DARK OBSESSION

CHAPTER NINE: THE FINAL OBSESSION

The photograph remained on Damien's phone.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Ivy stared at the screen, unable to look away.

There she was.

A much younger Victoria Blackwood.

Beside her stood Elena Cole.

And between them were two little girls.

Two identical little girls.

Ivy and Lena.

Her hands began to tremble.

" Where did you get that?" she whispered.

Damien didn't answer.

He was staring at his mother.

The woman he had spent his entire life believing was incapable of keeping such a secret.

" Damien," Ivy said again.

His voice was barely audible.

" I don't know."

Lena stepped closer to the phone.

" That's our mother."

" I know."

" No." Lena shook her head. " I mean the woman beside her."

Damien looked at her.

" Victoria."

Lena nodded.

" She knew our mother."

" Apparently."

Ivy's thoughts raced.

" Why would your mother be holding us?"

Damien looked at the photograph again.

" I don't know."

" That's what you always say."

" Ivy—"

" No."

She stepped away from him.

" Every time we discover something, you say you don't know. But somehow you always know enough to keep secrets from me."

Damien didn't defend himself.

Because she was right.

THE BOX

Lena placed the small wooden box on the table.

" This is what our mother left."

Ivy examined it.

There was no lock.

Only a strange symbol carved into the lid.

Damien recognized it immediately.

His expression changed.

" What?"

Ivy noticed.

" You know that symbol."

Damien nodded slowly.

" It belonged to my father."

Everyone went silent.

" How?" Lena asked.

" My father used it on documents he considered confidential."

Ivy stared at the box.

" So my mother had something belonging to him."

" Apparently."

Damien carefully lifted the lid.

Inside was a collection of letters.

A necklace.

Several photographs.

And a small black notebook.

Ivy reached for the notebook.

The first page contained Elena's handwriting.

If you're reading this, then my daughters have finally found each other.

Ivy's eyes filled with tears.

Lena moved closer.

" Keep reading."

Ivy turned the page.

I never wanted to separate you. I was forced to.

She stopped.

Lena took the notebook from her.

The next sentence was worse.

The Blackwood family believes one of my daughters carries proof of what happened. They will search for her.

Damien's expression hardened.

" What proof?"

Lena continued reading.

The proof is not a document. It is a memory.

Ivy frowned.

" A memory?"

Lena turned the page.

But the next page had been torn out.

Someone had deliberately removed it.

THE MEMORY

That night, Ivy couldn't sleep.

She sat beside the hotel window, looking out at the empty road.

She kept thinking about Elena's words.

The proof is not a document. It is a memory.

A memory.

She closed her eyes.

Then something strange happened.

A faint image appeared in her mind.

A large house.

A staircase.

Rain hitting windows.

A woman crying.

A little girl hiding beneath a table.

Ivy opened her eyes.

Her breathing became faster.

She knew that place.

Or at least she thought she did.

She had seen it before.

Not in a photograph.

In a dream.

A recurring dream she'd had since childhood.

A woman's voice whispered:

" Don't make a sound, Ivy."

Ivy stood abruptly.

She remembered something else.

A second little girl.

Lena.

They had been together.

Then someone had taken them apart.

DAMlEN'S CONFESSION

Damien found Ivy sitting alone.

" You should rest."

" I remembered something."

He stopped.

" What?"

" A house."

His expression changed.

" What kind of house?"

" I don't know."

" Describe it."

She closed her eyes.

" Large. Old. There was a staircase. My mother was crying."

Damien listened carefully.

" Anything else?"

" A man."

" Who?"

" I couldn't see his face."

She opened her eyes.

" But I heard him say something."

" What?"

" Take the girls."

Damien went completely still.

" Damien?"

He looked away.

" I know that house."

Ivy stood.

" Where?"

" Blackwood Estate."

Her heart sank.

" I've been there."

" Yes."

" With my mother?"

" I think so."

She stared at him.

" What happened there?"

Damien's expression darkened.

" I don't know."

Ivy almost laughed.

" Again?"

He stepped closer.

" This time, I genuinely don't."

THE HIDDEN ROOM

Later that night, Damien returned to his family estate.

He entered his father's old study.

The room had remained untouched for years.

He searched the bookshelves.

Nothing.

He checked the desk.

Nothing.

Then he remembered something.

His father had always kept a hidden compartment behind the fireplace.

Damien moved the old painting above it.

A small panel appeared.

He opened it.

Inside was a metal box.

He removed it and opened the lid.

Documents.

Photographs.

A cassette tape.

And one handwritten letter.

The letter was addressed to Victoria.

Damien unfolded it.

His father's handwriting was unmistakable.

Victoria,

If Elena ever returns, you must keep the girls apart.

Damien's hands tightened.

He continued reading.

I cannot allow either of them to discover what happened that night.

Then came the sentence that made Damien's blood run cold.

One of the girls saw everything.

Damien stared at the page.

One of the girls.

Ivy?

Lena?

He couldn't know.

But now he understood why Elena had written about a memory.

One of the twins had witnessed something terrible.

Something powerful enough to destroy the Blackwood family.

VICTORIA

The next morning, Victoria Blackwood arrived at the hotel.

Damien confronted her immediately.

" You knew Elena."

Victoria didn't answer.

" You knew Ivy and Lena."

Still silence.

" You separated them."

Victoria finally looked at him.

" I did what I had to do."

Damien's voice hardened.

" You lied to me."

" I protected you."

" From what?"

Victoria looked toward Ivy.

" From your father."

Ivy stepped forward.

" What did he do?"

Victoria's eyes filled with sadness.

" Your mother discovered the truth."

" What truth?"

" Your father wasn't the only person involved."

Damien froze.

" Who else?"

Victoria looked at him.

Then at Ivy.

Then at Lena.

" It was someone inside this family."

" Who?" Ivy demanded.

Victoria's lips parted.

But before she could answer, the window shattered.

Everyone ducked.

A loud crash echoed through the room.

Damien immediately moved toward Ivy.

" Stay down."

Victoria screamed.

Lena grabbed Ivy's hand.

Then another sound.

A car engine.

By the time Damien reached the window, the vehicle was gone.

On the floor lay a small envelope.

Damien picked it up.

Inside was a photograph.

It showed Elena.

But this time, she wasn't alone.

Standing beside her was a man.

Damien stared at the photograph.

His face drained of color.

Ivy looked over his shoulder.

" Who is that?"

Damien swallowed.

" My father."

" But that's not possible."

" Why?"

" Because..."

Ivy pointed at the date.

The photograph had been taken three years after Damien's father was supposedly killed in an accident.

Nobody spoke.

Then Victoria whispered:

" He wasn't killed."

Damien turned toward her.

" What?"

Victoria's eyes filled with fear.

" Your father is alive."

The room fell silent.

And somewhere far away, a phone rang.

A man answered.

His voice was calm.

" Did they find the photograph?"

A pause.

Then he smiled.

" Good."

He looked at another photograph on his desk.

It showed Ivy and Lena as children.

Beside it was a recent photograph of Damien.

The man ran his finger over Damien's face.

" Let the boy keep searching."

He smiled.

" He'll lead us straight to the girls."