The room was completely dark.
Ava could hear
her own heartbeat.
Fast.
Loud.
Unsteady.
She hated that.
She hated feeling afraid.
But standing in the darkness with an unknown person inside the office...
Even she had to admit—
This was different.
Then Damien moved.
"Ava."
His voice was low.
"Stay behind me."
The command should have annoyed her.
She didn't like being told what to do.
But something about the way he said it...
It wasn't arrogance.
It was protection.
And that confused her more than the darkness.
"Damien..."
"Don't move."
A few seconds passed.
Then emergency lights flickered on.
The office returned to a dim red glow.
But the person was gone.
Only a message remained.
Written on the glass wall.
Three words.
STOP DIGGING, DAMIEN.
Ava stared at it.
Her stomach tightened.
Someone had broken into a billionaire's office.
Not to steal money.
Not to take information.
Just to leave a warning.
"Who would do this?"
Damien didn't answer.
And that scared her.
Because for the first time since she met him...
He looked genuinely shaken.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Afraid.
"You know who it is."
It wasn't a question.
Damien walked toward the glass.
His jaw tightened.
"I have an idea."
"Who?"
Silence.
"Damien."
He turned.
His expression was unreadable.
"My brother."
Ava froze.
"You said you had a brother."
"I said I had."
She watched him carefully.
"What happened to him?"
Damien looked away.
For a moment, he wasn't the billionaire everyone knew.
He was just a man remembering something painful.
"His name was Julian."
The way he said the name told Ava everything.
This wasn't just family.
This was a wound.
"Everyone thinks Julian left the company because he wanted a different life."
Ava waited.
"But that's not what happened."
The rain started hitting the windows.
Slowly.
Like the city itself was listening.
"Three years ago, Julian discovered something."
"What?"
Damien looked at the message on the wall.
"Someone inside Laurent Industries was stealing money."
Ava's eyes widened.
"Is the same thing happening now?"
He nodded.

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"And when Julian tried to expose them..."
He stopped.
Ava's voice softened.
"What happened?"
Damien's face hardened.
"He disappeared."
The silence after that was heavy.
Ava looked at him.
Really looked at him.
And suddenly she understood.
The coldness.
The distance.
The walls.
Damien Laurent wasn't a man who didn't care.
He was a man who cared too much.
And lost too much.
"So you spent years looking for him."
Damien didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
She already knew.
Then something unexpected happened.
Ava stepped closer.
Not because she trusted him.
Not completely.
But because for the first time...
She saw the person behind the billionaire.
"You should have told me."
Damien looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because I’m not just helping you find a corporate criminal."
She looked at the message.
"I'm helping you find your brother."
Something shifted in his expression.
Something small.
Almost invisible.
But Ava saw it.
The wall cracked.
Just for a second.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Unknown number.
Ava watched his face change as he answered.
"Hello?"
A voice came through.
Distorted.
Cold.
"Damien."
His body went completely still.
Because he recognized the voice.
Ava saw it.
The shock.
The disbelief.
The fear.
Then Damien whispered:
"Julian?"
A pause.
Then the voice replied:
"Brother..."
"I'm sorry."
Another pause.
"But you were never supposed to find out the truth."
The call ended.
And Damien Laurent...
The man who feared nothing...
Dropped his phone.