Title: The Billionaire's Unexpected Bride

Chapter 14: The Devil's Legacy

Nobody spoke.

The warehouse felt frozen in time.

Richard Voss's words continued to echo through the silence.

"Your father was one of us."

Ethan stared at him.

Unmoving.

Unblinking.

As if refusing to accept what he had heard.

"You're lying."

The words came out cold.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

Richard merely smiled.

"I wish I were."

Victoria Knight lowered her head.

The sadness on her face terrified Ava more than Richard's smile ever could.

Because it meant one thing.

Richard was telling the truth.

At least part of it.

Ethan noticed too.

Slowly, he turned toward his mother.

"Tell me he's lying."

Victoria closed her eyes.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then—

"He isn't."

The words shattered the room.

Olivia gasped.

Ava felt her stomach drop.

Ethan looked as though someone had punched him.

His father had been his hero.

His role model.

The man whose memory had guided his entire life.

And now everything was changing.

Everything.

---

Victoria took a shaky breath.

"Your father wasn't always a bad man."

Richard laughed.

"A classic beginning."

She ignored him.

"When I met him, he was brilliant."

A faint smile appeared on her face.

"He was ambitious. Kind. Determined."

A pause.

"Then he became powerful."

The smile disappeared.

"And power changed him."

The room remained silent.

Victoria continued.

"The Black Crown approached him when Knight Industries was struggling."

Ava listened carefully.

Every word felt important.

"They offered funding."

"At a price," Ethan said.

Victoria nodded.

"Yes."

Richard casually leaned against a nearby table.

"As if he didn't happily accept."

The hatred in Victoria's eyes became obvious.

"He thought he could control them."

A bitter laugh escaped her.

"He was wrong."

---

For years, Ethan's father worked with the Black Crown.

Building wealth.

Expanding influence.

Making deals.

Dangerous deals.

At first, everything seemed fine.

Until he learned what the organization was really doing.

Ava felt a chill.

"What were they doing?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Finally Richard spoke.

"The same thing powerful people have always done."

His smile returned.

"Controlling everything."

The simplicity of the answer made it worse.

Much worse.

Victoria looked sick.

"He wanted out."

Richard rolled his eyes.

"He panicked."

"He found evidence."

"He stole from us."

"He tried to expose you."

Richard's expression hardened.

Now the friendliness was completely gone.

The mask had fallen.

Finally.

And what remained frightened Ava.

---

"Your father betrayed the Black Crown."

Richard's voice echoed through the warehouse.

"For that, he paid the price."

Ethan's fists clenched.

"You killed him."

"No."

The answer surprised everyone.

Richard looked directly at Ethan.

"We didn't."

Silence.

"What?"

"We wanted him alive."

Ava frowned.

That didn't make sense.

At all.

Victoria looked confused too.

Then Richard smiled.

The kind of smile that always preceded something terrible.

"Unfortunately, someone else got to him first."

The room went still.

Ethan stared.

"What are you talking about?"

Richard's eyes shifted.

Slowly.

Toward Victoria.

The color drained from Ethan's face.

"No."

Victoria immediately stood.

"No."

Fear filled her eyes.

Real fear.

"Richard, don't."

But Richard wasn't listening.

Or maybe he simply didn't care.

"The night your father died..."

His voice remained calm.

"...he wasn't alone."

Ava's pulse quickened.

Every instinct told her the next few moments would change everything.

"The last person to see him alive was your mother."

The warehouse exploded into silence.

Olivia looked horrified.

Ethan looked stunned.

Victoria looked broken.

And Ava?

Ava suddenly couldn't breathe.

---

"That's not true."

Victoria's voice shook.

"It's absolutely true."

"You don't know what happened."

"I know exactly what happened."

Richard stepped closer.

"You were there."

Victoria backed away.

Tears filled her eyes.

"Stop."

But Richard continued.

Relentlessly.

Cruelly.

"He begged you to leave with him."

Ava watched confusion spread across Ethan's face.

"What?"

Victoria's shoulders trembled.

Richard's smile widened.

"He wanted to run."

The room grew colder.

"He wanted to disappear."

Another pause.

"With you."

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

The tension felt unbearable.

Then Ethan looked at his mother.

"Is that true?"

Victoria didn't answer.

The silence became an answer all by itself.

---

For the first time in twenty years, Ethan saw his mother cry.

Not quiet tears.

Not controlled emotion.

She completely broke.

"He wasn't supposed to die."

The words escaped in a whisper.

The room froze.

Victoria covered her face.

Sobbing.

"I swear he wasn't supposed to die."

Ava's heart sank.

Because suddenly the truth felt much closer.

Much more painful.

"What happened?" Ethan asked.

Victoria slowly lowered her hands.

Her eyes were red.

Hopeless.

Destroyed.

"The brakes failed."

Everyone became still.

Ava felt her blood turn cold.

Brakes.

Again.

Just like Olivia.

Just like the attacks.

Just like everything.

Victoria looked directly at Ethan.

"I tried to stop him."

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I begged him not to leave."

A pause.

Then—

"But he didn't listen."

The warehouse remained silent.

Only the sound of her crying remained.

---

Suddenly, an alarm began ringing somewhere outside.

Richard frowned.

One of his men rushed into the warehouse.

"P-police!"

Everything changed instantly.

The man's face had gone pale.

"There are police everywhere."

Richard's smile disappeared.

For the first time, he looked annoyed.

Very annoyed.

Ethan looked confused.

"So that's your plan?"

Richard laughed.

"No."

Then he pulled something from his pocket.

A small black device.

A remote.

Ava's stomach dropped.

"No."

Richard looked delighted.

"Oh yes."

The realization hit everyone at once.

Explosives.

The warehouse.

The entire building.

It was another trap.

Another attempt to erase evidence.

Another attempt to kill them.

Richard stepped backward.

Toward an exit.

Victoria's face drained of color.

"Richard!"

He paused.

One hand resting on the trigger.

The smile returned.

Colder than ever.

"If you want the rest of the truth..."

He looked directly at Ethan.

"...find Project Crown."

Then he pressed the button.

The explosion shook the building.

And the nightmare began all over again.