The FBI swept my mansion for six hours.
I sat in the kitchen with Sofia in my arms, refusing to let her go, while agents in tactical gear moved through every room with detection equipment. Elena sat beside me, her face pale with shock. Maya had rushed over the moment I called her, and now she paced back and forth, alternating between fury and terror.
"How did we not notice?" Elena asked, her voice shaking. "How did he get cameras into the house?"
"He probably had access before you moved in," Agent Chen said, entering the kitchen with a grim expression. "We've found fourteen cameras so far. Bedroom, nursery, living areas, even your private office. Whoever placed them had intimate knowledge of the house layout."
"Fourteen," I repeated numbly. Sofia stirred in my arms, and I held her closer. "He's been watching us for how long?"
"Based on the equipment, at least three months," Chen said. "Possibly longer. We're also finding evidence of phone taps, computer monitoring, the works. Mrs. Blackwood, this was a professional surveillance operation."
"Can you trace it back to Marcus Hart?" I asked.
"We're working on it," Chen said carefully. "But whoever set this up knew how to cover their tracks. The feeds route through multiple servers overseas. It'll take time."
"Time we don't have," I said, looking down at Sofia's sleeping face. My daughter, who'd been watched by a monster since birth. "He threatened her. He said accidents happen to babies."
"Which is why we're not taking any chances," Chen said. "I'm assigning a protective detail to you and your daughter. Twenty-four-hour security, starting immediately. And I strongly recommend you leave this house until we're certain it's secure."
"Leave?" Elena asked. "Where would we go?"
"We have a safe house," Chen offered. "It's secure, monitored, completely off the grid."
I thought about living in a safe house with my infant daughter, hiding from a man who'd orchestrated my family's destruction. It felt like letting Marcus win.
"No," I said firmly. "This is my home. I won't let him drive me out of it."
"Sophia—" Maya started.
"He's already taken too much," I interrupted. "My family, my marriage, my peace of mind. I won't give him my home too. We stay. But we fight back."
Chen studied me for a moment, then nodded. "Then we do this properly. Full security system upgrade. Panic rooms. Armed guards. The mansion becomes a fortress."
"Whatever it takes," I said. "Just keep my daughter safe."
---
That evening, after the FBI had finished their sweep and installed new security measures, I went to see Damien again.
He looked even worse than the last time I'd visited. Dark circles under his eyes, a healing bruise on his jaw that suggested he'd been in a fight with another inmate.
"You were right," I said without preamble as soon as we were alone. "About Marcus. About everything."
Damien's eyes closed briefly, something like relief crossing his face. "You met with him."
"He threatened Sofia," I said, my voice breaking. "He had cameras in our house, Damien. In the nursery. He's been watching our daughter since she was born."
"That son of a—" Damien's hands clenched into fists. "Is she safe? Is Sofia—"
"She's safe. For now. The FBI swept the house and installed new security." I leaned forward, my voice urgent. "But I need you to tell me everything, Damien. Everything about Marcus Hart. How he manipulated you, what he wants, all of it."
Damien took a deep breath, his shoulders sagging. "It started fifteen years ago. I was twenty-two, fresh out of business school, consumed by rage over my father's death. I wanted to destroy Richard Hart, but I had no idea how."
"And Marcus approached you?" I guessed.
"At a business conference in Hong Kong," Damien confirmed. "He introduced himself as Richard's estranged brother, said they'd had a falling out years ago. He seemed sympathetic to my story about my father. He understood revenge."
"Because he wanted revenge too," I said.
"I didn't see it at the time," Damien admitted. "I thought we were just two men who'd been wronged by the same family. He started feeding me information—business dealings, financial records, personal scandals. Everything I needed to start building a case against your father."
"But some of it was fabricated," I said.
"Some of it, yes. But not all. That's what made it so effective. He'd give me real crimes—things your father actually did—and then supplement them with fabricated evidence to make sure they'd stick in court. I thought I was being thorough. I didn't realize I was being used."
Damien's voice grew bitter. "For years, Marcus guided my revenge. Every move I made, he'd encouraged. Every business rival I destroyed, he'd suggested. Every piece of evidence I fabricated, he'd helped refine. I thought I was the one in control, but he was pulling my strings the entire time."
"Why?" I asked. "What does he really want?"
"The Hart Empire," Damien said simply. "It should have gone to him—he's the older brother. But your grandfather gave everything to Richard because Marcus was... unstable. Violent. There were incidents when they were younger. Marcus nearly killed a business associate in a fit of rage. Your grandfather disowned him, sent him overseas with a settlement, and told him never to come back."
"But he did come back," I said.
"He's been back for decades," Damien said. "Living overseas was just a cover. He's been building his own empire, waiting for the right moment to take back what he thinks is his. And when I came along, consumed by my own revenge, he saw the perfect opportunity."
"He used you to destroy my father," I said, understanding flooding through me. "And once Richard was in prison, Marcus could step in as the remaining Hart heir and take control of the company."
