Impossible what could be on the screen.
SUBJECT: ELENA SINCLAIR.
Aria is suffocating.
The screen shows her mother’s face, frozen, the old recording underneath the last message.
Damien glanced at Victor.
“You knew,” he said.
Victor did not reply.
You knew Elena was number one.
Victor ground his teeth.
“I guessed.”
You just said you knew about Eclipse for years.
“I heard about the project.
“I didn’t know everything.”
Aria stepped forward.
“The first subject was my mother.
“Yes.”
“What were they testing for?”
Victor glanced at the screen.
“Her.”
“That’s not answering me.”
“They were testing to see if she would give up the trust.
Aria’s face hardened.
“And she didn’t.”
Nope.
“What’s wrong with her?”
Damien spun around at Victor’s lack of response.
“You said she was taken.”
I said she disappeared.
You knew where she was at
“I knew where she had been.”
Aria narrowed her eyes.
“That’s something else.”
Victor stared at her.
“Very different.”
The screen flickered suddenly.
Elena’s recording continued to play.
“If you are reading this, the archive is open again.”
Aria got closer.
Her mother’s face was calm, but there was fear in her eyes.
“Eclipse was never a business experiment.
It was the work of someone who wanted to gain control of the Valmont trust without seeming to take it.”
Aria’s heart clenched.
Elena went on.
They couldn’t just take the trust and run.
The law would force them out.
So they made conditions.”
Damien said nothing.
“Marriage was one of those conditions.
Aria watched him.
Her mother said they were.
They needed two people whose decision-making could be observed under pressure.
One from the Laurent line.
“From the true heir’s line.”
Damien’s face grew hard.
Elena knew it.
Aria nodded, slowly.
“She knew it all.”
And then the recording went on.
“Damien was chosen because of his role.
They picked Aria because of her blood.
Aria swallowed hard.
But there was one other reason.
The screen went black.
And then a new line came.
MUST BE EMOTIONALLY DEPENDENT
Damien’s face shifted.
Aria looked at the words.
They wanted us to fall in love.
Finally said Victor.
“Not necessarily.
Aria looked over at him.
‘Then what did they want?’
“They wanted to see if you could manipulate the trust with love.
Damien said, his voice sour.
‘So the marriage was a trial.
“Yeah.”
And when Vivienne came back…
“She became a different variable.”
Something cold settled in Aria’s chest.
all these years.
All argument.
She waited for every moment that Damien would look at her.
Every time she had wondered why he seemed so distant, emotionally.
Was someone watching?
If only someone was shooting?
Was someone waiting for her to crack?
Damien stared at her.
“Aria.”
She didn’t reply.
He moved closer.
“I didn’t know that.”
At last her eyes met his.
But you knew something.
“Yes.
“You knew it was an arranged marriage.
“Yeah.”
“You knew there was a file with my name on it.”
“Yes.”
“And you still had me believing I was nothing but a wife you didn’t want.”
Damien’s face became rigid.
“I was wrong.
“That doesn’t make it go away.”
“I know.” “
His voice was low.
“I don’t think it will.
Aria turned her head.
She still had not accepted Damien’s regret.
There were larger questions.
She looked at Victor.
— “The first subject was what was happening after my mother.
Victor breathed slowly.
She found out who was behind the project.
“Who?” “
I never saw the face of the fellow.
Aria looked at him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
I saw some instructions.
Documents.
Commands.
“Nobody ever was.”
“So how do you know there was one person then?”
“Because the orders were always from the same place.”
‘Authority?
Victor nodded.
“Someone who has access to both the families.
Damien narrowed his eyes.
“My father?”
“Not.”
“Richard?”
“Nope.
“Then who?”
Victor stared at the screen.
“Somebody who’d been in both families for years.”
Aria’s mind was racing.
Someone who knew her father well enough.
Someone close enough to Elena.
Someone close enough to sway the Laurent family.
Someone who could fix a marriage without either Aria or Damien knowing the whole story.
She glanced at Damien.
“Could your father have known?”
Victor drew cold.
“Your father suspected something was wrong.
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
Victor did not reply.
Damien came forward.
“Did Dad know about Eclipse?
“Yup.”
Aria’s heart sank.
But he wasn’t the creator.
“No.”
“He knew Elena was Subject One?
“Yes,” he said.
Damien’s face went white.
