Damien stopped.
The letter lay on the table between them.
One sheet of paper.
A couple sentences.
And yet it meant more than any contract he had ever signed.
Because it had come from the one person he had mourned for twenty years.
His mom.
And she was warning him about the woman who sat next to him.
Aria.
“What do you mean?”
Her voice was low.
But below was fear.
Damien glanced at her.
He wanted to say he knew.
He wanted to answer her.
Solution, A scheme.
That’s what he always did.
But for the first time in his life Damien Laurent possessed nothing.
I don’t know.
It was strange to hear him say it.
Aria averted her eyes.
The disappointment was mild.
But he knew it.
Because she was tired of hearing the words.
One thing was known to all.
No one knew enough.
Harold studied the letter closely.
Maybe you should read the whole thing.’
Damien picked it up once more.
He glanced over the page.
Damien,
If you are reading this letter then the truth can no longer be kept secret.
Before you make any decisions, you need to understand something first.
Your marriage to Aria was never supposed to be a normal marriage.
Damien’s jaw clenched.
Aria dropped her eyes.
She knew that already…
To hear it from Elena, it hurt.
The Laurent family thought Aria needed protecting.
The Vale family thought Aria needed some discipline.
Both families were in the wrong.
Damien went on reading.
Aria never had to be protected from the world.
She needed protection from those nearest to her.
A cold sensation swept the room.
Damien turned to Aria.
She said nothing.
Too quiet.
He recognized that look.
She was in pain.
But she was trying not to let on.
The letter went on.
Her enemy is not the one who can hurt Aria the most.
It’s the one she trusts enough to hand power over her life.
Damien halted.
His fingers tightened on the paper.
Because he knew it now.
Elena wasn’t saying that he wanted to hurt Aria.
She said he could.
Because they are married.
Because of the influence of the Laurent family.
Due to the inheritance.
Because he had the power.” Hand it over.
Aria picked up the letter.
Damien faltered.
Just for a second.
Then he gave it to him.
She read.
Gradually.
Watch out carefully.
And with every line her expression changed.
Not rage.
Not afraid.
Something much worse.
Doubt.
When she had finished she put the letter down.
“And that’s it?”
Damien looked at her.
“What?”
She smiled a sad smile.
“My whole life was a security arrangement.” “No.
“You married me because your family needed something.
Aria.
And now I find that you are the one who can kill me.
Her voice was a little unsteady.
What am I to think?
Damien got up.
I didn’t know.
“That’s not enough.
The reply was prompt.
He paused.
And she was right.
Once again.
I do.
She looked at him.
“You You do?”
A painful silence.
“I don’t know how many times I can hear you didn’t know it.
Damien remained silent.
All the secrets that had hurt her came back to the same thing.
He didn’t know.
He never asked.
He didn’t see it.
Seven years he had been by her side.
But somehow .
.
.
He never really saw her.
That night Damien returned alone to the Laurent mansion.
Aria stayed with Sophy.
He didn’t argue.
He didn’t ask her to return.
Because for the first time he understood something.
Love was not enough.
“Not if the trust was broken.
Not when the foundation of the relationship was built on lies.
He went into his father’s office.
Victor had been there.
He was not surprised.
You have found the letter.
Damien stopped.
You knew it.”
Victor looked at him.
“”I thought so.
You knew better.
Shhh.
Damien came closer.
“Do you know what Elena wrote?
No.
But you knew.
She warned me.
Victor had no answer.
That was sufficient.
Damien gave a soft chuckle.
How many other stuff?
“What?
How many more secrets are there?
His voice was steady.
But you could see the anger.
How many parts of my life were chosen without me?
Victor turned away.
“I was trying to protect this family.” “No.” Damien shook his head.
You were trying to save it.”
There was no doubt about it.
It was about them defending people.
It was about you keeping a legacy alive.
Victor’s face hardened.
“You have no idea of the burden you bear.
“Then explain it.
“I can’t.” “Why?” Because some truths are forever.
Damien stared at him.
“Convenient.”
Before Victor could say a word, Damien put the letter down on the desk.
What does this mean?
”
Victor read it.
His expression altered.
Once again…
Damien saw terror.
What?’
Victor looked up.
“Where’d you get this?” SIGNED: Harold.
Victor’s face changed immediately.
“Harold?” “Yes.”
Long silence.
Then Victor said something unusual.
“Find him.”
Damien grimaced.
“Why?” “Because if Harold gave you this…
Victor looked at the window….then he knows that part of the story that even Elena wanted to hide.
