Chapter 2 - The Sister They Called a Liar
Margaret ordered the guards to remove Lily, but neither man moved while Brutus stood protectively beside her.
Alexander opened Elena’s letter in the grand foyer.
Elena wrote that the Blackwood estate had been saved during bankruptcy by gardeners, cooks, drivers and housekeepers who surrendered wages in exchange for ownership shares.
When she discovered the workers’ agreement, Margaret called her unstable and forced her from the family.
Margaret laughed coldly.
“Elena married a mechanic and spent twenty years blaming us because she could not tolerate ordinary life.”
Lily’s voice sharpened.
“My mother worked three jobs while you wore diamonds paid for by people who entered through your kitchen door.”
Margaret stared at the child.
“A barefoot beggar does not lecture me inside my own house.”
Alexander stepped between them.
“This house may not be yours.”
The letter directed him to inspect Brutus’s leather collar.
Inside was a brass key and a memory card.
The first video showed Elena standing outside a county shelter one month earlier.
She said Blackwood attorneys had canceled her housing, frozen her bank account and threatened anyone who helped Lily.
A second clip showed a black SUV following them.
The driver wore the estate security chief’s uniform.
Margaret claimed Elena fabricated everything.
Then Brutus growled toward the staircase.
Security chief Conrad Hale stood above them holding Lily’s missing backpack.
He opened it and removed a hospital death certificate.
“Elena Hart died four weeks ago,” he announced.
Lily shook her head violently.
“That paper is a lie.”
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Conrad smiled.
“Then ask the child why she attended her mother’s funeral.”
