Damien looked at the photograph in his hand.
He had looked at thousands of documents in his life.
Contracts.”
Purchase of papers.
Financial statements.
Legal contracts.
He had built an empire on things most people read but didn’t notice.
But this tiny photograph seemed more dangerous than any business deal he had signed before.
It went against everything he knew.
Mother.
The woman he had cried for twenty years.
I stood beside the man who had just broken into the Vale estate.
Alive.
(Smiling.
To believe him.
“What’s that?”
His voice was deep.
But the room was filled with a sense of undercurrent anger.
Richard looked at the picture.
His face went white.
“I thought it was destroyed.
Damien immediately turned to him.
“”You knew about this?”
Richard said nothing.
That was sufficient.
Damien’s last shred of patience vanished.
You knew it.”
The old man turned his gaze away.
I knew there were records.
Records?
Damien moved forward.
“My mother was no longer.
My father lied to me.
I was married by a secret agreement.
And you’re telling me there were records?”
Richard shut his eyes.
I was trying to save you.”
Damien laughed once more.
Cold, empty sound.
“Everyone’s saying that.”
He looked about the room.
“My father said it.” My mother told me so.
You say that now.
His eyes hardened.
But somehow protecting me always was synonymous with lying to me.”
There was no answer.
Because no one could deny it.
Aria stood, silent.
The paper in her hand was heavier than paper.
She’d thought she knew her life for years.
She knew who she was.
She knew where she was from.
She knew why she had married Damien.
Or at least she thought she did.
A commercial arrangement.
Two powerful families join forces.
A reasonable choice.
But now….
She found she had been put on a path before she was even old enough to choose one.
She looked at her father.
Did you love me ever?”
The question caught everyone unawares.
Richard looked at her immediately.
Aria.
Answer me.
Her voice wasn’t angry.
That made it worse.” “Did you ever see me as your daughter?
Richard looked devastated.
“Of course I did.
“Then how could you decide for my future without even asking me?”
His lips opened.
There was no answer.
There was no such thing.
Aria nodded slowly.
“I understand.” No, you don’t.
Richard came up to her.“ I made mistakes.” “Yes.
She looked at him.
You did?
The honesty stung him.
Mistakes don’t get less painful because they were made with good intentions.
She folded the contract.
“I need time.” “Aria-” “I said I need some time.
Richard paused.
For the first time in her life…
Her father was afraid of losing her.
The ride back to the Laurent mansion was silent.
Not like it was previously.
And before the disappointment had been filling the silence between Damien and Aria.
Now it was full of questions.
Too many questions.
Neither of them knew where to start.
At last Damien spoke.
“You know what I mean?
Aria looked out the window.
No.
“You never heard a thing?” “”No.” A pause.
Not even from your father?
She shook her head.
“No.” Damien nodded slowly.
I believe you.
She gazed at him.
It startled her.
“You do?
“Yes.” Why?
His answer was ready.
I know what it’s like to learn your entire life was constructed on information someone decided you didn’t deserve.
The words were different.
Because for the first time they hurt the same.
Not man and wife.
Like two people double-crossed by the ones they trusted most.
Aria looked at her hands.
““Now what?”
Damien did not answer straight away.
He always had a plan normally.
strategy.
One answer
But this time…
He owned nothing.
I don’t know.”
It was unexpected frankness.
She gazed at him.
“You don’t know?
“No.
A tired, weak smile came to his lips.
““I guess I’m not as ready for anything as I thought.”
For a second…
Just a second…
Aria saw the old Damien again.
The one she’d fallen in love with.
Not the billionaire.
Not the boss.
Only the chap.
Then came the reality.
The divorce papers were still there.”
Years of separation still lay ahead.
The pain was still there.
Noah was waiting for them when they got home.
Damien knew by the look on his face that something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Noah gave him a folder.
We found another connection.
Damien opened it up.
Aria saw the shift in his expression.
What’s that?”
“Noah answered.