Meanwhile, Aria was at Sophia’s apartment.
The silence was strange.
It was the first time in years she hadn’t been in the Laurent mansion.
She was not waiting for Damien.
She wasn’t wondering when he’d be home.
She was only sitting.
Thought.
Sophia looked after her.
“You have not cried.
Aria looked at her.
“Shall I?’ “Most people would.”
Aria looked down.
“I think I’ve cried enough.
Sophia took a seat beside her.
You mad?”
A pause.
“Yes.
at Damien?
Another pause.
“Sort of.
Sophia waited.
Mostly at myself.
“Why?
Because I spent years believing I was fighting for my marriage.”
Her voice lowered.
“But I was fighting in a story where everyone else knew the ending.
Sophia took her hand.
“Aria.
She looked up.
” “You didn’t fail.” “Don’t know.”
A short silence.
Then Aria’s phone vibrated.
Unknown.
Once more.
She looked.
Sophia saw it.
Are you going to pick it up?
Aria hesitated,
“Then accepted.
“Hello?”
There was an answer, a man’s voice.
Unwarped.
Peace.
Familiar.
Aria Vale
Her body tensed.
She recognized that voice.
The man from Vale estate.
The man that started this.
“Who are you?
A gentle laugh.
You still don’t know.
She squeezed him harder.
Tell me,
The man grew serious.
Your grandfather didn’t leave an inheritance to just you.
Aria grimaced.
“What does that mean?
One pause.
Then:
“Your mother left you something as well.” “What’s that?” Something your dad kept secret.
Her heart pounded.
“Where is it ?
The man answered softly.
Inside the house at Laurent.
Aria froze.
“”Why would it be there?”
The man said one last sentence before hanging up.
Because the biggest secret about your marriage was never withheld from Damien.”
A pause.
It was hidden from you.
The call was over.
Aria glanced at her phone.
all of a sudden…
She knew a thing too dreadful.
She had been looking for the truth about Damien all this time.
But she had never asked the question that mattered most.
What was her family hiding from her?
She stared at her phone for a long time when the call was over.
The screen went black.
But the words persisted.
The biggest secret of your marriage had never been hidden from Damien.
Her fingers gripped the device more tightly.
Because that could only mean one thing.
Somebody knew.
Someone knew the truth of her.
And for years she had been looking in the wrong place.
She had asked herself so many times why Damien had married her.
Why his family desired her.
How their marriage had been brought about.
But she had never stopped to ask herself the question that now scared her the most.
Why did her own family want her to marry him?
Aria.”
Sophia’s voice drew her back.
She looked up.
You look like you’ve seen a ghost!
Aria put the phone down.
““I think I’ve been looking for the wrong answers.”
Sophia frowned.
“”So what happened?”
Aria faltered.
She didn’t know how to put it.
How could she explain that her very self had become a mystery?
That each answer created five more questions?
I was called by someone.
‘Who?’ I don’t know.”
Sophia sighed.
“That’s a risky pattern.”
Aria almost smiled.
Close.
Because Sophia was right.
Strangers.
Top secret files.
Secret treaties.
The dead return to life.
Her life had become something she wouldn’t believe if she read it in a book.
““What did they say?”
Aria glanced at the window.
They said, “My mother had hidden something in the Laurent mansion.
Sophia’s expression changed.
“Your mother?” “Yes.
And you trust them?”
Aria gave it a thought.
She would normally say no.
She would normally dismiss anything that sounded impossible.
But nothing in her life was normal any more.“Don’t know.”
A pause.
“But I know he’s working very hard to make sure I never find out.”
Damien had the same thought at the Laurent mansion.
His only concern was different.
He didn’t ask what Aria was hiding.
And what was it he’d missed, he wondered.
He stood in the old family archive.
The room where every secret came back.
Noah stood beside him.
We checked the security tapes.”””And?”There was no sign of anyone coming in after us.
Damien frowned.
But what did the envelope look like?
We don’t know.
That answer made him angry.
But it wasn’t because Noah failed.
Because once again someone was always a step ahead.
Find Harold.
Noah stopped.
“He didn’t come back.
Damien glanced up.
‘What?’ “He left the mansion a little after you and Mrs.
Laurent left.
Did he tell you where he was bound?
“No.” Damien’s expression hardened.
“That wasn’t Harold.”
He had been with the Laurent family for twenty years.
He didn’t vanish.
He didn’t leave without reason.
