Chapter 5 - Isabella’s Voice
Victor listened to Isabella’s recording twelve times.
Each time, he looked less like a mafia boss.
More like a man whose grief had been manufactured.
Lily sat across from him in the mansion library.
Ethan slept beside her.
Blue cast.
Breathing evenly.
Victor asked:
“Did Serena ever talk about Isabella?”
“Only once.”
“What did she say?”
“That Ethan had his mother’s weakness.”
Victor’s eyes darkened.
“What weakness?”
“She said Isabella could never handle pressure.”
He looked away.
Lily continued.
“I thought she meant grief.”
Victor stood by the fireplace.
“I believed Isabella died because I was late.”
Lily waited.
He told her.
The boat exploded on Lake Michigan.
Victor was supposed to join her.
A business emergency delayed him.
Serena called.
Said Isabella went alone.
The wreckage was found at dawn.
Victor blamed himself.
Serena stayed close.
Not immediately romantic.
Patient.
Helpful.
She understood grief because she claimed she had lost a sister young.
True, in a twisted way.
Then Lily asked:
“Did you ever question the dental records?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because my own doctor verified them.”
Name:
Dr. Henry Sloane.
Blackwood family physician.
Marco searched.
Sloane retired to Arizona.
Then disappeared from records.
One year later, he died in a private plane crash.
Convenient.
Then Detective Brooks arrived.
“We found Isabella.”
Victor turned.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
A psychiatric care facility outside Milwaukee.
Admitted under another name.
Three weeks earlier.
Guardian authorization signed by Serena.
Victor moved toward the door.
Brooks stopped him.
“You cannot enter with your men.”
He stared.
“She is my wife.”
“Legally presumed dead.”
Then:
“And she may be terrified of you.”
Victor froze.
Why would she fear him?
The facility records claimed Victor ordered her confinement.
Serena had told Isabella he knew.
That he wanted her gone.
That Ethan was safer without her.
Victor’s face broke.
Lily said:
“Let me go first.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Serena knows Isabella will distrust you.”
Lily held Ethan’s recorder.
“But she may trust the person Serena tried to silence.”
Brooks agreed to supervised contact.
At the facility, Isabella sat in a plain room.
Thin.
Dark hair streaked with gray.
Eyes alert.
Not sedated now.
She looked at Lily.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Lily Carter.”
“Serena sent you?”
“No.”
Lily placed the recorder on the table.
Then played Serena’s voice threatening her.
Isabella listened.
Her hands started shaking.
“Ethan?”
“He’s alive.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
“Is he safe?”
“Yes.”
“He broke his arm.”
She covered her mouth.
Lily continued gently.
“Serena hurt him.”
Tears ran down Isabella’s face.
Then:
“Victor?”
“He found us.”
Isabella’s expression hardened.
“Did he know?”
“No.”
“You believe him?”
Lily thought.
“I believe he didn’t know about the injury.”
Then:
“I don’t yet know what else he chose not to see.”
That answer made Isabella look at her differently.
Then Isabella whispered:
“Serena has a ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“Every payment.”
“Every doctor.”
“Every judge.”
“Every police contact.”
“She used Victor’s name.”
Lily’s stomach tightened.
Serena had committed crimes under Blackwood authority.
Some people might think Victor ordered them.
Then Isabella said:
“The ledger proves she built her own organization inside his.”
“Where is it?”
Isabella looked toward the mirrored wall.
Then whispered:
“Inside Ethan’s crib.”
Lily froze.
The crib at the mansion.
The one Ethan slept in every night.
Then Isabella added:
“And if Serena knows you found me, she’ll burn the house before she lets you open it.”
May you like
At that exact moment, Marco called.
Smoke had been detected in the nursery wing.
