Chapter 17

Morning came too quickly.  

Damon hadn’t slept.  

The broken glass from the night before was covered with thick security panels, but the penthouse still had a faint smell of rain and cold metal.  

The reminder of how close he had come to death lingered in the air.  

Damon stood at the long dining table, staring at the financial reports on his tablet.  

Numbers.  

Transfers.  

Account movements.  

At first glance, everything looked normal.  

But Damon had spent his entire life reading balance sheets.  

Something about these numbers felt off.  

Behind him, Luca stepped out of the hallway.  

“You’re still awake.”  

Damon didn’t look up.  

“You’re bleeding.”  

Luca glanced at the shallow cut on his arm from Elena’s knife.  

“It’s nothing.”  

“It’s not nothing.”  

Damon finally turned.  

“You almost got stabbed last night.”  

Luca shrugged.  

“Occupational hazard.”  

Damon frowned.  

“Sit down.”  

Luca blinked.  

“Excuse me?”  

“You heard me.”  

Reluctantly, Luca sat at the counter while Damon opened a medical kit.  

“This is unnecessary,” Luca muttered.  

“You tackled a trained assassin in my kitchen,” Damon replied.  

“I think first aid qualifies as necessary.”  

Luca watched quietly as Damon cleaned the wound.  

“You’re surprisingly calm,” Luca said.  

Damon raised an eyebrow.  

“I nearly died. Again. I’m allowed to be calm.”  

“That’s not normal.”  

Damon finished wrapping the bandage.  

“Neither is my life.”  

Their eyes met briefly.  

Then Luca’s phone buzzed.  

He checked the screen.  

“It’s done.”  

“What is?”  

“I traced the keycard from last night.”  

Damon straightened immediately.  

“And?”  

“It belonged to a security supervisor.”  

“The one who died?”  

“Yes.”  

Damon folded his arms.  

“So someone reused his credentials.”  

“Not just reused them.”  

Luca turned his phone so Damon could see.  

“They altered the system logs.”  

Damon’s eyes narrowed.  

“That’s not easy to do.”  

“No.”  

“Only senior system administrators have that level of access.”  

“Exactly.”  

Damon’s stomach tightened.  

“How many people have that clearance?”  

“Five.”  

Damon didn’t hesitate.  

“Matteo is one of them.”  

“Yes.”  

Silence filled the room.  

Damon leaned against the counter.  

“I need more than suspicion.”  

“You’ll get it.”  

“How?”  

Luca tapped the screen again.  

“By following the money.”  

Damon smiled faintly.  

“That’s always where the truth hides.”  

Two hours later, they were in Damon’s office.  

The executive floor felt strangely tense.  

Employees whispered quietly.  

Security presence had doubled.  

News of the assassination attempt had already started to spread.  

Damon ignored the looks and walked straight to his desk.  

“Show me.”  

Luca plugged a flash drive into the office computer.  

Lines of encrypted data appeared on the screen.  

“What am I looking at?” Damon asked.  

“Financial transfer records.”  

“From the shell corporation?”  

“Yes.”  

Damon leaned closer.  

Several large payments were listed.  

Each one transferred to Adrian Kessler’s account.  

Dates.  

Amounts.  

Locations.  

Then Damon noticed something strange.  

“These numbers…”  

“What about them?”  

“They’re disguised as consulting payments.”  

Luca nodded.  

“That’s how they hid the assassination contract.”  

Damon’s jaw tightened.  

“Who authorized them?”  

“That’s the interesting part.”  

Luca zoomed in on one of the transactions.  

“The payment originated from inside Moretti Holdings.”  

Damon’s heart raced.  

“Which department?”  

“Executive financial operations.”  

Damon’s stomach dropped.  

That department only answered to one person.  

Him. Or Matteo.  

Damon leaned back slowly.  

“So someone used my company’s financial system to hire the man who hired Luca to kill me.”  

“Yes.”  

“And probably to hire Elena.”  

“Yes.”  

Damon exhaled sharply.  

“That’s bold.”  

Luca crossed his arms.  

