DARK OBSESSION

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

The memory came back in pieces.

A staircase.

Rain against the windows.

Her mother's frightened face.

A little girl crying.

And a boy standing at the bottom of the stairs.

Damien.

Lena opened her eyes.

She was still inside the dark room.

Victor stood near the window, his back turned toward her.

" You remember now," he said.

Lena stared at him.

" I remember him."

Victor turned.

" Who?"

" Damien."

A faint smile crossed his face.

" Good."

" What happened that night?"

Victor walked toward her.

" That's what your sister is going to find out."

" You keep talking about Ivy. What do you want from her?"

" Something your mother left behind."

" She doesn't have anything."

Victor's expression changed.

" She has something far more valuable than an object."

" What?"

" Her memory."

Lena frowned.

" What does that mean?"

Victor didn't answer.

Instead, he picked up his phone.

" Call them."

THE SEARCH

Ivy had never felt so helpless.

Lena was missing.

Again, someone had taken someone she loved.

But this time, she refused to sit and wait.

Damien stood beside the table, studying the photograph Victor had left.

" We need to find the location."

" I already called the police," Nathan said.

" Don't wait for them."

" Damien—"

" I said don't wait."

Ivy looked at him.

" You think you can find her yourself?"

" Yes."

" And if you can't?"

His eyes met hers.

" Then I'll keep looking."

Something in his voice made Ivy pause.

For once, his obsession didn't sound like control.

It sounded like desperation.

She lowered her gaze.

" We need Daniel."

Damien's expression hardened.

" Absolutely not."

" Why?"

" Because he lied to you."

" So have you."

Damien went silent.

Ivy continued.

" But Daniel admitted it."

She picked up her phone.

" Maybe that's the difference."

DANIEL'S SECRET

They found Daniel at an old warehouse near the river.

He looked exhausted.

When he saw Ivy, he immediately stood.

" You shouldn't have come."

" Where is Lena?"

" I don't know."

" Don't lie to me."

" I'm not."

Damien stepped forward.

" If you've been working with Victor—"

" I'm not working with him."

" Then why did he threaten your family?"

Daniel looked at Damien.

" Because your father destroyed mine."

Damien froze.

" What?"

Daniel laughed bitterly.

" Your father took everything from my family."

Ivy looked between them.

" What does this have to do with Elena?"

Daniel's expression softened.

" My father was one of the people Elena trusted."

" Was?"

" He died trying to expose the Blackwoods."

Damien's face tightened.

" That's impossible."

" No."

Daniel reached into his jacket and removed a folded document.

" This is proof."

Ivy opened it.

It was a financial record connecting Damien's father to several shell companies.

At the bottom was a signature.

Victor Hale.

Damien stared at it.

" Victor worked for my father."

Daniel nodded.

" And then he turned against him."

" Why?"

" Because your father betrayed him."

Ivy looked at the document.

" So Victor isn't trying to destroy the Blackwoods because of Elena."

Daniel shook his head.

" Not entirely."

" Then what does he want?"

Daniel looked at her.

" Revenge."

THE CALL

Ivy's phone rang.

Unknown number.

She answered.

" Lena?"

No answer.

Then a man's voice.

" Hello, Ivy."

Victor.

Damien immediately moved closer.

" Where is my sister?"

Victor chuckled.

" Your sister is safe."

" Let me speak to her."

" Not yet."

Ivy's voice hardened.

" What do you want?"

" The truth."

" You already know it."

" No."

Victor paused.

" I know what your mother discovered. I know what your father did. But there is one thing I don't know."

" What?"

" Where she hid the evidence."

Ivy's heart raced.

" What evidence?"

Victor laughed quietly.

" Exactly."

The call ended.

Ivy lowered the phone.

Damien looked at her.

" Did he say where Lena is?"

" No."

Then Ivy noticed something.

A faint sound had been captured on the call.

A bell.

She replayed the recording.

Ding.

Again.

Ding.

Daniel suddenly looked up.

" I know that sound."

" Where?"

" St. Mary's clock tower."

Damien grabbed his coat.

" Let's go."

THE CLOCK TOWER

The old clock tower stood at the center of the abandoned district.

They arrived just before sunset.

Damien and Daniel went ahead.

Ivy followed.

Inside, the building was silent.

Dust covered the floor.

A broken staircase led upward.

Then they heard something.

A woman's voice.

" Lena!"

Ivy rushed forward.

Damien caught her arm.

" Wait."

A shadow moved behind the doorway.

Then Lena appeared.

She looked frightened but unharmed.

" Ivy!"

Ivy ran to her.

They embraced.

" I thought I'd lost you."

" I'm okay."

" What did they do to you?"

Lena looked toward Victor.

He stood at the opposite end of the room.