‘ Something wasn’t right.
Find him.
Noah nodded his head.
Then stopped.“Sir.”What?
” “There’s another thing.
Damien glanced at him.
Noah set a folder down on the table.
“We looked up the original marriage records.
Damien opened it.
What of them?
The Laurent and Vale families had other agreements besides the document.
He turned the page.
“There was another understanding.”
Damien looked at the headline.
His face fell.
“CONFIDENTIALITY PROTECTION AGREEMENT What is this?
“Noah,” he replied.
We don’t know that.
Damien went on reading.
The agreement was signed seven years ago.
That same year he married Aria.
But the names were other.
His
Aria�s.
And someone else.
A person who had no business being involved.
His mama.
Elena.
Laurent.
No.
Not at all.
For Elena had been dead for years.
That night Aria went back to the Laurent mansion.
She hadn’t told Damien she was coming.
It wasn’t that she had anything to hide.
Because she had to think.
Yet the instant she entered the house, she knew something was wrong.
Tension was in the air.
The staff were more muted.
The guards looked nervous.
In his office, she found Damien.
He was tired looking.
Not like the billionaire everyone was afraid of.
Like a man with no more holes to hide in.
He saw her and his face showed surprise.
“Aria.”
She shut the door after her.
We need to talk.
He gave a nod.
“I know.
The answer surprised her.
“You do?
Yes.
A pause.
“Because there is something you must see.”
He walked to the desk.
Aria caught the folder.
What is that?
Damien didn’t reply immediately.
Instead he passed it to her.
She unlocked the door.
The first page leaped out at her.
That’s her name.
And again.
It always came back to her.
She read it.
Then halted.
“This is…
She had lost her voice.
“Whut?”
She looked at Damien.
“That’s signed seven years ago.
“Yes.” “Before we were married.” Yes.
She glanced back to the paper.
“But why is your mother’s name here?”
Damien wore a serious expression.
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
Aria read the agreement once more.
Then she saw something.
A sentence at the bottom.
Her eyes grew wide.
“What?”
Damien moved in closer.
“What did you see?
She pointed.
«That clause.
He read it through.
And his face changed.
Because the sentence explained something neither had thought of.
“If the marriage of Damien Laurent and Aria Vale is not concluded before the transfer of the inheritance, all rights of protection will be nullified.
Quiet.
Their marriage was more than just protecting her.
It was time-limited.
A sickness.
There was a reason someone wanted them together.
Aria looked to Damien.
“So if we divorced…Something happens.
What?”
He said nothing.
For he was ignorant.
But the fear in his eyes told her all she needed to know.
Hours passed as they sifted through every document.
Until Aria saw something.
Just a little mark on the contract.
A symbol she knew.
On her mother’s necklace.
She grazed the page.
That’s.
Damien stared.
You know it?
My mother had this symbol.
His face changed.
“You sure?” “Yes.”
She stood up.
She wore it every day.
Damien looked at the sign.
Then to the paper.
Your mom made the deal.
“No,” Aria shook her head.
“No.” “Why?
Because my mother died before I could make sense of any of this.”
Damien was silent.
Then said he:
Aria.
She looked him over.
“”This agreement wasn’t entered into by your mother.
A pause.
“She signed it.”
Her heart missed a beat.
What the hell?
He indicated.
The signature at the end.
It was not nearly the same.
It was the same.
Her mother’s name.
Her handwriting.
Her autograph.
Aria took a step back.
“No chance.
Damien stared at her.
“Why?” Because my mother had passed away before this document was made.”
In the room silence reigned.
And Damien said the thing neither of them wanted to think about.
Maybe….
He stopped.
Perhaps we don’t know the precise time of your mother’s death.
Aria was about to reply…
The alarm went off at the mansion.
A loud, persistent sound.
They both shifted around.
Noah burst into the office.
“Mr.
Laurent.”
His face was serious.
“We found Harold.”
Damien was up in an instant.
Where at?
Noah stopped.
“Down at the old Vale place.”
Aria scowled.
Why would he go there?'”
Noah looked at her.
“Because he wasn’t by himself.”
A cold feeling ran over the room.
“Who was with him?”
Noah swallowed.
“The one we’ve been looking for.
Damien took a step forward.
Who?
Noah looked from one to the other.
Then he said,
“Elena Laurent.
Quiet.
Once again.
It had happened.
The impossible.
Damien’s mother was still alive.
And this time …
She wasn’t hiding.
She waited.