The leaker of the documents from the Laurent archives.
Damien looked up.
Who?” “
Noah stopped.
Then said, ‘The access code used to retrieve the files was owned by …
A break..Mrs.
Laurent.’
Aria froze.
“What?
” ”
Noah looked uncomfortable.
“The system says the files were accessed with your ID information.”
Damien immediately turned to her.
Aria looked at him.
Think I did this?
“Naw.”
His reply was immediate.
But Noah continued.
The problem is, somebody’s been using your identity.”
Damien looked again at the folder.
When?” “”Three days before the ball.
Aria’s heart plummeted.
Three days.
As of the divorce.
Before the pictures…
Before all hell broke loose.
Someone had planned this out.
“Can you follow it?’
Noah shook his head.
“Not yet.” “
Damien’s phone rang.
Suddenly.
He looked at the monitor.
His face altered.
Unknown number.
Once again.
Everyone was silent.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
For a few seconds, no one said anything.
Then a woman’s voice came through.
It was a voice Damien hadn’t heard for twenty years.
A voice that made his whole body go still.
Damien.”
He could not breathe.
He recognized the voice.
“Mother?
Aria glanced at him.
His face went white.
The voice continued.
“You have to listen carefully.”
Stop.
“Because the one you trust most is the one who betrayed you.
Damien’s grip on the phone tightened a bit.
Where are you?
The woman didn’t answer the question.
“Don’t believe the deal.”
His eyes slitted.
What agreement?
The voice grew softer.
The contract of marriage.
Aria’s face changed.
It was not only about Damien.
It was her.
Then Elena said something that stopped them both dead.
“You were never meant to marry Aria.”
Silence.
“What?”
Damien lowered his voice.
The call went on.
“She was meant to get back what your family stole.
The line went dead.
Damien lowered the phone slowly.
Neither of them said a word.
Because now they had a new question.
If their marriage wasn’t the reason…
Then exactly what was Aria brought into the Laurent family to claim?
For several seconds after the call ended nobody moved.
The silence in the room was heavier than any argument they’ve ever had.
Damien looked at Aria.
He still had the phone to his ear, as if some part of him expected the call to come back through.
As if Elena would return and explain everything.
But she didn’t.
She’d left them with another puzzle.
Another question left unanswered.
Another piece of the puzzle neither of them desired.
Damien.
He put the phone down slowly.
His face was inscrutable.
But Aria knew him well enough to read the little signs.
The tension in his jaw.
The way his fingers curled just so.
How his eyes looked away from hers.
What had she meant?”
Her voice was deep.
Too quiet.
Damien looked at her.
“I don’t know.” She said I was supposed to get something.
“I heard .””She told me you were never meant to marry me,”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Aria nodded, slowly.
The words hurt worse than she expected.
Not that she wished their marriage had been arranged.
But because she’d spent seven years wondering if Damien had ever truly chosen her.
But now she found something more terrible.
Perhaps the whole thing had begun with a reason neither of them could understand.
Was I just a key?
Damien’s expression changed.
No.
” “You don’t know that.
I do.
How?” ”
Their eyes locked.
I have known what it is to be treated like one.”
That answer halted her.
Because he was.
Damien had lived his entire life as the heir to Laurent Holdings.
A replacement.
A weapon for his family’s legacy.
Maybe they had been caught in the same way.
Different families.
Same pain.
Noah cleared his throat.
I think we should look into the inheritance.’
Damien looked at him.
“What to begin with?” “All of it.”
Noah laid the papers from the Vale estate on the table.
The Deal.
The files that were leaked.
The anonymous letters.
Elena Laurent’s involvement.
He looked at one and then the other.
They’re all connected.
Aria picked up the old contract.
““But inheritance of what?”
No one replied.
Because no one knew.
Damien looked back at the document.
There must be some records.
Noah nodded.
Old family documents.
Where?”
Damien’s face dropped.
The private archives of the Laurents.
Aria glanced at him.
The place where you found your mother’s letter?
