexander thought about the stranger in the archive. The hand over Elena's mouth. The warning. You should have stayed away from the Blackwoods. “Someone tried to stop Elena tonight.” Victoria turned sharply. “What happened?” “A man was waiting in the archive.” Her face changed. “Did he hurt her?” “No.” “Did you see him?” “Not clearly.” Victoria was silent. “Then this is worse than I thought.” Alexander stepped closer. “You know who he is?” “No.” “Mother.” “I said I don't know.” But something in her voice told him there was more.

Alexander picked up the report again. “I'm not asking you for permission.” Victoria watched him carefully. “What are you planning?” “To find the ledger.” “And Elena?” He paused. He could still picture her standing in that archive, refusing to back away despite the fear in her eyes. She didn't trust him. He didn't blame her. The truth was, he wasn't sure he trusted himself around the truth either. “She'll keep looking whether I help her or not.” “That isn't what I asked.” Alexander's eyes met his mother's. “I'm going to keep an eye on her.” Victoria's expression darkened. “That woman is dangerous.” “She isn't the dangerous one.” “You don't know that.” “Neither do you.” Victoria took a slow breath. “Alexander, whatever happens next, don't make the mistake of thinking you can control it.” “I don't.” “Then why are you involving yourself?” He looked toward the dark windows. “Because someone is already moving against her. And until I know who, I'm not leaving her exposed.” Victoria studied him for a long moment. “You barely know her.” “I know enough.” “No. You know what she wants you to know.” Alexander's expression hardened. “Then I'll find out the rest.”

He left the room before Victoria could answer.

But as he walked through the quiet hallway, Alexander stopped when his phone vibrated in his pocket. For one brief second, he thought it might be another message connected to the archive. Instead, it was an email from his assistant containing the preliminary background check he had requested earlier that evening. He opened it.

The first page contained Elena's current employment information.

The second contained her education.

The third made him stop.

There was a gap.

Seven years of Elena Carter's life were almost completely absent from the records.

Not empty.

Erased.

Alexander stared at the screen.

Someone had gone to considerable effort to make sure there was no trace of where Elena had been or what she had done after Daniel's death.

He read the final line twice.

No verifiable records found between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four.

His expression darkened.

That wasn't normal.

Elena had not simply returned under a different name or quietly rebuilt her life.

Someone had helped erase her past.

Across the city, Elena was sitting at her table again, staring at the same financial documents. She had circled the altered account number three times, trying to understand how the money had moved. Then she noticed something she had missed before.

A second transaction.

Same week.

Different account.

Same amount.

Her breath caught.

She pulled another document from the folder and compared the dates.

The money had been transferred twice.

The first transfer had been recorded.

The second had been concealed.

And beside the second transaction was a set of initials she recognized immediately.

M.B.

Elena stared at them.

Marcus Blackwood.

Her father's greatest enemy—or perhaps the man who had tried to expose the real culprit.

She couldn't tell anymore.

Seven years of certainty were beginning to crumble beneath her hands.

Then she noticed something else.

The second transaction had been authorized one day after Alexander had been sent to her father's house to retrieve the ledger.

Elena slowly lowered the document.

Alexander had said he didn't know what happened to the ledger.

But if this transaction was connected to it, then there was something he hadn't told her.

Her phone lay beside her.

She picked it up and stared at his name.

She could call him.

Demand answers.

Accuse him of hiding information.

Instead, she put the phone down.

She wasn't ready to trust him.

And she certainly wasn't ready to let him know how much she had discovered.

Neither of them knew it yet, but by morning, both would be searching for the same missing piece of Daniel Carter's past.

The ledger.

And somewhere in New York, someone who had spent seven years making sure that ledger remained hidden had just learned that Elena Carter was getting dangerously close to finding it.