For a man who controlled an empire…
Damien Laurent looked completely powerless.
Ava had seen him angry.
She had seen him cold.
She had seen him in control.
But this?
This was different.
He was standing in the middle of his office, staring at his phone like it had just brought back a ghost.
"Damien..."
No response.
"Damien."
His eyes finally moved to her.
And Ava saw something she never expected.
Pain.
"He’s alive."
The words were barely a whisper.
Ava's heart tightened.
"Your brother?"
Damien nodded.
"Julian."
A thousand questions filled the room.
The brother everyone thought was gone.
The man connected to the company secrets.
The person who had just warned them to stop searching.
Ava took a step closer.
"What did he mean?"
Damien looked at the phone.
"He said I was never supposed to find out the truth."
"What truth?"
Silence.
Then Damien said something that surprised her.
"I don't know."
Ava frowned.
"You don't know?"
"No."
The billionaire who seemed to have every answer...
Had none.

"He disappeared three years ago. I searched everywhere. Hospitals. Records. Private investigators."
His voice became quieter.
"Nothing."
Ava watched him.
"And now he just calls you?"
Damien nodded.
"After someone breaks into my office."
The realization hit them both.
This wasn't random.
Someone wanted them to know Julian was alive.
Someone wanted them to be afraid.
Later that night, Ava stood inside Damien's mansion.
And she hated how beautiful it was.
Everything was perfect.
The furniture.
The view.
The silence.
It looked like a dream.
But somehow...
It felt lonely.
"Do you always live like this?"
Damien looked up from the documents he was reading.
"Like what?"
"Like you're waiting for an attack."
His eyes lifted.
She continued.
"Security everywhere. Cameras everywhere. Nobody gets close."
A small silence.
Then Damien looked back at the papers.
"People get close to hurt you."
Ava leaned against the table.
"Not everyone."
His eyes met hers.
"You believe that?"
The question sounded strange.
Almost like he genuinely wanted to know.
Ava thought for a moment.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because if everyone was dangerous..."
She paused.
"You wouldn't have saved me today."
Damien said nothing.
Because she was right.
When the office went dark...
He didn't think so.
He moved.
Protecting her came naturally.
And that bothered him.
The next morning, they received another message.
Not a call.
Not an email.
A package.
No name.
No address.
Just placed outside Damien's mansion.
Ava looked at it.
"Do you get mysterious packages often?"
Damien didn't smile.
"Never."
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a USB drive.
And a note.
One sentence.
"You want the truth? Watch what your father hid."
Damien froze.
Ava noticed immediately.
"Your father?"
He didn't answer.
"Damien."
Slowly, he picked up the USB.
"My father died ten years ago."
"And?"
His expression darkened.
"He took his secrets with him."
They went to Damien's private office.
The kind of room nobody entered.
He connected the drive.
A single video file appeared.
Created:
10 years ago.
Damien pressed play.
At first...
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then a man appeared on screen.
An older man.
Damien's father.
Ava looked at him.
Because the resemblance was obvious.
The same eyes.
The same presence.
The same cold confidence.
Then the older man spoke.
"Damien..."
A pause.
"If you're watching this, it means Julian failed."
Damien's face changed.
Ava felt it.
The entire room changed.
The video continued.
"I need you to understand something."
"I did not build Laurent Industries to create an empire."
A pause.
"I built it to protect a secret."
Damien leaned forward.
"What secret?"
The video went black.
The screen displayed one final sentence.
"The truth is hidden where the family began."
Ava looked at Damien.
"What does that mean?"
But Damien wasn't looking at the screen anymore.
He was looking at her.
Because suddenly...
He remembered something.
Something from years ago.
Something his father had said.
A warning.
A sentence he never understood.
Until now.
And when he finally spoke...
His voice was different.
"The old Laurent estate."
Ava frowned.
"What about it?"
Damien looked terrified.
"That's where my father buried everything."
Ava stared at him.
"Everything?"
Damien nodded slowly.
"The secrets."
"The money."
"The betrayal."
A pause.
"And maybe..."
His eyes met hers.
"The reason my brother disappeared."