LOGINThe drive back home was quiet.
Too quiet.Christian sat at the back of the car, his elbow resting against the window while his fingers tapped slowly against his thigh. His face was calm, but his mind… his mind was anything but.The words keep replaying in his head, why on earth was Mr. Thompson doing this? What exactly is he gaining out of this situation, what’s use is his business life with his personal life. He hissed in annoyance slamming his hands hard on the car door.“SDaniella knew something was wrong before they reached the mansion. She sat beside Christian in silence, staring through the passenger window as the city passed in a blur of headlights and rain. The message from the archive remained open on her phone: Start with the first lie your uncle ever told you.She had spent thirteen years believing she knew the truth about her father’s death. Now she wasn’t even sure whether the foundation of that truth had been real. Her uncle had blamed the Harpers. He had told her that Samuel Harper had ordered her father’s death. He had told her Christian knew more than he admitted. But the documents they had just discovered suggested something else entirely. Her father had been investigating Crown Meridian. Someone had forged his signature. Her uncle had known he was in danger. And now someone wanted Daniella to question everything.Christian’s hand closed over hers. “Don’t do this to yourself.”She looked at him. “How am I supposed to stop?”“You can’t so
The message remained on Daniella’s screen long after the typing bubble disappeared.Find out who your father was trying to expose before he died.She read it again.Then again.For thirteen years, she had built her entire understanding of her father’s death around one belief: Christian Harper’s family had destroyed him. Her uncle had given her a name, a motive, and enough pieces of a story to make a grieving daughter believe she understood exactly what had happened.But now the pieces were moving.Her father had been investigating someone.Samuel Harper had been involved in the same meeting.Her uncle had been there too.And three days later, her father was dead.Daniella looked at Christian.“Your father knew mine was investigating something.”Christian remained silent for several seconds. “Apparently.”“Why would he?”“I don’t know.”“Then we find out.”Christian looked toward the archive shelves. “There might be something else here.”They searched for almost an hour.Every folder c
Daniella couldn’t stop staring at the empty space inside the folder.The page was gone.A few seconds ago, it had contained three names that had changed everything she thought she understood about her father’s past. Now there was nothing except the faint indentation left behind by the paper that had been removed.Her father.Christian’s father.Her uncle.Three men connected to the same mysterious symbol.And someone had been inside the archive with them.Christian was still staring toward the locked doorway when Daniella finally spoke.“How did he get in?”Christian didn’t answer immediately. He moved toward the door and checked the electronic lock. The indicator remained green.“It’s still locked.”Daniella’s stomach tightened. “Then nobody left.”“That’s what I’m thinking.”She looked around the archive. Rows of shelves stood silently around them, packed with documents that had been untouched for years.“Christian.”He turned.“The voice.”“What about it?”“That was my uncle.”“I k
Christian watched Daniella carefully as she stepped out of the bathroom. Something about her expression had changed. The uncertainty that had been there moments ago had hardened into something more focused, almost determined, and he knew her well enough now to recognize when she had discovered something she wasn’t ready to share.“What happened?” he asked again.Daniella slipped her phone into her pocket. “I told you. I found something.”“Something that made you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”She almost smiled, but the expression disappeared before it could fully form. “You’re exaggerating.”“Am I?”Christian stepped closer. Daniella could feel his attention following every movement she made, and for one dangerous second she considered telling him everything—the photograph, the anonymous messages, the symbol, her uncle, Crown Meridian, Victor Hale. But she still didn’t know who was sending the messages or what they wanted from her. She couldn’t drag Christian into something when
Daniella stared at the photograph until the numbers stamped across the bottom began to blur. Three days before her father died. Three days before the life she knew had been ripped apart forever. Her uncle had been there with him, standing outside a building Daniella had never seen before, while an unfamiliar man stood several feet behind them with his face hidden in shadow. She enlarged the image again, but the photograph had been taken from too far away. She could make out the man’s dark suit, broad shoulders and something metallic around his wrist, but nothing that could give her a name. Whoever had sent it had chosen the image carefully. They wanted her to know her uncle had been lying, but not enough to understand why.Daniella looked toward the bed. Christian was still asleep, one arm stretched across the space where she had been lying. For a moment, she considered waking him. She could tell him about the photograph, about Crown Meridian, about her uncle admitting that Christian
Daniella didn’t read the message again until she was several blocks away from her uncle’s house. Her hands tightened around the steering wheel as the words remained on the screen.Your uncle just lied to you again.She swallowed and looked at the second message.But this time, he lied to save your life.Whoever had sent it knew where she had been. They knew she had spoken to her uncle, and somehow they knew what he had said. That meant someone had been watching the house, watching her, or worse, watching both of them for longer than she realized.Her first instinct was to call Christian.Her thumb hovered over his name.Then she stopped.Her uncle’s warning returned to her.Don’t tell Christian about Crown Meridian.Daniella hated that she was even considering listening to him. Christian deserved the truth. After everything they had survived, keeping another secret from him felt almost cruel. Yet she couldn’t ignore what had happened inside that house. Her uncle had been genuinely afr
The night was filled with nothing but laughter, peace and joy music blasting every angel of the compound left right and center, people chatting happily and freely walking around with drinks in their hands. Ladies wore bun shorts patrolling the environment looking for men to absorb their millions.
Daniella slowly opened her tiny eyes as she rubbed her hands across them trying to clear way for a better vision. It was morning already but instead of meeting the usual calm comfortable home she met an unrecognized environment. The house was too calm and the aura wasn’t really good. But I mean s
The knock came at the door, just as Derrick had finally put Daniella to sleep, his heart froze for a moment, but he forced himself to relax. But then again his mind started to play the what if game, I mean it was past midnight who would be visiting this late. He swallowed as he heard the loud ba
“This will be your room” the older woman spoke as she pushed a door at the end of the hall way open Daniella walked in her eyes observing the entire room, she said nothing to the woman and only nodded. “Don’t you speak?” The woman asked honestly Daniella has been too quiet for her liking and it w







