Se connecterDaniella stared at Marcus Vale, trying to reconcile the man standing in front of her with the fragmented memory that had been buried inside her mind for thirteen years. She remembered a voice from the night her father died. A calm voice telling her to stay quiet while she hid beneath the bed. At the time, she had been too terrified to understand who it belonged to. Now, standing in the old church, she knew it had been Marcus.“You were there,” she said again.Marcus nodded. “Yes.”“You saw my father that night.”“Yes.”“You saw my uncle kill him.”His expression tightened. “Yes.”Daniella’s fingers curled around the USB drive. “Then why didn’t you stop him?”Marcus looked away.“That question has haunted me for thirteen years.”Christian stepped between them slightly. “That’s not an answer.”“I know.”“Then give us one.”Marcus sighed. “Your father had already di
The old church stood at the edge of the city, surrounded by overgrown trees and a rusted iron fence that looked as though nobody had touched it in years. Daniella remembered the place clearly, even though she had spent most of her life trying not to think about it. She had been five years old when her uncle brought her there after her father’s death. She remembered the rain that night, the smell of wet soil and the way her uncle had held her hand so tightly that it hurt.She had always thought he had brought her there because he was trying to comfort her.Now she wasn’t sure of anything.Christian parked several meters away from the church rather than directly in front of it. Daniella noticed immediately.“You think someone is watching us?”“I think we’ve learned enough not to assume we’re alone,” he replied.She nodded.They got out of the car, and Daniella immediately felt the atmosphere change. The church looked abandoned from the outside, but the lock on the front gate was new. So
Daniella remained in her father’s bedroom long after the others had left the room.The photograph was still in her hand. She had stared at it so many times that the faces had begun to blur, yet she couldn’t bring herself to put it down. Her father stood in the center, exactly as she remembered him. Beside him was Julian, the man she had once believed was one of the few people her father trusted completely. And behind them stood her uncle, wearing the same silver watch she had seen on the mysterious man in the photograph.There was no denying it anymore.Her uncle had been there.He had been in the room when her father died.And he had lied about it for thirteen years.Christian stood quietly near the doorway, giving her the space she needed. He hadn’t said much since they discovered the photograph. Daniella knew he was hurting, but she also knew he was trying not to make her pain about himself.Eventually, she placed the photograph on the bed.“I remember something else.”Christian’s
Daniella stared at the injured man on the floor, unable to shake the words he had just spoken. “You’ve been looking for the wrong monster.”Her eyes moved slowly toward her uncle. The room seemed to grow smaller as she studied his face, searching for another lie. There had been too many already. Too many secrets, too many carefully constructed stories, too many years of believing something that had never been true.“Who ordered you to kill my father?” she asked.Her uncle remained silent.Christian stepped forward, his expression hardening. “Answer her.”The man’s eyes flickered toward Christian before a faint smile appeared on his bloodied face. “You really believe him?”Christian’s jaw tightened. “Believe who?”The man laughed weakly. “Everyone in this story has been lying.”Daniella crouched in front of him. “Then start telling the truth.”He looked at her for several seconds before speaking. “Your father wasn’t killed because of Crown Meridian.”Daniella’s eyes narrowed. “My uncle
The footsteps outside the house grew louder.Daniella stood in the middle of her father’s old bedroom, still holding the recorder. Her heart was pounding, but for once, fear wasn’t controlling her.She knew the truth now.Her uncle had killed her father.The only thing she didn’t know was who had helped him.Christian moved toward the door and quietly checked the hallway.“Three men,” he said. “Maybe more outside.”Daniella looked at her uncle.“Who are they?”“I don’t know.”“You’re lying.”Her uncle’s eyes met hers.“I don’t know who Adrian sent.”“Adrian?”“He’s been trying to get the ledger for years.”Christian turned sharply.“You said Adrian wasn’t the person behind Crown Meridian.”“He isn’t.”“Then why does he want the ledger?”“Because the ledger contains evidence against him.”Daniella frowned.“Evidence of what?”Her uncle hesitated.“Things he did after your father died.”Christian stepped closer.“And the man who helped you kill Daniel?”Her uncle’s expression changed.“
Daniella didn’t speak during the drive back to the old house.She sat beside Christian in silence, staring through the window while her uncle drove ahead of them. Every word he had spoken at the training compound kept replaying in her mind.I created Crown Meridian.I killed your father.I trained you to become a weapon.She had spent thirteen years believing her uncle had saved her from the monster who murdered her father. She had trusted every lesson, every warning and every piece of information he had given her.Now she couldn’t tell which memories were real and which had been carefully constructed for her.Christian reached across the space between them and took her hand.Daniella looked down at their joined fingers.“I don’t know who I am anymore.”Christian’s voice was quiet. “You don’t have to figure that out tonight.”“He made me.”“No.”She looked at him.“He trained you. That’s different.”“It doesn’t feel different.”“It is.”Daniella swallowed.“My entire life has been bui
“I want you to go undercover.” The moment the words left Christian’s mouth, Daniella genuinely thought she had heard him wrongly. She stared at him from across the office, her brows slowly pulling together in confusion while her brain tried to process what he had just said. “W
“My secretary,” Christian said simply. “Starting now.” The words did not settle immediately. They hung in the air between them, heavy, unexpected, almost unreal. Daniella stared at him, her brows slowly knitting together as if her mind refused to process what she had just heard.
The door didn’t just open; it slammed against the wall with enough force to snap Daniella out of whatever storm she had just walked into.She flinched.Her body jerked slightly as her grip tightened around the file in her hand. “Jesus Christ!” she breathed out, her chest rising sharply. “
The mansion felt and smelt different that evening, of course it was the day everyone has been waiting for, the day contract would be signed, people would display everything their nonchalant teachers have been teaching them. It was D NIGHT. Even the staff moved differently, quieter, more care