“It’s also risky.”  

“Why?”  

“Because if we find the source account…”  

Damon finished the thought.  

“…we find the person behind it.”  

Luca nodded.  

“Exactly.”  

Damon’s eyes hardened.  

“Then let’s keep digging.”  

Across the building, Matteo sat in the boardroom.  

Several executives gathered around the table.  

Their faces looked tense.  

“Investors are nervous,” one of them said.  

“The assassination attempt has already leaked.”  

Matteo sighed softly.  

“Yes, I expected that.”  

“What do we do?”  

Matteo folded his hands calmly.  

“We reassure them.”  

“How?”  

“By showing the company still has stable leadership.”  

One of the board members frowned.  

“You mean removing Damon.”  

Matteo’s expression remained neutral.  

“I mean protecting the company.”  

Another executive spoke up.  

“If the media connects the assassination attempt to the financial irregularities…”  

Matteo nodded.  

“That’s exactly why we must act quickly.”  

The chairman leaned forward.  

“You’re suggesting an emergency vote.”  

“Yes.”  

“To suspend Damon as CEO.”  

Matteo lowered his voice slightly.  

“Temporarily.”  

The board members exchanged uneasy glances.  

“And who would take over?” someone asked.  

Matteo gave a modest smile.  

“If necessary…”  

“…I will.”  

Back in Damon’s office, Luca suddenly froze.  

“What?” Damon asked.  

“Someone just accessed the financial server.”  

Damon’s eyes widened.  

“Now?”  

“Yes.”  

“From where?”  

Luca’s fingers moved quickly over the keyboard.  

“Inside the building.”  

“Which office?”  

Luca frowned.  

“It’s encrypted.”  

Damon leaned closer.  

“Can you track it?”  

“I’m trying.”  

The cursor blinked on the screen.  

Then a message suddenly appeared.  

White text against a black background.  

ACCESS DENIED  

Damon frowned.  

“What happened?”  

“They kicked us out.”  

“Who?”  

Luca stared at the screen.  

The next line of text appeared slowly.  

Like someone typing it deliberately.  

YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED LOOKING  

Damon felt a chill run down his spine.  

“Someone’s watching us.”  

“Yes.”  

“And they know we’re close.”  

Another line appeared.  

YOUR MOTHER MADE THE SAME MISTAKE  

Damon’s blood ran cold.  

Before either of them could react  

The entire system shut down.  

The monitors went black.  

Silence filled the office.  

Damon spoke first.  

“Did you see that?”  

“Yes.”  

“They mentioned my mother.”  

“Yes.”  

Damon's voice turned icy.  

“Which means whoever is behind this…”  

“…is the same person who killed her.”  

Luca didn’t respond.  

He was staring at something else.  

A small detail Damon hadn’t noticed.  

A system access code hidden in the corner of the screen.  

Luca zoomed in.  

His expression darkened.  

“What?” Damon asked.  

Luca looked up slowly.  

“That server command…”  

“Yes?”  

“…was issued from the chairman’s office.”  

Damon blinked.  

“That’s impossible.”  

“There’s only one person in that office right now.”  

Damon already knew the answer.  

But hearing it still felt like a punch.  

“Matteo.”  

Damon grabbed his jacket.  

“Where are you going?” Luca asked.  

“To confront him.”  

“That’s a terrible idea.”  

“I don’t care.”  

Luca stepped in front of him.  

“You need proof first.”  

Damon’s voice hardened.  

“And while we look for proof, he keeps trying to kill me?”  

Before Luca could respond

Damon’s phone rang.  

Matteo’s name appeared on the screen.  

Damon answered slowly.  

“Yes?”  

Matteo’s voice sounded calm.  

Almost cheerful.  

“Damon, I’m glad I reached you.”  

Damon’s eyes narrowed.  

“What do you want?”  

Matteo paused.  

Then said quietly:  

“I think we need to talk about your mother.”  

The words froze Damon in place.  

And suddenly, Damon realized something terrifying.  

Matteo wasn’t just ahead of them.  

He had been watching every step of their investigation.