"Except you complicated things," Damien said, a ghost of a smile crossing his face. "By marrying me, by becoming a Blackwood, you took yourself out of the Hart succession. Marcus can't just claim the empire now—there's no clear heir. So he needs you to cooperate. He needs you to help him legitimize his claim."
"That's why he's threatening Sofia," I said, my blood running cold. "If I don't help him, he'll—"
"He'll do whatever it takes," Damien interrupted grimly. "Marcus Hart doesn't care about family. He doesn't care about innocent lives. He only cares about power. And right now, you and Sofia are the only things standing between him and complete control of the Hart Empire."
I sat back in my chair, trying to process everything. "What do we do?"
"We?" Damien asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sophia, I'm in federal detention awaiting trial for multiple felonies. There's no 'we' anymore."
"Yes, there is," I said firmly. "Because you're the only person who knows Marcus's full operation. You're the only witness who can testify about how he manipulated everything. The FBI needs your testimony to bring him down."
"I'm not a credible witness," Damien pointed out. "I'm a convicted criminal who's admitted to fabricating evidence. Any halfway decent lawyer will tear my testimony apart."
"Then we find other evidence," I said. "Recordings, documents, something that proves Marcus was pulling the strings. There has to be something."
Damien was quiet for a long moment. Then: "There might be. When Marcus and I used to meet, I kept records. Emails, text messages, recordings of some of our conversations. I didn't know why at the time—maybe some instinct to protect myself. But I kept them all."
"Where?" I asked urgently.
"In a safety deposit box," Damien said. "In the Cayman Islands. Under a false name."
Of course. The Cayman Islands. "How do I access it?"
"You can't," Damien said. "It requires my physical presence and biometric identification. The only way to access that box is if I'm there in person."
"Then we get you out," I said immediately.
"Sophia, I'm in federal detention—"
"Then we make a deal," I interrupted. "You cooperate fully with the FBI investigation into Marcus Hart. You provide testimony, evidence, everything. In exchange, they grant you temporary release to retrieve the evidence from the Cayman Islands."
"That's not how it works—"
"Then we make it work," I said fiercely. "Because if we don't stop Marcus Hart, my daughter will never be safe. Your daughter will never be safe."
Damien looked at me with something like wonder in his eyes. "After everything I've done—the lies, the manipulation, the crimes—you're still willing to fight beside me?"
"I'm not fighting beside you," I corrected. "I'm fighting for Sofia. If that means working with you, then that's what I'll do. But don't mistake this for forgiveness, Damien. We're not reconciling. We're not getting back together. We're just two parents trying to protect our daughter from a monster."
"Fair enough," Damien said quietly. "Then let's take down Marcus Hart."
---
Agent Chen was skeptical when I presented the idea.
"You want me to arrange temporary release for a federal detainee facing multiple felony charges so he can fly to the Cayman Islands to retrieve evidence from a secret safety deposit box?" she asked incredulously. "Do you have any idea how many regulations that violates?"
"Probably a lot," I admitted. "But Marcus Hart has been manipulating the legal system for decades. He's threatened my daughter. He's orchestrated multiple wrongful convictions. And the only evidence that can definitively prove it is in that box."
"Assuming the evidence actually exists," Chen pointed out.
"It exists," I said with certainty. "Damien kept records of everything. That's how he operated—he documented every crime, every manipulation, every step of his revenge. He would have documented his conversations with Marcus too."
Chen was silent for a long moment, weighing her options. "I'll need authorization from my superiors. And Blackwood would have to agree to full cooperation—testimony, evidence, everything. No holding back."
"He'll agree," I said. "He wants Marcus Hart stopped as much as we do."
"And what about you?" Chen asked, studying me carefully. "You're married to a man who's admitted to destroying multiple lives, fabricating evidence, and corrupting the justice system. Why are you helping him?"
"I'm not helping him," I said. "I'm helping my daughter. There's a difference."
Chen nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll make the call. But Sophia, if this goes wrong—if Blackwood tries to run, if the evidence doesn't exist, if Marcus Hart gets wind of what we're planning—the consequences will be severe. For all of us."
"I understand," I said. "But we don't have a choice. Marcus Hart won't stop until he has what he wants. And what he wants is control of my family's empire and my silence. I'm not giving him either."
---
That night, I stood in Sofia's nursery watching my daughter sleep, the new security cameras blinking in the corners. Armed guards patrolled the grounds. Panic buttons had been installed in every room. My home had become a fortress.
But I knew it wouldn't be enough.
Marcus Hart had been planning this for decades. He had resources, connections, and an absolute willingness to destroy anyone in his path.
The only way to stop him was to expose him completely. To gather evidence that would bury him so deep he could never threaten my family again.
And if that meant working with my morally compromised husband to travel to the Cayman Islands and retrieve records of their criminal conspiracy, then that's what I would do.
Because I was done being a victim.
I was done being manipulated.
It was time to fight back.
And this time, I was going to win.