You knew that as well.
Victor gazed at him.
“I knew your father was involved in it.”
“You never told me,”
“I was trying to save you from it.
Damien’s laugh was cold.
“You didn’t keep me out of anything.”
Before Victor could answer the screen changed once more.
A file came up.
SUBJECT ONE – ELENA SINCLAIR
A handful of dates were below it.
Then a second heading.
RESULT: NOT IN COMPLIANCE.
Aria looked.
Not do what you were told?
Victor nodded.
“She wouldn’t play baseball.
What did they want her to do?”
“Quit giving me details about your father.
“My dad?”
“Yes.”
Aria felt more confused.
“What information?”
Victor glanced at her.
“The location of the original documents of the Trust.”
But the trust was already in place.
Not the legal originals.
Aria moved closer.
“What did they contain?”
Victor faltered.
Proof.
Proof of what?” ”
And that the person who everyone thought owned the fortune didn’t own it.
Aria’s eyes widened.
“Then who is it?”
Victor looked at her.
“Your dad.”
Quiet.
The room tilted to one side.
My dad was the original owner.
“Yes.
“So why did they erase his name?”
“After his death somebody brought the legal structure over.
“Who?”
Victor glanced at Damien.
Laurent Holdings.
Damien stopped.
“My family.”
“Yes.”
Aria’s anger came back.
“So my father’s stolen assets became the foundation of the Laurent empire.
“In part.”
“Partially?
“Your father didn’t have all of the Laurent fortune.
“But he had the confidence.”
“Yeah.
“And my father was killed because he wouldn’t give it up.”
“Yeah.”
Ari’s voice was very, very calm.
“And Damien’s family reaped.”
Victor gave a nod.
“Yup.
Damien averted his face.
He was quiet for several seconds.
He then spoke.
“My whole life…”
His voice was a little hoarse.
“My whole life I was building on something that didn’t exist.”
Aria stared at him.
She could see the battle in his eyes.
This time Damien was not the mighty billionaire above all others.
He was a son discovering that his family history was not what he was taught.
“Softly said Victor.
“You weren’t to blame.”
Damien looked at him.
“It was a blessing for me.”
You didn’t even know.
“But not Aria.”
Victor’s face set.
“That wasn’t your choice either.”
Damien looked at Aria.
She saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before.
Not only guilt.
Terror.
The fear that she would look at him and see the crime of his family, not him.
Aria offered him no comfort.
Not right now.
First she wanted the truth.
The screen went dark, suddenly.
Then Elena’s voice was heard again.
“Something you both need to understand if Aria’s watching this with Damien.”
Aria’s heart was pounding.
“The person behind Eclipse doesn’t want the trust.”
A break.
They want something more precious.”
Damien scowled.
What?
Elena lowered her voice.
“They want the one in control of it.
Aria’s eyes grew big.
Another message came up on the screen.
THE TRUST IS NOT ANSWERING TO DOCUMENTS ALONE.
There was another queue.
IT ANSWERS THE TRUE HEIR.
Aria gaped.
And then the final line.
AND THE HEIR IS NOT SAFE WHILE THE TWO SUBJECTS ARE TOGETHER.
Damien immediately glanced at Aria.
Victor’s face was altered.
“What is that?” “ Damien asked.
Victor shook his head.
“I don’t know.
Then, suddenly, the archive lights went out.
Damien was coming up to Aria.
Then something fell on the floor.
Something metallic skittered across the floor.
Damien reached for Aria’s hand.
“Don’t come any closer.”
“Nope.
“Aria—”
“I can handle myself.”
A faint noise came from the corridor.
Footsteps .
.
.
.
.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was on his way.
Victor whispered, “They shouldn’t be able to get in.
Aria glanced at the door.
Then how are they?”
No response.
The footsteps ceased.
Just outside.
Then a voice came from behind the closed door.
Chill.
Noted.
And it’s impossible.
“Aria.
Blood ran cold in her veins.
Damien tightened his grip on her hand.
Victor took a step back.
Aria recognized the voice.
She’d heard it in memories she couldn’t quite remember.
She’d heard it before.
She had heard it before she knew what her childhood was about.
Again the voice spoke.
“So you’ve finally found the first subject.”
Aria looked at the door.
Then the voice added, “Now you have to find out why Elena was never meant to live.
The handle was turning slowly.