The silence in the basement lasted only a few seconds.
Then another gunshot echoed through the Hale estate.
Eleanor flinched.
Raven immediately pulled her closer.
"Stay with me."
"I am."
Victor stood near the basement door, listening.
"They're upstairs."
Raven looked at him.
"What about Adrian?"
"I don't know."
"And Mark?"
Victor's expression darkened.
"Probably with him."
Eleanor looked at the boxes surrounding them.
"What exactly did Ellen leave here?"
Victor walked toward an old wooden cabinet.
"Everything she couldn't trust anyone else with."
Raven stared at him.
"You've known about this room for five years."
"Yes."
"You knew my mother was hiding evidence."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you give it to me?"
Victor looked at her.
"Because Ellen told me not to."
Raven's jaw tightened.
"You keep saying that."
"Because she made me swear."
"She was my mother."
"I know."
"Then why did she trust you more than me?"
Victor's expression softened.
"Because she knew you would try to destroy everyone responsible."
Raven fell silent.
Victor continued.
"She didn't want revenge to become your life."
Raven looked away.
Eleanor gently touched her arm.
"Maybe she wanted you to have a life before you knew everything."
Raven looked at her.
Eleanor smiled faintly.
"And now you have me."
Raven's expression softened.
"Yes."
Victor watched them quietly.
Then he walked toward the cabinet.
"There is something you need to see."
He removed several old files.
Underneath them was a small black journal.
Raven immediately recognized the handwriting on the cover.
Ellen Hale.
Her heart skipped.
She reached for it.
"That's my mother's."
Victor nodded.
"She wrote everything down."
Raven opened the first page.
The date was eleven years earlier.
She began reading.
---
I no longer trust the Vance family.
Raven stopped.
Eleanor moved closer.
The next page read:
Mark believes cooperation will protect Eleanor. Adrian believes fear is the only language these people understand. They are both wrong.
Raven turned another page.
The Blackwood Circle has infiltrated our businesses, our families, and our social circles. They don't simply want money. They want control.
Eleanor's expression changed.
"Keep going."
Raven turned the page.
They have discovered that Eleanor is important to them. I don't yet understand why.
Another page.
Sofia knows more than she admits.
Raven looked at Eleanor.
"Your mother."
Eleanor nodded.
"Keep reading."
Raven continued.
Sofia and I agreed that if anything happens to either of us, Eleanor must be protected. Mark cannot know everything. Adrian must never know everything.
Raven stopped.
"Why wouldn't she trust Mark?"
Victor answered.
"Because Ellen knew Mark was already being watched."
Raven looked up.
"By the Blackwood Circle?"
Victor nodded.
Eleanor's voice was quiet.
"Was my father working for them?"
Victor shook his head.
"No."
"Then why did Ellen not trust him?"
"Because fear makes people dangerous."
Raven looked back at the journal.
The next entry was dated two years later.
Mark has made a deal with them. He thinks he's protecting Eleanor. He doesn't understand that once you give them something, they always demand more.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
"My father."
Raven continued reading.
Adrian knows about the deal. He wants to use it for his own advantage. I fear the brothers will eventually turn against each other.
Another page.
If they ever discover the second account, they will come after Eleanor.
Raven frowned.
"Second account?"
Victor nodded.
"I've never found it."
Raven turned the page.
The next several pages had been torn out.
She looked up.
"Who removed these?"
Victor's face became serious.
"I don't know."
Raven stared at him.
"Someone came here after Ellen died."
"Who?"
"I never saw their face."
"Then how do you know?"
"They left the house in the middle of the night."
Eleanor frowned.
"Did they take anything?"
Victor nodded.
"Three boxes."
Raven's expression hardened.
"What was inside?"
"I don't know."
"But you know they took them."
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you stop them?"
Victor looked away.
"Because I was injured."
Raven went silent.
"Injured how?"
Victor pulled back his sleeve.
A long scar ran across his forearm.
"They tried to kill me."
Eleanor's eyes widened.
"Who?"
Victor looked at her.
"The same people who killed Ellen."
---
Upstairs, Mark stood in the study.
Adrian was gone.
The armed men who had entered the house were no longer moving through the rooms.
Mark looked around.
"Where are they?"
One of the men approached.
"We lost them."
Mark's expression changed.
"Who?"
"Raven and Eleanor."
Mark's jaw tightened.
"You were supposed to find them."
"They disappeared through the basement."
Mark immediately understood.
"The hidden room."
The man looked confused.
"What room?"
Mark didn't answer.
He rushed toward the basement.
But before he reached the door, Adrian stepped out of the shadows.
"Looking for something?"
