# PART 3 — THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE TRUTH
Eleanor Blackwood was waiting in a private lounge.
She looked calm.
Almost too calm.
“Sit down, Emma.”
I sat.
She poured herself tea.
“You’ve been doing a wonderful job.”
“Thank you.”
“How is my son?”
I hesitated.
“Unchanged.”
Her fingers tightened around the cup.
“Good.”
One word.
But it sounded wrong.
She continued.
“You understand what happens when people interfere in family matters?”
I looked at her.
“No.”
“They lose their jobs.”
She smiled.
“Sometimes their homes.”
My heart pounded.
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m advising you.”
She stood.
“You’re a poor woman with a baby. You need this job.”
I felt something inside me harden.
“Yes.”
“I wouldn’t want anything unfortunate to happen to you.”
I stood.
“Neither would I.”
I walked away.
When I returned to Adrian’s room, he was awake.
“What happened?”
“Your mother threatened me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I knew it.”
“Who is Dr. Reynolds?”
Adrian’s face changed.
“Why?”
“I saw a photograph of you with him.”
He was silent.
Then he whispered:
“He was my family’s physician.”
“Was?”
“I fired him six months ago.”
“Why?”
“He discovered something.”
“What?”
“He told me my family had been secretly increasing my medication.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn’t you report them?”
“I tried.”
“To whom?”
“The police.”
“And?”
He laughed bitterly.
“They said there wasn’t enough evidence.”
Suddenly, Lily began crying.
I picked her up.
Adrian watched us.
“Emma.”
“Yes?”
“If I don’t survive tonight…”
“Don’t say that.”
“You need to know where the evidence is.”
He told me about a hidden safe inside his office.
Inside was a backup drive containing financial records.
But there was a problem.
His office was in the Blackwood Tower.
His family controlled access.
“How am I supposed to get there?”
“You’re not.”
He looked toward Lily.
“She is.”
I frowned.
“My baby?”
“Everyone watches adults.”
He smiled faintly.
“Nobody watches a tired mother carrying a diaper bag.”
That night, I left the hospital with Lily.
I wore an old coat.
Inside the diaper bag was a small encrypted drive Adrian had given me.
I entered Blackwood Tower through the service entrance.
Nobody stopped me.
I reached the executive floor.
His office was locked.
But Adrian had given me the access code.
Inside, I found the safe.
The drive was there.
So were dozens of documents.
I opened the first folder.
My blood ran cold.
There were payments to Dr. Reynolds.
Payments to hospital administrators.
Payments to a private security company.
And one final document.
A life-insurance policy.
Adrian’s life was insured for $80 million.
The beneficiary was not Marcus.
It was Eleanor.
Then I found something worse.
A second file.
**SUBJECT: EMMA CARTER**
My name.
My address.
My daughter’s name.
Photographs.
Employment history.
Medical records.
Someone had been investigating me before I ever entered the hospital.
Then the door opened.
I spun around.
Marcus stood there.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
I backed away.
He locked the door.
“Give me the drive.”
I held Lily tighter.
“I don’t have anything.”
He smiled.
“I know you’re lying.”
He stepped closer.
Then a voice came from behind him.
“Marcus.”
He froze.
I looked past him.
Adrian was standing in the doorway.
Weak.
Pale.
But standing.
Marcus stared at his brother in horror.
Adrian whispered:
“You should have killed me when you had the chance.”
