Ava waited.
The phone was silent.
Too silent.
"Damien."
She could hear his breathing.
She could hear the hesitation.
And somehow...
That scared her more than the answer itself.
"Who is it?"
Finally, Damien spoke.
And the name left his mouth like a confession.
"Your father."
Ava froze.
The room stopped.
Everything stopped.
"No."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Damien, no."
"I didn't want to believe it either."
"That’s impossible."
Behind her, Daniel looked away.
And that reaction told her everything.
Ava turned slowly.
"You knew."
Daniel didn't answer.
"You knew."
His silence was enough.
Her heart broke.
Not because of the secret.
Because everyone knew something about her life except her.
Her entire existence had been a story everyone else was reading.
And she was the only person without the book.
"Dad?"
Daniel looked at her.
"I never wanted you involved."
Ava laughed softly.
A broken sound.
"That's what everyone says."
She shook her head.
"You all keep saying you were protecting me."
A pause.
"But nobody ever asked me what I wanted."
Daniel stepped closer.
"You were my daughter."
"And I was a person."
Her voice cracked.
"Not a thing to hide."
Daniel looked down.
And for the first time...
He looked ashamed.
At the Laurent estate...
Damien stood facing Julian.
The same question remained.
"How do you know?"
Julian looked exhausted.
"Because I saw it."
"Saw what?"
"The meeting."
Damien's eyes narrowed.
"What meeting?"
"The night everything changed."
Julian walked toward the old fireplace.
"Three years ago, I discovered someone was moving money through the company."
Damien listened.
"I thought it was corruption."
Julian shook his head.
"I was wrong."
"What was it?"
"A plan."
A pause.
"Your father."
"My father?"
Julian nodded.
"He knew someone was coming for the company."
Damien frowned.
"So he created the agreement."
"Yes."
"And Ava's family?"
Julian looked at him.
"They were the only people he trusted."
Silence.
Then Damien asked:
"Why would Ava's father betray him?"
Julian's expression changed.
"He didn't."
The answer shocked him.
"What?"
"Daniel Bennett wasn't working against us."
Julian looked away.
"He was working against the real enemy."
Damien felt the pieces connecting.
"Then why did everyone think he was guilty?"
Julian whispered:
"Because someone needed a villain."
Ava arrived at the estate an hour later.
Damien was waiting.
And the moment he saw her...
He knew.
She knew.
The anger in her eyes wasn't directed at him.
It was worse.
It was pain.
"I hate this."
Her voice was quiet.
Damien said nothing.
"I hate that every answer creates another question."
She looked around the mansion.
"Everything is a lie."
"No."
She looked at him.
"How can you say that?"
Damien stepped closer.
"Because not everything was a lie."
Ava stared.
He continued:
"The way you fought for your father."
"The way you challenged me."
"The way you refused to be afraid."
A pause.
"That was real."
Her expression softened.
Just slightly.
But then she remembered.
"Did you know?"
"No."
"Did your family know?"
"No."
"Did anyone know?"
Damien looked at her.
"I didn't."
For some reason...
That mattered.
Because for the first time, Ava realized they were standing on the same side.
Both betrayed.
Both searching.
Both trying to understand people who were no longer there to explain.
Suddenly, the mansion alarm went off.
Damien immediately looked toward the security screen.
A black car had entered the property.
Ava frowned.
"Who is that?"
Damien stared.
Because he recognized the car.
"No..."
Julian appeared behind them.
His face went pale.
"He's here."
Damien looked at him.
"Who?"
Julian whispered:
"The person we've been running from."
The car door opened.
A man stepped out.
Older.
Powerful.
Familiar.
Ava looked confused.
"Who is that?"
Damien didn't answer.
Because he knew.
Everyone knew.
The man walking toward them was the one person who had been missing from the story.
The one person who could explain everything.
And the one person nobody expected to return.
Damien whispered:
"My father."
Ava's breath caught.
Because Damien Laurent's father...
Had been dead for ten years.