I didn't tell anyone where I was going.
Not Maya, not my lawyer, not even Eleanor. I left Sofia with Elena at the mansion, kissed my daughter's soft forehead, and drove to the warehouse district alone.
It was a mistake. I knew it was a mistake even as I made it. But I needed answers, and Marcus Hart seemed like the only person willing to give them to me.
The warehouse was in an abandoned industrial area near the docks. Graffiti covered the walls, and broken glass littered the parking lot. My expensive car looked absurdly out of place as I pulled up to the address Marcus had given me.
He was waiting outside, leaning against a black SUV, checking his phone. When he saw me, he smiled that perfect, calculated smile.
"Sophia, I'm glad you came," he said, pocketing his phone. "I wasn't sure you would."
"I'm here for answers," I said, staying near my car. "You said you had proof Damien was lying."
"I do," Marcus said, pulling out a tablet. "But first, let's talk inside where it's more private."
Every instinct screamed at me not to follow him into that warehouse. But I was desperate for the truth, so I ignored my better judgment and followed him through the rusted metal door.
Inside, the warehouse was surprisingly clean. Someone had set up a makeshift office space with a desk, chairs, and several filing cabinets. Lights had been strung up, casting harsh shadows across the concrete floor.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Marcus said, gesturing around. "I've been preparing this for months. Ever since I learned what Blackwood was planning for our family."
"Months?" I asked. "You've been back in the country for months?"
"Oh, Sophia," Marcus said, his smile turning cold. "I've been back for years. I've been watching. Waiting. Building my own case against Damien Blackwood."
He pulled out a thick folder and dropped it on the desk. "This is everything. Every fabricated document, every bribed official, every piece of evidence Blackwood tampered with. But more importantly—" he opened the folder, revealing photographs, "—this is proof that he was working with someone inside the FBI."
I stared at the photographs. They showed Damien meeting with a man I didn't recognize—in restaurants, in parking garages, in what looked like a hotel room.
"Who is that?" I asked.
"Agent Michael Torres," Marcus said. "He's been feeding Blackwood information for years. Helping him fabricate evidence, covering his tracks. Torres is the reason Blackwood was never caught until now."
"How did you get these?" I asked suspiciously.
"I have my resources," Marcus said vaguely. "The point is, Blackwood didn't just destroy our family on his own. He had help from inside law enforcement. Which means everything—every conviction, every piece of evidence, every testimony—is suspect."
It made a terrible kind of sense. But something still felt wrong.
"Why are you showing me this?" I asked. "What do you want from me?"
Marcus's expression turned serious. "I want you to testify. At your father's appeal, at your mother's hearing, at Victoria's new trial. I want you to tell the court that Blackwood corrupted the entire investigation. That nothing can be trusted."
"But some of it was real," I protested. "My father did commit crimes. Victoria did—"
"Did they?" Marcus interrupted. "Or did you just believe what Blackwood told you? You said yourself you didn't know the full extent of his crimes. How do you know he was telling the truth about anything?"
I opened my mouth to respond but couldn't find the words. He was right. I had no way of knowing what was real and what Damien had fabricated.
"I need time to think about this," I said, turning toward the door.
"Of course," Marcus said smoothly. "But Sophia—there's one more thing you should know."
I paused.
"Damien Blackwood isn't Sofia's biological father."
My blood ran cold. I turned slowly to face him.
"What did you say?"
"I know the timeline," Marcus said, pulling out another document. "I know when you married Blackwood, and I know when Sofia was born. The math doesn't add up. Which means she's Ethan Cole's daughter, not Blackwood's."
"How did you—"
"It doesn't matter how I know," Marcus said. "What matters is that Blackwood has been lying to you about everything. Including your daughter's paternity. He's been playing you from the beginning, Sophia. Using your pain and your pregnancy to manipulate you into helping him destroy our family."
Tears stung my eyes. "Get out of my way."
"Think about what I'm offering," Marcus called as I headed for the door. "Help me free your family. Help me expose Blackwood's complete corruption. Or watch your daughter grow up knowing her father is a monster who used her as a pawn in his revenge scheme."
I didn't respond. I just pushed through the door and ran to my car.
---
I was halfway home when I realized I was being followed.
A black sedan had been behind me since I left the warehouse, maintaining a careful distance but never quite disappearing. When I turned, it turned. When I sped up, it sped up.
My heart pounding, I called Agent Chen.
"Agent Chen, someone's following me," I said when she answered. "I'm on Route 9 heading back to the estate."
"Where were you?" Chen asked immediately.
"I met with my uncle, Marcus Hart. He showed me evidence that Damien was working with someone in the FBI—an Agent Michael Torres."
There was a long pause on the other end of the line.
