DARK OBSESSION

CHAPTER TEN

The room remained silent after Victoria's revelation.

Your father is alive.

Damien stared at his mother as though she had suddenly become a stranger.

His father had been dead for twelve years.

At least, that was what Damien had been told.

There had been a funeral.

A grave.

A death certificate.

An entire family mourning.

Or so he had believed.

" You knew?" Damien finally asked.

Victoria looked away.

" Yes."

His jaw tightened.

" You knew my father was alive all these years?"

" I knew he survived."

" That's not an answer."

" I didn't know where he was."

" Mother!"

His voice echoed through the room.

Ivy had never seen Damien lose his composure like that.

Victoria flinched.

" I was trying to protect you."

" You've all been saying that."

Damien laughed bitterly.

" Father said it. You said it. Everyone keeps using protection as an excuse for lies."

Ivy stepped closer.

" Then tell us the truth."

Victoria looked at her.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then she whispered:

" Your mother discovered something about the Blackwood family that could have destroyed everything."

" What?" Ivy asked.

Victoria's eyes filled with tears.

" Your father wasn't simply a businessman."

Damien frowned.

" I know he had enemies."

" No."

Victoria shook her head.

" You don't understand."

She looked at Ivy and Lena.

" He built an empire by making people disappear."

The words seemed to freeze the room.

Lena's face went pale.

" Disappear?"

Victoria nodded.

" People who knew too much. People who threatened him. People who tried to expose him."

Ivy swallowed.

" And my mother?"

" Elena found evidence."

" Evidence of what?"

Victoria looked at Damien.

" Your father had been secretly controlling several companies through false identities. He used other people's names, manipulated accounts, and destroyed anyone who came too close to exposing him."

Damien stared at her.

" Why didn't you go to the police?"

Victoria laughed sadly.

" Because I was afraid."

" Of him?"

" Yes."

" And you allowed him to live?"

" I thought he was dead."

Damien looked toward the photograph.

" Apparently not."

THE NIGHT ELENA DISAPPEARED

Victoria sat down.

Her hands were trembling.

" It began with Elena."

Ivy listened carefully.

" Your mother worked with your father's company. She was brilliant. She noticed things other people ignored."

" What did she discover?"

" Accounts."

Victoria looked down.

" Hidden accounts connected to companies that didn't officially exist."

Ivy frowned.

" And she told your father?"

" She confronted him."

" What happened?"

" He threatened her."

Damien's face hardened.

" What did he say?"

Victoria looked at him.

" He told her that if she exposed him, neither she nor her children would survive."

Ivy's heart sank.

" Children?"

Victoria nodded.

" By then, Elena had already given birth to you and Lena."

Lena squeezed Ivy's hand.

Victoria continued.

" Elena knew she was being watched. She tried to leave the country with both of you."

" Then why didn't she?"

" She was betrayed."

" By whom?"

Victoria hesitated.

" Someone she trusted."

Ivy immediately thought of Daniel.

" Who?"

Victoria didn't answer.

Instead, she looked at Damien.

" Your father arranged for the girls to be taken away."

Damien's expression darkened.

" Where?"

"One child was sent to the Daniels family."

Ivy's heart stopped.

" And Lena?"

Victoria looked at Lena.

" She was taken somewhere else."

Lena's eyes filled with tears.

" Where?"

Victoria shook her head.

" I don't know."

Lena stood abruptly.

" You expect me to believe that?"

" I was trying to find you."

" For twenty-four years?"

" I searched."

" But you didn't find me."

Victoria looked devastated.

" No."

THE BLACKWOOD ARCHIVE

Damien returned to his father's old study that evening.

Ivy and Lena followed him.

He placed the metal box on the desk.

" We need to find Elena's evidence."

Ivy looked at the documents.

" What are we looking for?"

" Anything that explains why your father separated you."

Lena picked up one of the old photographs.

" Maybe this."

It showed Elena standing outside a building.

On the back was an address.

Damien recognized it.

" That's the Blackwood archive."

" What's that?"

" An old records facility."

" Does it still exist?"

Damien nodded.

" But nobody has entered it for years."

Ivy looked at him.

" Then we're going."

Damien shook his head.

" It's dangerous."

Ivy crossed her arms.

" Of course it is."

" Ivy—"

" You can't keep telling me to stay safe while you walk into danger yourself."

He stared at her.

She was right.

" I'll come with you."

Lena stood.

" So will I."

Damien sighed.

" Fine."

THE ARCHIVE

The building stood outside the city.

It was old, abandoned and surrounded by tall iron fencing.

Damien used a key from his father's collection to open the main gate.

Inside, the air smelled of dust and old paper.

They walked through endless shelves filled with documents.

Ivy's eyes moved across the labels.

PROPERTY

FINANCE

LEGAL

PERSONNEL

Then she saw one.

ELENA COLE

She stopped.

" Here."

Damien pulled the file from the shelf.

It was unusually thick.

Inside were dozens of documents.

Medical reports.

Business records.

Letters.

Photographs.

Then Ivy found something that made her hands tremble.

A birth certificate.

Two names appeared on it.

Ivy Cole.

Lena Cole.

