The words lingered on the phone after Richard was done speaking.
This isn’t how you were supposed to find out.
Aria sat quiet.
Across the street from her Damien had not moved either.
The room seemed to have shrunk, as if the walls were closing in on the two who had spent years believing they understood their marriage.
Aria’s fingers tightened around the phone.
What’s that mean?”
Richard said nothing.
Not the silence of someone searching for the right words.
This was something else.
It was the silence of a man who knew that whatever he said next could change his daughter’s whole life.
“Poppa.”
This time her voice was stronger.
“What does it mean .
i asked you .
Richard let out a slow breath.
Where are you at?
“At the Laurent house.”
Pause again.
“With Damien?”
Aria looked at him.
Yes.
Damien’s face was unreadable, but she could see the tension in his jaw.
Richard said nothing more.
Then he told her, “You’ve got to get out of that house.”
Aria’s brows pulled together.
“Why?”
“Because if what I think is happening has started, it’s not safe there anymore.”
Damien sat up straight straight away.
Aria watched.
“Safe from who?”
I can’t explain it on the phone.
“You’ve had years to tell me.”
Her voice caught a little.
And every time I asked you anything about my marriage you told me it was complicated.
Richard was silent.
You made me think I married Damien out of circumstances.” Aria went on.
“You made me think that was all there was to it.
You made me think I was the one who decided to stay.”
“I know,” he said.
“You knew.”
“I knew what I had to know.”
That answer hurt more than she knew it would.
Aria shut her eyes for a second.
“Then you tell me.”
“I will.”
“Where?”
“This day.”
“Where?”
“Come to the house at Valmont.
Aria’s heart rate changed.
She’d been there weeks ago.
Maybe more time.
Richard went on.
“Come alone.”
Her eyes went up to Damien.
Now he was watching her.
“Not at all.”
It was Damien who answered.
Aria moved the phone a little.
“What?”
“Did not.”
His voice was soft, but there was something dangerous behind it.
“Your father can come here if he wants to talk.
Aria looked at him.
“This isn’t for you to decide.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t make it one.
Damien looked at her.
“I don’t like what’s going on.
Aria’s face hardened.
“Nor do I.”
And he was silent.
She put the phone back to her ear.
“I’m coming, Daddy.”
Richard’s breath changed.
“Aria—”
“I’ll be there.”
“Don’t bring Damien.
She halted.
“Why?”
Richard did not reply immediately.
Then his voice sank.
“You gotta hear things before he does.”
The call was done.
Aria looked at the monitor.
She was silent for several seconds.
Damien stood up.
“What did he say?”
She looked up at him.
“He wants me at the Valmont house.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
His face was grim.
“Aria.
“Come alone,” my father said to me, “specifically.”
And that’s none of your business?”
“I’m concerned enough to drive.
“Then I’ll come with you.
She shook her head.
“You don’t understand.
“Then explain.”
Aria got up.
Her eyes were tired but the uncertainty in them had grown hard, determined.
“Everybody’s been making choices about my life for years.
She looked at him directly.
“my dad,”
“Your father might be trying to protect you.”
“That’s just what everyone keeps saying.
Her voice went up a little.
“And look where that protection took me.”
Damien fell quiet.
Aria breathed in.
“I married you for no reason.”
He averted his gaze.
“I stayed because I loved you.
His gaze returned to hers.
“And now I’m finding out there might have been another reason.”
“I didn’t know the reason why.
But you knew that there was something”.
“Yes.”
The answer was instantaneous.
She was surprised by that honesty.
It didn’t make it any less hurtful.
“You knew your father wanted you to wed me.
“Yes.”
“And you stood there while I built my whole life on a marriage you knew was not ordinary.”
Damien swallowed hard.
“I thought whatever it was, had nothing to do with how I felt about you.
Aria’s face relaxed for half a second.
Then the pain returned.
“You thought.
“Yes.
“That’s not good enough anymore.
“I know.
His answer was so simple it stopped her.
Damien moved closer.
I know I’ve let you down.
Aria glanced at him.
He’d said it before.
But this time there was no defense in his voice.
No pride.
He made no attempt to explain away what he had done.
Just regret.
“I don’t want you to feel bad,” she said softly.
“I don’t,” I said.
“What do you want then?”
Damien looked at her for a few seconds.
“Truth.”
She stifled a laugh.
You had years to want that.
“Didn’t find what I was supposed to be looking for.
“And now?”
Now I know why I am looking for why my mother disappeared why your family was connected to mine why our marriage was arranged and why someone has been watching you.
He stopped.
And I want to know why my mother warned me about you.
Aria lowered her eyes.
Elena.
The woman Damien thought was dead 20 years ago.
The woman who had come back from the dark with warnings, not answers.
The woman who told him it wasn’t Aria he had to be afraid of.
That the threat was from those nearest to her.
Aria turned to look at him.
“And I want to know how your mother knew my name before I knew hers.”
Damien nodded.
Then we’ll see.”
“Together?”
The word escaped her mouth before she could stop it.
Damien’s expression shifted.
“Yes.
Aria looked away.
She was not ready to forgive him.
Still, she wasn’t ready to trust him.
But for the first time since she had seen the divorce papers in front of her, she didn’t feel quite so alone.
Her phone buzzed.
They both looked at it.
Note.
Unknown number.
Aria’s stomach knotted.
She unlocked it.
There was no text in it.
Just a photograph.
She stopped breathing.
It was a photo of Richard Vale’s.
He stood outside the house of Valmont.
But that wasn’t what scared her.
This photo was taken just a few minutes ago.
Aria glanced at Damien.
Somebody is watching my dad.”
Damien took the phone.
His eyes narrowed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Just now.”
