Chapter 2: The House of Secrets
The aftermath of the funeral was not a quiet retreat into mourning; it was a siege. The moment we returned to the Blackwood estate—a sprawling, gothic mansion that had always felt more like a prison than a home—my mother transformed. The grieving widow vanished, replaced by a woman of icy, calculated precision.
"You are going to your room," she commanded, standing in the foyer, her silhouette framed by the grand staircase. "You are not to leave. You are not to speak to Arthur. And you will hand over that envelope."
I didn't answer. I just walked past her.
"Macy!" she shouted.
I didn't turn back. I went to my room and locked the door. I knew I couldn't stay here. The house was a trap, and the walls had ears. I moved to my desk, where I had stashed a small travel bag hours before the funeral. I knew this day would come. I had been waiting for the sign, waiting for the moment when my father—the man I called 'Father'—would finally reveal the truth, even if it took his death to do it.
I pulled the letter out again.
To my son, Macy. They told you I was your father. I was only your jailer. Your real blood lies in the north, in the place where the mountains meet the sea. Look for the man with the scar on his wrist. His name is Julian.
I didn't know who Julian was. But I knew Arthur was terrified of him. I remembered the night I found this letter. I had heard Arthur and my mother arguing in the study.
“If the boy finds Julian, everything we’ve built—the inheritance, the shares, the company—it all disappears,” Arthur had hissed.
“He won’t find him,” my mother had replied. “I’ve kept him on a leash for seventeen years.”
My stomach turned. I had been a leash. A pawn in a game I didn't understand.
I heard a heavy thud against my bedroom door. Then, the sound of a key turning in the lock. They were coming for me. I ran to the window. It was a long drop to the rose garden, but there was a trellis. I climbed out, the thorns tearing at my clothes, the cold wind biting my skin.
As I hit the ground, I saw a light flick on in the study. Arthur was pacing, a phone to his ear.
May you like
"He has the letter," Arthur said, his voice carrying in the quiet night. "Yes, he knows the name. We need to intercept him before he reaches the coast. If he finds Julian, we’re all dead."
I crept through the shadows of the hedges, my heart hammering against my ribs. I had to reach the coast. I had to find Julian. I had to know why they stole my life and who I really was. I disappeared into the dark woods that bordered our estate, the envelope clutched in my hand like a map to my own soul.
