Chapter 10 - The Elevator to the Council Floor
The convoy entered Blackwood Tower through a private garage.
Katelyn rode in the center vehicle with Damian, Marcus, and a female security specialist named Claire.
Natalia rode separately under guard.
No one touched Katelyn.
No one spoke unless necessary.
Damian sat across from her.
His black suit jacket remained behind at the boutique.
Without it, he looked less like an untouchable executive and more like the man she remembered.
The man who used to cook breakfast badly.
The man who once drove three hours because she said she missed the ocean.
The man who had believed she stole from him.
“I should have found you,” he said.
Katelyn looked out the window.
“You should have trusted me.”
“I know.”
“You believed money mattered more to me than you.”
“I was angry.”
“You were convenient.”
His expression tightened.
“My father showed me bank records. He showed me airport footage.”
“Did you ever ask whether they were real?”
“No.”
“That is the answer.”
Damian lowered his gaze.
The convoy stopped beneath the tower.
Katelyn stepped out carefully.
The baby pressed low against her pelvis.
Claire noticed.
“Any pain?”
“Pressure. Nothing more.”
Damian looked instantly alert.
Katelyn raised one hand.
“Do not panic.”
“I’m not panicking.”
“You brought six armed men into a baby store.”
“They were already with me.”
“Exactly.”
For the first time, Claire almost smiled.
They entered a private elevator.
Natalia stood in the corner of the next security group.
Her face had regained its composure.
Too much composure.
Marcus took her phone.
“You sent a message.”
Natalia’s eyes widened.
“To my attorney.”
Marcus showed Damian the screen.
The message read:
She is coming upstairs. Prepare the document.
Damian looked at her.
“Who did you send it to?”
Natalia said nothing.
The elevator doors opened on the forty-second floor.
A long marble corridor led to two carved wooden doors.
Men and women in tailored suits waited outside.
No bodyguards.
No phones.
Only lawyers.
One elderly man stepped forward.
“Mr. Blackwood, the council recognizes your arrival.”
Damian did not slow down.
“You will recognize hers.”
The man looked at Katelyn’s belly.
His expression changed.
“Katelyn Hayes has no standing here.”
Katelyn stepped past Damian.
“My mother did.”
The man’s face went still.
The doors opened.
Inside, twelve council members sat around a circular table.
At the center lay a cedar box.
Katelyn recognized the carved flower on its lid.
Her mother’s hand had traced that flower every night when Katelyn was a child.
The elderly chairman placed one hand over the box.
“This belongs to the Blackwood family.”
Katelyn met his eyes.
May you like
“So do I.”
👉 When the cedar box opened, the council found not one inheritance document—but a recorded accusation naming the man who had destroyed Katelyn’s mother.
