Chapter 9 The Night Everything Changed

​The Warning

​Silence swallowed the room. Alex stared at Camille, his voice barely a whisper. 

"You've spent six years trying to forget. What happened that night?"

​Camille's fingers trembled as she stared at the frozen image of the black phoenix tattoo on the screen. Her face was completely pale. "I never thought I'd see it again," she whispered, slowly lowering herself into a chair.

​She remained silent for a long moment, gathering the courage to speak, before finally taking a shaky breath. "The night before I left for Europe... I wasn't alone."

​Alex frowned, stepping closer. "What do you mean?"

​"I received a phone call," Camille explained. "They told me someone wanted to discuss my transfer. I thought it was from my company, so I went."

​"Where?"

​"An abandoned warehouse near the harbor."

​Alex's expression darkened. "You went there alone?"

​She nodded. "I was young. I didn't think anything was wrong. But when I got there, three men were waiting for me. They started asking strange questions—they wanted to know how much you knew."

​"About what?" Alex asked, blinking in confusion.

​"I didn't know," Camille said, the room falling eerily quiet. "I told them I didn't understand, but they didn't believe me. Then, they threatened me. They said that if I stayed in the country... someone I loved would die."

​Alex felt his breathing slow as the realization hit him. "They were talking about me?"

​"They knew everything about you," Camille whispered, looking up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Your father, the Swan Group, even where you lived. I thought disappearing was the only way to protect you."

​Alex stood frozen, the weight of the past six years crashing down on him. "For an entire year, I waited for your calls," he said quietly.

​"I wanted to answer," Camille replied, her voice breaking. "I wanted to explain. But every time I reached for my phone, I remembered their warning. 

They told me, 'If Alex Swan ever hears from you again... he'll be buried before your plane lands.'"

​Alex's jaw tightened. "Why didn't you go to the police?"

​"I did," Camille said helplessly. "But they couldn't find anyone, and there was no evidence. So I left. I convinced myself that forgetting you was the only way to keep you alive."

​Kendall, who had been silently watching from the corner of the room, finally spoke. "Did you ever tell anyone else?"

​"No," Camille replied. "Not even my parents knew the truth. They believed I left solely because of work."

​Kendall exchanged a grim look with his son. "This changes everything."

​Alex didn't respond. His mind was racing. Someone had ruthlessly manipulated Camille and torn them apart. But why?

​A Warning for Javier

​Across the city, Javier returned to Nina's apartment. She stepped inside and carefully locked the door behind her, her expression deeply troubled.

​Nina noticed her anxiety immediately. "Are you still thinking about what the police said?"

​Javier nodded, sinking onto the couch. "They told me my phone number appeared during another investigation. What if this has nothing to do with Alex?"

​Nina wanted to believe that, but Javier couldn't bring herself to be so optimistic. "I wish I could believe that too."

​Just then, Javier's phone buzzed with an incoming call from an Unknown Number.

​Nina immediately reached out. "Don't answer."

​Javier hesitated for a second, then pressed the speaker button. "Hello?"

​The same calm, chilling female voice answered from the other end. "You spoke to the police."

​Javier froze. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

​"You should stop asking questions," the voice replied. A soft, eerie laugh echoed through the speaker. "I'm trying to save your life."

​"My life?"

​"If you stay married to Alex Swan... you and your baby won't survive."

​Javier's eyes widened in sheer horror. "How do you know I'm pregnant?"

​Ignoring the question, the caller delivered a final, cold directive: "Leave him. Disappear. It's your only chance."

​The line went dead.

​Nina immediately grabbed the phone from Javier's hands, her voice trembling. "They know about the baby."

​"I never told anyone..." Javier stammered, her hands shaking as she tried to think. "Only you, the doctor, and..." Her heart skipped a beat. "...Alex."

​She quickly shook her head, trying to deny the terrifying thought. "No... Alex wouldn't do this."

​"I know," Nina said gently, interrupting her. "But someone close to him might."

​The Swan Project

​Meanwhile, Alex sat alone in his office long after everyone else had gone home. His eyes remained fixed on the paused security footage of the black phoenix tattoo. The anonymous messages, his broken marriage, Camille's sudden departure—none of it felt like a coincidence anymore.

​Slowly, he opened an old drawer in his desk and pulled out a faded photograph from his university days, showing him and Camille smiling together.

​As he studied the picture, something caught his eye. Hidden in the background crowd behind them stood a man wearing a black jacket. Alex frowned; he had never noticed the man before.

​He quickly scanned the photo into his computer and enlarged the background. 

Though the man's face was too blurry to identify, a chilling detail stood out: his right hand rested just outside his jacket pocket, revealing part of a tattoo—a black phoenix.

​Alex's heart pounded against his ribs. "This... he was watching us even back then."

​A sudden, sharp knock broke the silence. His head of security hurried into the office, looking pale. "Mr. Swan, I found something."

​Alex stood up immediately. "What is it?"

​"We identified the warehouse Miss Camille mentioned," the guard said, swallowing hard.

​"And?"

​"It burned down six years ago. It was officially ruled an arson case." The guard paused before handing over an old newspaper clipping. "But that's not the shocking part."

​Alex's pulse quickened as he looked down at the bold headline:

​MYSTERIOUS FIRE KILLS ONE UNIDENTIFIED MAN AT HARBOR WAREHOUSE

"What does this have to do with Camille?" Alex asked, looking up.

​The guard pointed directly to the final paragraph of the article. "The unidentified victim... was carrying a file labeled 'SWAN PROJECT'."

​The room seemed to spin around Alex. "What is the Swan Project?"

​The guard lowered his voice to a whisper. "We don't know, sir. But someone was willing to kill to make sure it stayed buried."