Yes.
“Why hadn’t you come across this before?”
Damien’s gaze dropped.
Because someone took it out.”
The answer chilled the room.
Someone had been in the archives.
Information had been captured.
Someone had taken years to control how much Damien knew.
That night the three of them went back to the private archives.
There was an odd silence in the mansion.
Not even the staff stayed in the cleared area.
Damien came in first.
Aria followed him.
She saw something right away.
Here he looked different.
The archive was more than a room.
It was a place of memories he had spent years running from.
“”You alright?
Before she could catch it, the question popped out.
Damien looked back.
Her voice, however, was a surprise to him, and a concern.
“I am good.
She looked at him.
‘That’s what you always say.
A ghost of a smile came.
And you can always tell when I’m lying.”
Neither spoke for a moment.
It was close to what it should be.
Almost like the years before it all went to shit.
Then Damien turned away.
“We need to concentrate.
Aria bobbed her head.
But she couldn’t ignore the little change.
Something had changed between them.
Not fixed.
• Not curable.
Just relocated.
Noah looked through the digital records.
Damien checked the paper files.
Aria was near an old bookshelf.
She didn’t know what she was looking for.
She wasn’t sure why she felt drawn there at all.
But the room had a familiar feel to it.
A memory.
Something from your childhood.
She ran her fingers over the shelves.
Then halted.
There was a small space behind one of the books.
“Damien.”
He spun around.
What?” “I think there’s something there.”
He came up.
They took several books away together.
There was a secret compartment behind them.
It had a little black box.
Not a word passed.
For they all understood.
This was not concealed by accident.
Somebody had wanted it found.
Or it had been meant to be guarded.
Damien opened the box.
Now it had three things in it.
A key.
A photo.
And a letter.
The picture was old
Really old.
It showed two families standing side by side.
The family of Laurent.
The Vale family.
But this time there was somebody else.
A little girl
Aria.
Her heart stopped beating.
She stepped closer.
“That’s me.”
She was young.
Five.
Maybe.
Damien, who was already ten, stood beside me.
But of this day she had no memory.
Why can’t I remember this?”
Damien picked up the letter.
“Because someone didn’t want you to.
He opened it.
The handwriting was not the same.
Not Elena’s.
A man’s.
He started to read.
If this box is checked then the deal has failed.
The children were never supposed to pay for our mistakes.
But if they have found this, then the enemy is upon us again.
Damien went on.
His face altered.
The fortunes of the Laurent and Vale families had been founded on the same rock.
A foundation usurped from its rightful owner.
Aria frowned.
“Stolen?
Damien went on reading.
The inheritance goes to the child of the original owner.
Silence.
Noah stepped toward me.
“Who was the first owner?
Damien read the last line.
And then stopped.
What?
”
Aria looked at him.
What does it say?”
He turned the letter over slowly.
The last sentence was written clearly.
The true heir is not a Laurent.
Everything was still.
If that were the case, then…
Then the whole Laurent Empire…
Never been a part of them.
Suddenly there was a noise in the hall.
Pitter patter.
There was someone in the archive.
Damien snapped the box closed.
“”Who’s there?
No Reply.
He turned to go to the door.
Aria grabbed his arm.
Do not.
He looked at her.
“Stay here.” “No.” Her eyes met his.
“”I’m done being the one left behind while everyone else decides my life.”
Damien had no argument for a moment.
He knew she was right.
They walked together into a corridor.
The door opened slowly.
There was nobody there.
Just a small envelope lying on the floor.
Damien took it.
It was his name.
But under…
A different name.
Aria Vale
Inside was just one sentence.
A word of warning.
“Ask your mother who your wife really is.
Before it is too late.”
Damien glanced at Aria.
And for the first time….
A thought came to his mind, a terrible thought.
Maybe the one they were searching for…
They ought not to fear the person.
Maybe the biggest secret wasn’t what had happened twenty years ago.
Maybe it was the woman standing by him now.