"Mrs. Blackwood, there is no Agent Michael Torres in the FBI," Chen said carefully. "Not in this district, not anywhere. I've been with the bureau for twenty years. That name doesn't exist."
My stomach dropped. "But I saw photographs—"
"Fabricated," Chen said flatly. "Mrs. Blackwood, where are you exactly? I'm sending a patrol car to you right now."
I gave her my location, my hands shaking on the wheel. The black sedan was still behind me.
"What about Marcus Hart?" I asked. "Is he really my uncle?"
"We're looking into that now," Chen said. "But Sophia, you need to be very careful. If this man approached you claiming to be family and showed you fabricated evidence, he's trying to manipulate you. Don't trust anything he tells you."
The black sedan suddenly accelerated, pulling alongside my car. I couldn't see through the tinted windows, but fear shot through me.
"He's right next to me," I said into the phone, my voice high with panic.
"Stay on the main road," Chen instructed. "Don't pull over. The patrol car is three minutes away."
The sedan swerved toward me, forcing me toward the shoulder. I gripped the wheel, fighting to maintain control. Then suddenly, the sedan pulled ahead and stopped diagonally across the road, blocking my path.
I slammed on my brakes, the car screeching to a halt just feet from the sedan.
The driver's door opened, and Marcus Hart stepped out.
"Sophia," he called, walking toward my car. "We need to talk."
"Stay away from me!" I screamed through the window.
"You called the FBI, didn't you?" Marcus said, his charming mask slipping. "That was a mistake, Sophia. A very big mistake."
He pulled something from his jacket—not a gun, I realized with relief, but a phone. He held it up so I could see the screen.
It was a video feed. Of my mansion. Of the nursery.
Of Sofia sleeping in her crib.
"Did you really think I'd let you walk away without insurance?" Marcus asked, his voice cold now. "Your daughter is very beautiful, Sophia. It would be a shame if anything happened to her."
Every molecule of oxygen left my lungs.
"Don't you dare—"
"Then listen very carefully," Marcus interrupted. "You're going to tell the FBI that this was all a misunderstanding. That I'm your uncle, we had a pleasant meeting, and there's nothing to investigate. You're going to testify at your father's hearing exactly as I instructed. And you're going to help me take control of the Hart Empire."
"Why?" I asked, tears streaming down my face. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because your father stole what was rightfully mine," Marcus snarled, his composure finally cracking. "The company, the money, the power—it should have been mine. But Richard was always the favorite, always the chosen one. So I waited. I planned. And I found the perfect weapon to destroy him."
"Damien," I whispered.
"Damien Blackwood was easy to manipulate," Marcus said. "A boy consumed by revenge, desperate to hurt the man who destroyed his father. All I had to do was feed him information, point him in the right direction, and watch him tear your family apart. He did all the work for me."
"You used him," I said, understanding flooding through me. "You used Damien to destroy my father so you could take over."
"And now I'm using you," Marcus said simply. "So here's what's going to happen. You're going to cooperate fully. You're going to help me free Richard and take control of the Hart businesses. And if you don't—" he held up the phone again, showing Sofia sleeping peacefully, "—well, let's just say accidents happen to babies all the time."
In the distance, I could hear sirens approaching.
Marcus heard them too. He smiled coldly. "Remember what I said, Sophia. Your daughter's life depends on your cooperation."
Then he got back in his car and sped away, disappearing before the police arrived.
---
Agent Chen arrived minutes later, finding me sobbing in my car, still parked in the middle of the road.
"He has cameras in my house," I managed to say between sobs. "He threatened Sofia. He said he'd hurt her if I don't cooperate."
"We'll sweep your home immediately," Chen promised. "We'll find the cameras, we'll increase security. Your daughter will be safe."
"You don't understand," I said, looking at her with desperate eyes. "He's been planning this for years. He manipulated Damien. He destroyed my family so he could take over. And now he's threatening my baby."
"Then we'll stop him," Chen said firmly. "But I need you to trust me, Sophia. Can you do that?"
I thought about Damien's warnings. About Marcus's threats. About Sofia sleeping peacefully, unaware of the danger surrounding her.
"I don't know who to trust anymore," I whispered.
"Then trust yourself," Chen said. "Trust your instincts. What do they tell you?"
I closed my eyes and thought about everything that had happened. The revenge, the lies, the manipulation. All of it had started with secrets and lies.
I was done with secrets.
"I want to tell you everything," I said, opening my eyes. "Everything Damien told me, everything Marcus showed me, everything I know. And then I want you to help me protect my daughter and stop Marcus Hart before he destroys anyone else."
Chen nodded. "Then let's get you somewhere safe, and you can tell me everything."
As I followed her patrol car back toward the city, I made myself a promise: Whatever happened next, I would protect Sofia. Even if it meant burning down everything else.
My daughter would not become another casualty in the Hart family's war.
Not while I was still breathing.