Novels by Emel Emerald

The dining room of the Blackwood mansion had been its pride always. Below the chandeliers of imported crystal was a long mahogany table. It had been the home of deals, the home of impressions, the home of Samuel Blackwood, king of his loyal retinue, as decades had passed. However, the air was not like this night. Leya was at the table-end. Not as a guest. Not as an intruder. As the host. The mahogany under her hand was hers, the chandeliers shone back on her. All the servants in the room were walking about with contracted shoulders, and in low whispering glances, since they were all aware whose name was on the deeds and papers in the vault. Samuel was sitting three chairs down, not head any longer. His jaws were so tight that his vein in his temple ached. He had been kept silent three days, three days of her re-orienting his house about herself. Now the silence broke. “Eleanor. Vivian.” There was a clink of dishwares broken by the voice of Leya. Her hand was not raised in gratit

The atmosphere of the Blackwood mansion had been filled with millions of polish and perfume, fresh-cut roses in crystal vases and so forth. It smelled now of smoke, not of actual fire, but of the smoke which remains after a shipwreck. The air was thick with defeat.Samuel sat despondently in the study looking upon an empire that now no longer took care of him. Several hours had passed before he touched his bourbon. All his eyes were red and his hands trembling on the desk. The manuscripts in his presence were not his, and had been gilted with seals, of which he had not given the issue. Ownership transfers. Legal notices. One was called by a name which turned his stomach:Leya Anderson.The woman whom he had buried in hatred. The reverted woman had entered to be his executioner.As the door creaked Samuel did not raise his head. He knew the footsteps. He knew the silence.“Samuel.”Her tones were very low, and yet like a knife.Leya entered the room, with no more haste, letting her red

The silence that followed the fall of Samuel was deafening. The physique of a man whose voice could make statutes in the halls seemed almost obscene. Eleanor dropped on her knees by him, and her hands shook as she attempted to raise him.“Samuel!” Her cry cracked like glass. She shook him, desperately, but he groaned, and said, holding his chest.Doctor! she screamed to the servants. “Call the doctor, now!”No one moved. All the maids and all the butlers and all the guards all turned their eyes upon Leya.And Leya did not nod.She just walked out, clicking with her heels on the marble. The echo was more authoritative than the cane of Samuel.New rules, she said, in a low but immovable voice, have been made in this house.Eleanor threw up her head, and her eyes were wild. “You witch! You caused this! You—”The hand of Leya flicked and two bodyguards went on. The cold metal flashed as they brought up their weapons. The words Eleanor was saying choked in her throat.Vivian, who was stand

Samuel’s roar filled the hall. “Out! Out of my house!” With his cane he struck the marble so forcefully that it rang along the rafters. His voice, which was iron, is now frayed like old rope.Leya didn’t flinch. She stood motionlessly with a wall of her bodyguards behind her. The defendant, the judge, the courtroom, all of this was transformed into a courtroom by them, with Samuel at the stand and her at the bench.My house now, she thought, now.“Lies!” He took another step staggering, red creeping up his neck. Fraud, imposture, witchcraft-” his hands trembled as he picked up one of the papers on the table and he was about to rip it to pieces.Leya smiled coldly. “Rip them. Please. Each scrap you scrap only goes to show how desperate you are. And I have thirty more, Samuel. Thirty nails for your coffin.”The cavernous words were sharper than a blade. His hand froze midair. Slowly, it dropped.Vivian moved up, eyes shining, whispering like venom. Father... perhaps it is true she is te

The stillness in the great hall was long enough to discolour. There were dust-mites in the chandelier light, wait-girls embraced one another in the window-dressing-bays, and the Blackwoods were standing still on the great staircase like marble below their feet.Leya let it linger. She had waited years to see this, now why hurry?Finally, she looked up. Her gaze found Samuel first.“Samuel Blackwood.” Her voice was deep, monotonous, every word slicing the air as a blade. You ought to have interred me stiffer.Samuel blushed, and it seemed to him as though the name had been an indictment rather than a name. I spit, you killed me, and the words were tremulous. “I buried you myself—”No, she interfered, going still deeper into the hall. “You buried a lie. And rotted like all lies it has rotted.The hand of Vivian fluttered to her mouth. Eleanor held the banister because it could not support her. Harrison stood there, paralysed, unable to look away out of her.Leya put her hand into her le

It was several decades since the Blackwood mansion had been silent. Its chandeliers were twinkling, its marble floor gleamed but the brilliance was vacant, as the stage in opera before the curtain is raised on tragedy.Samuel Blackwood had not taken a drop of bourbon, nor had he looked at the phone, using the gaze of a person who could read it to indicate a phone call. All audits, all the calls of lawyers, all the letters had told what his gut had recognized, that his empire was sinking. His name was weakening. His house was cracking.And then came the sound.The heavy throb of engines on the other side. Tires crunching gravel. Doors slamming shut.The guards on the entrance turned stiff. The Blackwood children were at the windows. Sergeants were standing still traying. No one had been expected. The one who appeared unannounced last had appeared many years before.Not by command, but by violence the gates were opened. The black SUVs would like ghosts enter the courtyard with the black

