Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside Blackmere House
The vault had never contained the ledger.
It contained a tracking device.
Roman found it beneath the envelope.
Tiny.
Military grade.
Active.
“Julian wanted us here,” Elias said.
Roman looked toward the vault cameras.
“No. He wanted Blackmere House empty.”
They raced back.
They were too late.
The west wing had been breached.
Nothing valuable appeared missing.
Until Nora entered Catherine Blackmere’s old office.
The letters were gone.
So was the flash drive.
Someone inside the house had helped Julian.
Roman locked down the estate.
Every employee was questioned.
Nora hated it.
The frightened faces.
The locked gates.
The guards.
It reminded her too much of Adrian.
Roman noticed.
“You can leave.”
“And go where?”
“Anywhere you choose. Elias will arrange protection.”
Nora stared at him.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Roman looked almost irritated.
“Why is it so difficult for you to believe someone might want you safe without owning you?”
The words hit too accurately.
Nora turned away.
“Because nobody ever did.”
Silence.
Then Roman said quietly:
“I do.”
Nora looked back.
Neither moved.
Roman's gaze dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes.
He stepped backward.
Not forward.
Giving her the choice.
Nora crossed the distance herself.
Her kiss was hesitant.
Roman remained completely still for half a second, as if asking without words whether she was certain.
Then Nora kissed him again.
His hand rose toward her cheek.
Stopped.
Nora took his wrist.
Placed his palm against her face.
Roman exhaled.
The kiss that followed was soft.
Nothing like the man the city feared.
For the first time in years, Nora experienced touch without fear arriving first.
Then the alarm sounded.
They separated.
Elias rushed inside.
“We found the traitor.”
Mrs. Bell.
The sixty-two-year-old housekeeper who had hired Nora.
Nora stared in disbelief.
Mrs. Bell had always been kind.
She had smuggled Nora leftovers during double shifts.
Given her cold medicine.
Protected her from cruel guests.
Roman confronted her in the kitchen.
Mrs. Bell did not deny it.
“I brought Nora here intentionally.”
Nora's chest tightened.
“What?”
Mrs. Bell looked at her with tears in her eyes.
“Your mother asked me to.”
The entire room went silent.
“You know my mother?”
“For thirty years.”
Nora felt betrayed all over again.
“You knew she was alive?”
“Yes.”
The answer broke something.
Nora slapped her.
The sound echoed.
Mrs. Bell did not defend herself.
“I deserved that.”
“Eleven years.”
“I know.”
“You watched me think she was dead.”
“I was keeping you alive.”
“Everyone keeps saying that while lying to me!”
Roman said nothing.
He let Nora be angry.
Mrs. Bell explained.
Eleanor had discovered Victor’s network.
When she tried to expose it, Victor threatened both children.
Nora and Julian.
Eleanor attempted to save both.
But Adrian intercepted Julian first.
Then convinced the boy his mother had abandoned him.
Mrs. Bell had spent years searching.
“Why bring me here?” Nora demanded.
“Because Catherine hid the real ledger somewhere inside Blackmere House.”
Roman frowned.
“Where?”
“Nobody knows.”
Mrs. Bell had stolen the letters and flash drive because Julian threatened to kill Eleanor.
She had handed them over hours earlier.
Nora felt fury, then understanding, then fury again.
“Where did you meet him?”
Mrs. Bell gave them the location.
An abandoned church.
Roman prepared men.
Nora insisted on coming.
This time he did not argue.
At the church, they found Eleanor.
Alone.
Tied to a chair.
Alive.
Nora ran.
“Mom!”
Eleanor looked up.
“Nora!”
They collided.
Eleven years disappeared inside one embrace.
Nora sobbed against her mother’s shoulder.
Eleanor kept whispering apologies.
Roman turned away, giving them privacy.
Then Eleanor saw him.
Her face changed.
“You.”
Roman stiffened.
“You look exactly like him.”
“My father?”
Eleanor nodded.
Then she noticed Roman’s expression.
“No. Roman, I didn't mean—”
A red laser appeared on Nora's chest.
Roman saw it.
He lunged.
The gunshot shattered a window.
Roman drove Nora and Eleanor to the floor.
His men returned fire.
Julian escaped again.
But he left another message.
This time written across the church wall.
ASK ELEANOR WHO KILLED CATHERINE.
Roman stared at it.
Slowly, everyone turned toward Eleanor.
Nora's mother began trembling.
Roman spoke.
“Did you kill my mother?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“No.”
Roman stepped closer.
“Then who did?”
Eleanor opened her eyes.
“Your father.”
Roman's jaw clenched.
Eleanor shook her head.
“But that's not the secret Julian wants you to know.”
“What secret?”
Tears filled Eleanor’s eyes.
“Catherine was still alive when I left her.”
Roman went completely still.
“Then why didn't you save her?”
Eleanor looked toward Nora.
Because the truth would hurt them both.
“Because Catherine made me choose.”
“Between what?”
May you like
Eleanor whispered:
“Between saving her and saving Nora.”