Both born on the same day.

Both listed as Elena's daughters.

But underneath was another document.

A second birth certificate.

This one had only one name.

Ivy Daniels.

Ivy stared at it.

" My entire identity..."

Damien gently took the document from her.

" Your father changed your records."

Lena looked at the papers.

" And mine?"

" There isn't one."

" Why?"

Damien turned another page.

There was a handwritten note.

Separate the girls. Keep one hidden.

Ivy's stomach tightened.

" Why only one?"

Damien read the next line.

His expression changed.

" What?"

He didn't answer.

Ivy took the paper.

She read it herself.

The younger child witnessed the incident.

She looked at Lena.

" But we're twins."

Damien nodded.

" Exactly."

Ivy's thoughts raced.

" Then why call one of us younger?"

" Because there may have been another child."

Silence.

Lena shook her head.

" No."

Damien looked at her.

" Remember the medical records."

" The second child."

" Yes."

Ivy looked at the documents.

" Maybe there weren't two children."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

" What do you mean?"

" Maybe the second child wasn't Elena's."

Everyone fell silent.

THE RECORDING

Lena found another cassette.

They placed it into an old player.

Static.

Then Elena's voice.

"If you're listening to this, I've failed."

Ivy's eyes filled with tears.

Elena continued.

" I couldn't protect all of them."

Damien looked at Ivy.

" All of them?"

The recording continued.

" The Blackwood family has been built on secrets for generations. My daughters are not the only children affected."

A man's voice interrupted.

" Elena, stop."

Her voice became frightened.

" I won't."

" You don't understand what you've started."

" I understand perfectly."

A crash.

Then Elena screamed:

" Leave my children alone!"

The recording stopped.

Lena covered her mouth.

" That's it?"

Damien rewound it.

Nothing.

Ivy looked around the archive.

" Someone removed the rest."

Then she noticed something.

The cassette had a small label.

17-B.

Room 17.

The same place where Ivy had found the first recording.

Damien stared at it.

" There must be another archive."

THE BETRAYAL

They returned to the hotel after midnight.

Ivy couldn't sleep.

She went downstairs for water.

As she entered the lobby, she saw someone sitting alone.

Daniel.

She stopped.

" What are you doing here?"

He stood.

" I came to warn you."

" You keep doing that."

" Ivy, listen."

" No."

He looked hurt.

" You don't understand."

" I understand enough."

" You think I betrayed you."

" Did you?"

Daniel hesitated.

That was enough.

Ivy's expression hardened.

" What did you do?"

" I gave someone information."

" About me?"

" Yes."

" Why?"

" Because they threatened my family."

Ivy stared at him.

" Who?"

Daniel lowered his voice.

" Victor Hale."

Ivy's heart sank.

" Where is he?"

" I don't know."

" You expect me to believe that?"

" I swear."

Daniel stepped closer.

" Victor isn't working alone."

" Who is helping him?"

Daniel looked toward the entrance.

" I don't know."

Then he whispered:

" But I think it's someone inside the Blackwood family."

Ivy immediately thought of Victoria.

" Who?"

Daniel shook his head.

Before he could say more, a loud crash came from outside.

Both turned.

A car had smashed into the hotel entrance.

People screamed.

The lights flickered.

Daniel grabbed Ivy's arm.

" Run!"

THE TRUTH BEGINS TO SURFACE

Damien appeared seconds later.

He rushed toward Ivy.

" Are you hurt?"

" I'm fine."

He looked at Daniel.

" What happened?"

" Victor's people."

Damien's expression hardened.

" Where's Lena?"

Ivy's eyes widened.

She had forgotten about her sister.

They rushed upstairs.

The hotel room door was open.

The room was empty.

Lena was gone.

On the bed lay a single black envelope.

Damien picked it up.

Inside was a photograph of Lena.

And beneath it, a handwritten message:

ONE SISTER WAS ALWAYS THE KEY.

Ivy's blood ran cold.

" Where is she?"

Damien looked at the photograph.

" We'll find her."

Ivy shook her head.

" No."

She wiped away her tears.

" This time, I'm finding her."

Damien looked at her.

For the first time, he saw something different in Ivy's eyes.

Not fear..

Determination.

She wasn't running anymore.

She was ready to fight for the truth.

Across the city, Lena opened her eyes.

She was sitting in a dimly lit room.

Her hands were free.

A man stood across from her.

Victor Hale.

" Where's Ivy?" he asked.

Lena said nothing.

Victor smiled.

" Don't worry."

He placed a photograph on the table.

It showed Ivy and Damien.

" We'll find her."

Lena stared at him.

"Why are you doing this?"

Victor's smile disappeared.

" Because your mother stole something from my family."

" What?

Victor leaned closer.

" The truth."

He turned toward the door.

Before leaving, he added:

" And your sister is the only person who can lead us to it."

The door closed.

Lena looked down at the photograph.

Then she noticed something written on the back.

A name.

Damien Blackwood.

And beneath it:

HE WAS THERE THAT NIGHT.

Lena's eyes widened.

Because suddenly she remembered something from her childhood.

A boy.

A staircase.

Her mother screaming.

And Damien standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Watching.