Chapter 17: The Ghost in the Ledger
506 Words
The drive back to the Blackwood estate was deathly silent. The revelation of Isabella’s name on a secret trust worth fifty million dollars had sucked the oxygen out of the SUV. Killian stared out the window, his jaw tight enough to snap bone. Isabella had been the golden child, the one person in the Blackwood family who hadn't been poisoned by greed—until her "accident" ten years ago.
"How is it possible, Elara?" Killian’s voice was barely a whisper. "My father spent years telling me the company was on the brink of ruin because of her medical bills. He used her death to justify every ruthless acquisition, every cut-throat deal. And now you’re telling me she was the beneficiary of a secret fortune?"
Elara kept her eyes on her laptop, her fingers flying as she traced the origin of the deposits. "The money wasn't from Blackwood Industries, Killian. That’s the catch. It was being funneled in from an offshore account linked to the Vane Group. Your father wasn't just hiding money—he was taking payments from his biggest rival, and he was using his dead daughter’s name to hide the trail."
Killian turned to her, his eyes burning with a mixture of grief and predatory rage. "He sold his soul to the Vanes using my sister’s ghost as a shield."
The car pulled up to the heavy iron gates of the estate. Killian didn't wait for the valet. He climbed out and pulled Elara with him, leading her toward the private study in the west wing. He went straight to a hidden wall safe, his hands shaking as he punched in the code. He pulled out a leather-bound journal—Isabella’s.
"She knew something," Killian said, flipping through the pages. "The weeks before she died, she told me she found something 'ugly' in the basement archives. I thought she was talking about the company’s environmental records. I was too busy trying to prove myself to the board to listen to her."
Elara stepped closer, her hand resting gently on his arm. "We can find the truth, Killian. But if we open this door, there’s no closing it. If your father was working with the Vanes, it means the entire Blackwood legacy is built on a lie. The board will dissolve the company in an hour if this goes public."
Killian looked at the journal, then at Elara. The ruthless heir was gone, replaced by a man who had finally realized he was living in a house of cards. "Then let it burn," he said, his voice cold and certain. "I don't want a legacy built on my sister’s blood. Audit the Phoenix account, Elara. Find out who authorized the final transfer the day she died."
Elara nodded, her heart hammering. She knew that the answer wouldn't just bring down the Vanes—it would change Killian Blackwood forever. She was no longer just his auditor; she was the woman holding the match to his entire world.
- Writer