" They asked questions."

Victor smiled.

" And she remembered."

Damien stepped forward.

" What happened that night?"

Victor looked at him.

" You were there."

" I was twenty."

" You saw everything."

" I didn't."

Victor laughed.

" You were standing at the bottom of the staircase."

Damien's face changed.

" I don't remember."

" You were afraid."

Victor's voice became colder.

" Your father told you to stay downstairs."

Damien closed his eyes.

A faint memory surfaced.

His father shouting.

Elena crying.

Two children upstairs.

Then a loud crash.

Damien opened his eyes.

" I remember."

Ivy looked at him.

" What?"

Damien's voice trembled.

" Your mother was trying to escape."

" What happened?"

" My father stopped her."

" How?"

Damien looked at Victor.

" I don't know."

Victor smiled.

" You do."

Damien's memories came rushing back.

Elena had been holding a small box.

She had looked at him.

She had said something.

Three words.

" PROTECT MY GIRLS"

Damien staggered backward.

Ivy stared at him.

" You remember?"

He nodded slowly.

" Your mother gave me the box."

Ivy's eyes widened.

" Where is it?"

Damien looked toward Victor.

" I gave it to my mother."

Everyone turned toward Victoria.

She had entered the room silently.

" I kept it."

Damien stared at her.

" You knew?"

Victoria nodded.

" Yes."

"Where is it?"

Victoria looked at Ivy.

" With the person who has been protecting you all these years."

Ivy frowned.

" Who?"

Victoria didn't answer.

A gunshot suddenly echoed outside.

Everyone froze.

Victor turned toward the window.

" He's here."

" Who?" Ivy asked.

Victor's face lost its confidence.

" Your father."

THE MAN WHO NEVER DIED

A car stopped outside.

The door opened.

A man stepped out.

Older.

Cold.

But unmistakably familiar.

Damien stared through the window.

His father.

Richard Blackwood.

Alive.

Ivy looked at Damien.

" That's him."

Damien couldn't speak.

Richard entered the building.

His eyes immediately found Ivy.

For a moment, nobody moved.

Then Richard smiled.

" Elena's daughter."

Ivy stepped backward.

" Stay away from me."

Richard's gaze shifted towards Damien.

" You look just like your mother."

Damien stepped between them.

" You lied to me."

Richard smiled.

" I protected you."

Damien's expression hardened.

" No."

He took another step.

" You destroyed me."

Richard's smile disappeared.

" You don't understand what your mother did."

Ivy shouted:

" She protected us!"

Richard looked at her.

" She betrayed me."

" She tried to save her children."

Richard's eyes narrowed.

" And that's why she had to disappear."

Silence.

Ivy's heart stopped.

" You killed her?"

Richard didn't answer.

But his silence said enough.

Damien looked horrified.

" Father..."

Richard turned toward him.

"She left me no choice."

Damien shook his head.

" You've lied to me my entire life."

Richard's expression remained cold.

" Because you were too weak to know the truth."

Damien stepped forward.

" I was your son."

" And she was my enemy."

THE FINAL PIECE

Richard reached into his coat.

Everyone tensed.

But instead of a weapon, he pulled out a small black box.

Ivy recognized it immediately.

The same symbol.

The same box her mother had written about.

Richard held it up.

" This is what Elena died protecting."

Ivy stared at it.

" Give it to me."

" No."

" What is inside?"

Richard smiled.

" The truth about your mother."

Then he looked at Damien.

" And the truth about you."

Damien frowned.

" What does that mean?"

Richard's eyes moved toward Lena.

" Ask your mother."

Victoria looked devastated.

" Richard..."

" You've hidden it long enough."

Ivy turned to Victoria.

" What is he talking about?"

Victoria began to cry.

" I wanted to tell you."

" Tell me what?"

Victoria looked at Ivy and Lena.

Then she whispered:

" Elena wasn't your biological mother."

The world seemed to stop.

Ivy stared at her.

" What?"

Lena shook her head.

" No."

Victoria wiped her tears.

" She raised you."

" But who is our mother?"

Victoria looked at Richard.

Then back at the twins.

" Your real mother is someone you've already met."

Ivy's face went pale.

" Who?"

Victoria opened her mouth.

Before she could answer, the lights went out.

A scream echoed through the building.

When the lights returned...

Richard was gone.

And so was the black box.

On the floor lay a single piece of paper.

Ivy picked it up.

Only one sentence was written on it:

THE WOMAN YOU CALL MOTHER WASN'T THE WOMAN WHO GAVE YOU LIFE.

Ivy stared at the words.

For the first time, she wondered whether everything she believed about herself had been a lie.

And somewhere in the darkness, someone was smiling.

Because the truth had finally begun to surface.