Mark stopped.
"What did you do?"
Adrian smiled.
"I told you."
"You betrayed me."
"I did."
"Why?"
Adrian's smile disappeared.
"Because I finally realized something."
"What?"
"You've been protecting the wrong person."
Mark stared at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ellen."
Mark's face changed.
"Don't."
"You spent years trying to hide what happened."
"Because it was necessary."
"No."
Adrian stepped closer.
"You hid it because you were afraid."
Mark's voice became cold.
"You know nothing."
"I know exactly what happened."
Mark froze.
Adrian continued.
"Ellen didn't die because of the Blackwood Circle."
Mark stared at him.
"She died because she tried to expose them."
"And who stopped her?"
Adrian smiled.
"You already know."
Mark's expression hardened.
"Don't say it."
"Why?"
"Because you don't know what you're talking about."
Adrian leaned closer.
"I know who gave the order."
Mark's face went pale.
Adrian whispered,
"And it wasn't me."
---
In the basement, Raven continued reading.
Her hands were trembling.
The final entry in the journal was dated three days before Ellen's death.
If you're reading this, something has happened to me.
Raven's breathing stopped.
Eleanor held her hand.
Raven continued.
Raven, if this is you, listen carefully.
Raven's eyes filled with tears.
I love you more than anything in this world.
She swallowed.
Everything I did was to protect you. Even the things you may one day hate me for.
Raven's tears fell.
Eleanor moved closer.
Raven continued reading.
There is something you must understand about Eleanor.
Raven froze.
Eleanor looked at her.
"What?"
Raven kept reading.
Eleanor was never the enemy. She was the reason I stayed.
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
Raven turned the page.
The Vance family is not responsible for my death.
Raven stopped.
She read the sentence again.
And again.
Her entire understanding of the past shifted.
Eleanor whispered,
"What does it say?"
Raven handed her the journal.
Eleanor read it.
Her hands began trembling.
"There has to be more."
Raven nodded.
They turned the page.
There was only one sentence.
The person who ordered my death is someone you both trust.
Eleanor stared at the words.
"Someone we both trust?"
Raven looked at Victor.
"Who?"
Victor shook his head.
"I don't know."
Raven stood.
"Think."
"I've spent five years trying to figure it out."
"Then think harder."
Victor looked at the journal.
"There was one person Ellen trusted completely."
"Who?"
Victor hesitated.
Then he said,
"Her doctor."
Raven's eyes narrowed.
"Dr. James?"
"No."
Victor shook his head.
"Not James."
"Then who?"
Victor looked toward the ceiling.
"The man who treated Ellen after the attack."
Raven's expression changed.
"Where is he?"
Victor shook his head.
"He disappeared the same night Ellen died."
Eleanor suddenly remembered something.
A white coat.
A hospital room.
A man's voice.
She grabbed Raven's arm.
"I remember him."
Raven turned.
"What?"
"The doctor."
"What about him?"
"He was there."
"Where?"
"In the room with Ellen."
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The memory returned.
Ellen lying on a bed.
Blood on her clothes.
A man in a white coat standing beside her.
Mark shouting.
Adrian arguing.
And the silver-masked woman standing in the doorway.
Then the doctor leaned toward Ellen.
He whispered something.
Eleanor couldn't hear it.
Then Ellen looked toward the door.
She saw little Eleanor.
And her expression changed.
Fear.
Pure fear.
Eleanor opened her eyes.
"I remember what he said."
Raven held her shoulders.
"What?"
Eleanor whispered,
"He told Ellen…"
She swallowed.
"He said, 'You should have listened when I warned you.'"
Raven's eyes widened.
Then Victor's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed immediately.
"What?"
He listened.
Then slowly looked at Raven.
"The doctor."
Raven's voice became cold.
"What about him?"
Victor swallowed.
"He's alive."
"Where?"
Victor looked at Eleanor.
"He's working at a private hospital in Italy."
Raven's heart pounded.
"What's his name?"
Victor answered.
"Dr. Alexander Cross."
Eleanor froze.
She knew that name.
Raven saw the recognition on her face.
"You know him?"
Eleanor nodded slowly.
"He treated me when I was a child."
Silence.
Raven stared at her.
Eleanor looked terrified.
"And he still treats my family."
At that moment, Raven's phone vibrated.
A message from Andrea appeared.
Raven, I found the doctor.
A second message followed.
There's something you need to know about him.
Then another.
He's been working for Mark Vance for the last five years.
Raven's eyes hardened.
The mystery surrounding Ellen's death had just taken another turn.
And this time, the person holding the answers was much closer to Eleanor than either of them had imagined.
To be continued…