Chapter 7 – Secrets in the Shadows

Aurora's Pov 

I barely slept after getting that anonymous message. Every sound in the house made me jump, and I kept checking my phone, expecting another text that never came. By morning, I had dark circles under my eyes and a pounding headache, but I couldn't afford to rest.

Damien was sending someone, I knew it in my gut. He'd noticed something was off, and now he was going to test me.

I pulled up everything I could find about the people who worked for Damien. Not the public employees, but the ones who did his dirty work. The fixers, the ones who made problems disappear quietly.

There were three names that kept coming up. Victor Hayes, who specialized in financial crimes. Sarah Park, who handled blackmail and reputation management and Marcus Chen, who was Damien's go-to person for anything that needed a personal touch.

Marcus was the most dangerous because he was good at reading people. In my past life, I'd met him a few times at company events, and he'd always seemed polite and professional but now I knew better. He was the one who'd probably helped stage my accident.

If Damien was sending anyone, it would be Marcus.

I needed help, but I couldn't ask Father because he'd want to know why I was suddenly worried about Damien's people and I definitely couldn't ask Seraphina. Lawrence was an option, but I wasn't ready to show him how vulnerable I was.

Then I remembered something from my past life. Marcus Chen had a younger sister who needed expensive medical treatment. Damien had promised to help but never followed through, Marcus had stayed loyal anyway because he didn't have other options.

But what if I gave him an option?

I made some calls using a burner phone I'd bought yesterday. It took most of the morning, but I finally got through to someone who knew someone who could get me Marcus's personal number.

When I called him, he answered on the third ring.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Aurora Stanley. I know you work for Damien Scott, and I know he's probably sending you to check on me."

Silence. Then he said, "Miss Stanley, I think you have the wrong number."

"Your sister needs a kidney transplant. Damien promised he'd help pay for it, but he's been stalling for eight months. I can have her on a donor list by tomorrow and cover all the costs. All you have to do is tell me what Damien wants to know and feed him information that I give you."

There was more silence, I held my breath, waiting.

"Why would you do that?"

"Because Damien Scott is using you just like he's using everyone else. And because I need someone on the inside who knows how he thinks."

"This is crazy. You're asking me to betray my employer based on a phone call from someone I've never met."

"Check your email. I just sent you confirmation that your sister has been moved to the top of the donor list at Northwestern Memorial. That's real, I can make it disappear just as easily."

I hated threatening him like this, but I didn't have time to be nice. Marcus needed to understand that I was serious and that I had resources he didn't know about.

"I'll think about it." He hung up.

I sat there staring at my phone, wondering if I'd just made a huge mistake. But an hour later, I got a text from a new number.

"He's coming tomorrow afternoon. He wants to ask about your recent financial decisions and why you refused the partnership agreement. What should I tell him?"

I smiled. Marcus was in.

I spent the rest of the day preparing. I needed to seem like the same naive Aurora that Damien expected. Someone who made impulsive decisions based on emotion instead of strategy, someone who could be manipulated back into line.

The next afternoon, I was in the garden reading a book when Marcus Chen arrived. He was tall and slim with dark hair and glasses that made him look more like a professor than a fixer.

"Miss Stanley? I'm Marcus Chen. Mr Scott asked me to stop by and discuss some business matters."

I looked up and smiled like I had no idea who he really was. "Oh. Is Damien okay? He could have just called me."

"He's fine. He's just concerned that you might be feeling pressured about the wedding and the business arrangements. He wants to make sure you're comfortable with everything."

Translation: Damien wanted to know why I was suddenly acting different and whether I was a threat.

"That's sweet of him to worry." I closed my book and gestured to the chair across from me. "Please sit. Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you." He sat down and pulled out a tablet. "Mr Scott mentioned that you had some concerns about combining your assets before the wedding. Can you tell me what changed your mind?"

I'd prepared for this question. "I was talking to my friend Isabella, and she mentioned that her sister signed a prenup that protected her family's business. It made me think that maybe Damien and I should keep things separate until after we're married, just to be safe. I mean, we're going to be together forever anyway, so what's the rush, right?"

Marcus watched me carefully. "That's a significant decision. Did anyone else influence your thinking?"

"Like who?"

"Business advisors, lawyers or other family members."

He was fishing to see if I'd talked to Lawrence or hired someone to look into Damien's background. I needed to seem clueless.

"No, it was just Isabella. And honestly, I felt a little silly bringing it up to Damien because he looked so hurt. But Father always taught me to be careful with business decisions, and this is technically a business decision even though it's also personal." I laughed and shook my head. "I'm probably overthinking it. Do you think I'm being paranoid?"

"Not at all. It's smart to protect yourself." He made some notes on his tablet. "Has anything else been bothering you lately? Any concerns about the wedding or the company?"

"Just the normal stress. Sometimes I feel like I'm not ready to run the company, but Father keeps pushing me to take on more responsibility and wedding planning is exhausting. Seraphina has been helping, but there's so much to do."

I kept talking about meaningless details for another twenty minutes. Flower arrangements, guest lists, Honeymoon destinations. All the things the old Aurora would have cared about. Marcus asked a few more questions, but I could tell he was starting to relax.

Finally, he stood up. "Thank you for your time, Miss Stanley. I'll let Mr Scott know that everything is fine."

"Tell him I miss him. He's been so busy lately."

"I will."

I walked Marcus to the door and waved as he drove away. Then I went back inside and texted the burner phone.

"How did I do?"

His response came fast. "Good. But he's not completely convinced, be careful."

I deleted the message and sat down on the stairs. My hands were shaking again. I'd managed to fool Marcus for now, but Damien wasn't stupid. He would keep watching me, and eventually, he would figure out that something was wrong.

I needed to escalate my plans before that happened.

I went to Father's study. He was out meeting with investors, so I had time to look through his files. In my past life, I'd never spent much time in here because I thought I'd have years to learn everything I needed to know. Now, I wished I'd paid more attention.

I started going through his desk drawers, looking for anything that might help me understand what Damien and Seraphina were really after. Financial records, contracts and letters from business partners.

That's when I found it.

Hidden in the bottom drawer underneath a stack of old tax documents, there was a manila envelope with my mother's name written on it in Father's handwriting.

My heart started pounding. I opened it carefully.

Inside was a letter. The paper was old and yellowed, and the ink had faded in places, but I could still read it.

"My dearest Lily. If you're reading this, then something has happened to me. I need you to know that the accident wasn't an accident. They wanted access to the company, and I refused.

 Please protect Aurora. She's the only heir, and they will come for her next. Trust no one, not even family. The truth is hidden in the offshore accounts under your maiden name. I love you both. Victor."

I read it three times before my brain could process what it said.

Mother's death wasn't an accident. Someone had killed her to get to Father and the company and

Father had known. He'd known and he'd hidden the truth.

Who were they? And what offshore accounts was he talking about?