The Last Battle – Axel's Final Stand The triplets burst into Audrey's apartment, closing the door. Audrey sat in the middle of the room, holding herself, face white. Jasmine gave her a quick glance. "You okay?" Audrey nodded but winced her hands. Jayla sighed deeply. "You should have mentioned it when he called." Audrey gazed down. "I thought I could handle it." Jade snorted. "Not with Axel. He doesn't listen to no." Jasmine stood by the window, narrowed eyes intently focused as she gazed out. Then she froze. Outside, in front of the window, on the street, a black car. A dark figure in the car. Watching. Waiting. Her heart was pounding. He was here. She spun to her sisters, low voice, resolute. "He's outside." Audrey's eyes widened. "What?" Jayla leaped to the window to look out. Jade cursed under her breath. "That psycho." Jasmine breathed slowly, deeply, attempting to soothe herself. She wasn't scared. She was angry. Axel had done enough already. Sarah was d

The Final Stand – Axel's Last Gamble Audrey was on her couch in her apartment, frowning at her phone, the screen lighting up with an unknown number. Her gut clenched. She knew who it was. The second it started ringing she knew. A shiver ran down her spine, her heart racing. Axel. He was calling her. She swallowed hard, her fists tight. She had blocked him. Had changed her routine. Had tried to close him out of her life. And yet. He'd somehow come back anyway. The ringing stopped. A voicemail message showed up. She was breathing irregularly as she hit play. And then his voice was smooth and even, weighted with something sinfully wicked bouncing off of the walls. "Audrey he said, did you really think I'd let you go that easily?" Her blood went cold. "We both know you still think of me. Of us." Her fists clenched on the phone. No. No, she didn't. She wouldn't. She couldn't. "I gave you your space. I let you pretend. But it's time to come home, sweetheart." Audre

The Fall of a Legacy – Their Father Is Brought to Account Their father slumped in the interrogation room, the stark metal table between him and the detectives. For the first time in his life, he was not in charge. His expensive attorneys weren't going to get him out of this today. His influence, his name, his power—it meant nothing now. The seasoned detective dropped a file onto the desk, reopening it. Pictures. Documents. DNA tests. It all lay before him. "You drew up official papers," the detective said, his own voice tightly controlled. "You drew up fake papers and left your firstborn daughter to live and live comfortably. His father's jaw clenched. The detective continued, "And because of that, Sarah spent her entire life believing she wasn't wanted." A bitter silence. "And now she's dead." For a moment—a fleeting moment—something passed through his father's eyes. Regret? Guilt? Maybe. But too little, too late. The detective leaned in.

The Last Truth – A Mother's Justice The triplets were in their mother's living room, the weight of what they had to say very much on their minds. Their mother sat opposite them, her fists clenched on the armrests of the chair while her face was set in stiff lines. Jasmine took a deep breath. "Mom… we've got something to say." Jayla leaned forward. "Something about Dad." Jade sighed. "And Sarah." Her mother's eyebrows jerked with horror when she said the name Sarah. "What about her?" Jasmine's voice was constricted, but she fought to say something. "She was our sister." Their mother's breath stalled. Her hand gripped the chair as her knuckles turned white. No one uttered a word for a second. Then, in a whisper just above a murmur— "What did you just say?" Jayla swallowed hard. "Sarah… she was Dad's daughter." Jade paused before saying again, "His first daughter." Their mother turned white. "That's not… that's not possible." Jasmine pulled out the pro

The Aftermath – Shadows of the Past The triplets sat in silence, the weight of the news pressing down on them. Sarah was dead. And even after everything she had done. Even after the lies, the betrayals, the destruction It didn’t feel like a victory. Jade let out a slow breath, staring at the floor. “I thought I’d feel… relieved.” Jayla shook her head, her voice quieter than usual. “Me too.” Jasmine's clutch on her cup of coffee spasmed. "She was our sister." Jayla grumbled unwillingly. "Half-sister." Jasmine shut her eyes. "It doesn't matter." For in the end, Sarah had been as lost as they had once been. The difference? She never had her way back. Fraser and Tressa – A New Beginning, or a New Threat? Tressa turned a lock of hair around her finger, watching out the apartment window. "She's really gone," she murmured. Fraser, who stood behind her, let out a deep sigh. "Yeah." Tressa’s chest tightened. Sarah had been many things—an enemy, a rival, a storm in human form.

The Aftermath – A New Future, A Lingering Past Sarah retreated from the front door of Fraser's, her heart pounding in her ears. She'd dreamed to herself for months that she might possibly be able to fix what she'd broken. That she could win him back. But now? Now, she knew more. She'd been too late. Fraser's moved on. And not with someone. With Tressa. A woman as clever, as cunning, as smart as Sarah used to be. Sarah's fists clenched. She'd lost before. But this? This was not the same. This had been done. And she was not so sure that she could do that. And meanwhile – Fraser and Tressa's New Beginning Tressa shut the door, breathing softly as she smiled at Fraser. "A knight?" she said, regarding him. Fraser rubbed at his hair, jaw locked. "That was. unexpected." Tressa smiled, leaning on the wall. "Seriously? You didn't think she'd come crawling back sooner or later, or something?" Fraser breathed slowly. "Part of me did, yes. But that moment I just saw her?"