Hidden Truths Beneath His Name

Footsteps echoed behind Elena as she pushed through the double doors of Cross Tower’s top-floor archive room. Papers trembled in her hands, and her breath came shallow. The world outside felt loud and sharp, but this room—cold, dimly lit, and untouched by time—carried a different kind of tension.

She hadn’t intended to come here.

She hadn’t intended to follow the trail she found tucked inside the envelope Julian dropped, as if by accident.

But once she saw the file name—

MARLOWE CASE: SEALED—

she couldn’t unsee it.

Damian’s mother’s name was Marlowe.

His past was tied to that name.

And now she was staring at a key to everything he never said.

A quiet resolve settled inside her chest. If she wanted to protect him from the storm Julian was building—she needed to know what she was fighting for.

A whisper of air stirred as someone entered behind her.

“Elena.”

Damian’s voice.

She stiffened. He rarely sounded breathless, but tonight he did. He closed the door with a soft click, his gaze loc