He glanced at the picture.
“Then whoever sent this knows we are going there.
Aria felt a shiver run through her.
Another message popped up.
Words this time.
Richard, don’t ask what happened 20 years ago.
There was another message.
Ask him what promise he gave
Aria’s face was white.
Damien read the words over her shoulder.
“What did your dad promise you?”
I don’t know.
Another thing.
He didn’t sell you to the Laurents.
Aria came to a halt.
The next line was there.
He handed you over to them.
Her fingers turned cold.
Damien’s face went blank.
Enough.”
He went for his phone.
Aria stopped him.
“What’re you doing?”
“Calling Noah.”
“Nope.
Aria—
“If somebody wants us to panic, I’m not giving it to them.”
Damien looked at her.
There it was.
The wife who remains.
The woman below.
The intelligence he’d dismissed.
The serenity he’d confused with weakness.
“what do you want to do?
“Go to my dad.”
“And the message?”
“We don’t tell him.
Damien nodded slowly.
I agree.
Aria grabbed her bag.
They left the room without a word between them.
Nor did either of them see the figure standing well outside the Laurent gates.
Watching.
Waiting…
The ride to the Valmont house was silent.
Too silent.
Aria sat in the back seat next to Damien, staring out the window.
The city passed by, none of it catching her attention.
One sentence caught her eye.
He turned you over to them.
The words she hated.
She hated the idea more.
Richard had never been a loving father.
He had been demanding
Strict.
Protective in a way that Aria had sometimes found stifling.
But she never thought he regarded her as a commodity.
But there had been that talk when she was nineteen.
The one she’d remembered since Damien told her about Elena.
That agreement went back years.
Now you can’t alter the terms.
And he thought he was talking business, her father, then.
And suppose he had not been.
She glanced at Damien.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Yup.”
“What did your father say when he told you to marry me?”
Damien said nothing.
‘He said the marriage was necessary.’
“For what?”
“I didn’t know.
“But you didn’t ask him?”
I did.
“And?”
‘He said there were things I was too young to understand.’
Aria scowled.
You were raised.
“I know.
‘Then why did you take it?’
Damien stared at his hands.
“Because my father had spent my whole life making me believe that the Laurent family survived because I did as he judged.
Aria studied him closely.
You believed him.
Yes.
His voice lacked any excuse.
Realization only.
I thought strength was not to question the people who built the empire.
Aria peered out the window again.
“That rings a bell.”
Damien turned in her direction.
What?
“My father taught me that obedience was protection.”
Their eyes locked.
For a moment neither spoke.
“Maybe we weren’t as different as we thought,” Aria said softly.
Damien’s face relaxed.
“Nope.”
A beat.
“No, we weren’t.”
The car slowed up.
Up ahead, Aria saw the familiar gates of the Valmont house.
Her heart started to race.
Something was wrong with the silence surrounding the property.
No staff on the outside.
No motion.
There was no sign of Richard.
Damien saw it as well.
“Pull over.
The car stopped.
Aria frowned.
“
“What?”
Damien looked over at the house.
“Something’s not right.”
He undid the door
Aria trailed.
“Damien.
He said nothing.
Together they headed for the entrance.
The bolts were off the front door.
Aria halted.
“My father never leaves this door unlocked.”
Damien glanced at her.
“Come with me.”
She almost protested.
Then remembered her own promise.
No more people choosing for her.
Instead she walked with him.
“We’re in this together, I told you.”
Damien looked at her for a moment.
Then nodded.
They went inside.
The house was still.
“Too quiet.
“Dad?
No reply.
Aria went deeper inside.
“Daddy?”
Nothing.
And then she heard.
A slight sound from the study.
A chair being dragged across the floor.
She and Damien exchanged a glance.
They moved into the room.
Aria pushed the door.
The study was vacant.
But Richard’s desk had been interfered with.
Flooring covered with papers.
One drawer was open
Damien came in.
“Aria.
She spun around.
He had something in his hands.
A picture.
Her picture from childhood.
The same one that had shown up in the Laurent records.
But this version was different.
It had writing on the back.
Aria grabbed it from him.
Her hands started to shake.
There were 3 names written on it.
By Richard Vale.
Elena Laurent.
Victor Laurent.
Beneath them was a date.
Twenty years ago.
And under the date were five words.
The children can never know.
Aria looked at the photograph.
Then came a noise behind them.
The study door swung shut slowly.
Neither of them had laid a hand on it.
Damien whirled around.
The hall was vacant.
Aria’s phone buzzed.
There was one more message.
You were too slow.
She glanced at the desk.
In the corner of Richard’s papers there was a dark-red stain.
Her heart ceased.
“Damien…”
Already he was moving.
He got to the desk and opened another drawer.
There was an envelope inside.
It said Aria on it.
But beneath her name was something that stopped Damien cold.
For Aria Vale if Richard doesn’t tell her the truth.
Aria looked over at him.
“Open it.
Damien didn’t move.
“Damien.
He picked up the envelope slowly.
His fingers closed around it.
Because the writing on the front was unmistakable.
Elena Laurent.
The woman who was supposed to have died twenty years ago.
And the woman who had just cautioned him that he was the one who could destroy Aria.
Damien gazed at Aria.
Then for the envelope.
“Maybe we have the answer finally.”
Aria swallowed hard.
“To what?”
He turned the envelope over.
One final sentence across the back.
The marriage was never the start.
His eyes met her gaze.
“It was the lid.
The envelope dipped a little in his hand.
And before either could open it, there were footsteps somewhere in the house.
Slow.
Intentional.
Heading for them.
Someone stood there.
Someone had been waiting for them to arrive.
And whoever it was knew just what was in that envelope.