chapter 6

Sophia

The email from Hart Global sat in my inbox like a ticking bomb. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the final line again.

Mr. Damien specifically requested your attendance.

Not Bennett Accounting, not one of our executives. Me!

I didn't know why that bothered me so much.

Maybe because I'd spent years watching powerful men use influence like a weapon. Maybe because Damien Hart have looked straight through me during our first meeting, as though he already knew things I hadn't discovered yet.

Or maybe it was because of that warning.

‘Be careful who you trust.’

The words refused to leave me alone.

………

I was standing outside the hospital with a paper cup of coffee growing cold between my hands. The streets was just beginning to wake up.

Cars rolled through the streets, people hurried toward underground stations.

The city moved with its usual relentless energy, completely unaware that my life had become a disaster in less than a week.

I stared through the hospital windows for a moment before heading back inside.

When I entered his room, I found dad awake. For once, he wasn't trying to argue with a nurse or secretly read financial news.

He was sitting quietly beside the window, looking out at the grey sky.

My father had always been a man in motion, he hated standing still.

"You look serious." His voice pulled me from my thoughts.

I forced a smile. "So do you."

He let out a faint chuckle “bad night?”

"Worse than yours."

For a while, we spoke about ordinary things. The weather, the hospital food, a football match Ethan insisted his team should have won.

The conversation was nothing dangerous, exactly the way the doctor wanted it.

Yet beneath the conversation, I could feel the strain.

The company remained between us like a third person in the room. We ignored it, I didn't want to talk about it though it was impossible to forget.

Eventually Dad sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "I know you're hiding things from me."

"I'm not hiding anything."

His raised eyebrow told me exactly what he thought when I replied.

Dad's expression softened. "I may be in a hospital bed, but I'm not helpless."

"I know."

"Then stop treating me like I am."

Guilt twisted inside me, because he wasn't wrong.

Part of me had spent the last two days pretending that if I kept enough information from him, I could somehow protect him from reality.

But reality didn't work that way, it has never work that way.

Before I could respond, a knock sounded at the door.

Ethan appeared carrying a bag from a bakery down the road.

The interruption couldn't have arrived at a better moment.

He immediately launched into a dramatic complaint about traffic, effectively ending the conversation before Dad could push further.

I silently thanked him. The next hour passed more peacefully than the previous two days combined.

For the first time since Dad's collapse, I saw glimpses of normality. The three of us joking, arguing over pastries. Pretending everything was fine.

I wanted to stay there forever. Unfortunately, reality had other plans.

My phone vibrated. One glance at the screen was enough to kill whatever peace remained.

‘My meeting with Damien Hart was scheduled for ten thirty.’

Dad noticed the sudden mood swift

“What is it?”

“Nothing, I'm just heading into a meeting”

His gaze sharpened “what kind of meeting?”

The question was innocent enough. Yet instinct stopped me from mentioning Damien's name.

"Work meeting.”

Dad studied me for a longer second before nodding. Thankfully, he didn't push further.

…….

I was standing in front of Hart Global's headquarters.

The building dominated the skyline. Everything about it screamed power.

Even the reception area looked expensive.

The floors gleamed, the furniture could probably cost more than my car.

The employees moved with the quiet efficiency of people who knew they worked for one of the most successful corporations in Europe.

For the first time in years, I felt slightly out of place, which I hated.

A woman in a navy suit greeted me. "Miss Bennett?"

I nodded.

"This way, please."

The woman led me through another corridor before stopping outside a set of double doors.

She smiled. "Mr. Hart is waiting."

I stepped inside as the doors opened. The office was enormous, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked London. The Thames cut through the city below like a silver ribbon.

Everything inside the room reflected quiet wealth. Nothing flashy, nothing excessive. Just power that no longer needed to prove itself.

Damien stood near the windows. Backing me, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other holding a glass of water.

For several seconds, he didn't move. Then slowly turned around.

And once again, I found myself struck by how composed he always seemed. Nothing appeared rushed. Nothing appeared accidental. Even silence seemed deliberate around him.

"Miss Bennett." His calm, controlled voice carried easily across the room.

I forced professionalism into my expression. "Mr. Hart."

His gaze lingered for a brief moment, observing. The same way it did during our first meeting.

For reasons I couldn't explain, it annoyed me.I wasn't a business proposal. I wasn't a financial report.

Yet he looked at people the way other men looked at spreadsheets. As though everything could be analysed and understood.

He gestured toward a chair. "Please…”

I sat.

He remained standing for another moment before taking the seat opposite me.

A measured, intentional silence stretched.

"You requested this meeting." I said breaking the silence.

A faint smile touched his mouth. "I did."

"Why?"

His fingers tapped once against the table. The only sign of hesitation I'd seen from him. He reached for a file.

My pulse quickened. Because suddenly, whatever this meeting was about felt much more serious than I ever expected.

He slid the file toward me. "Open it."

I looked down, looked back at him”what's inside?”

"Answers."

The single word settled heavily between us. Slowly, I opened the file.

The first page contained financial documents.

The second page contained transaction records.

The third contained something else entirely.

My breath caught. Because staring back at me was a name I recognized immediately. A name that should not have been connected to Bennett accounting.

For several seconds, I couldn't speak, I couldn't think straight.

When I looked up, Damien was already watching me with an unreadable expression.

"Now," he said quietly, "do you understand why I told you to be careful who you trust?"

And suddenly I realised this wasn't a business meeting at all, it was a warning.

And whatever secret lay inside that file was about to change the whole situation.