Chapter 3 — The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead

The next morning, Amelia woke up before her alarm.

For a few seconds, she didn’t remember where she was.

Then she looked around the unfamiliar room.

Clara’s apartment.

The divorce.

Damian.

Everything came rushing back.

Amelia slowly sat up.

Her chest hurt, but strangely, she didn’t feel like crying.

Maybe she’d finally cried enough.

She reached for her phone and switched it on.

Twenty-three missed calls.

Her eyes widened.

All from one person.

Damian Blackwood.

Amelia stared at his name.

Her heart still reacted to him.

That was the annoying part.

She could leave his house.

She could sign divorce papers.

She could swear she was finished with him.

But apparently, her heart hadn’t received the memo.

A message appeared.

Damian: We need to talk.

Amelia scoffed.

“Of course we do.”

Another message came.

Damian: It’s about your father.

Her smile disappeared.

Amelia stopped breathing.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

My father?

She read the message again.

Then again.

How did Damian know about her father?

No.

That wasn’t possible.

She had spent years making sure Damian never discovered the truth.

Richard Hart was dead.

At least, that’s what everyone believed.

And Amelia had never corrected them.

Because sometimes a dead man was safer than a living one.

“Amelia?”

She quickly locked her phone.

Clara appeared at the bedroom door holding two cups of coffee.

“You’re awake.”

“Yeah.”

Clara walked inside and handed her a cup.

“Any more calls from Mr. Billionaire?”

Amelia looked down.

“Twenty-three.”

Clara nearly dropped her coffee.

“Twenty-three?”

Amelia nodded.

“What does he want?”

Amelia hesitated.

Then she handed Clara the phone.

Clara read the message.

Her expression changed.

“What does he mean by your father?”

“I don’t know.”

Clara looked at her.

“Amelia.”

“I said I don’t know.”

Clara frowned.

Amelia immediately regretted snapping.

She lowered her voice.

“I’m sorry.”

Clara sat beside her.

“You’re hiding something.”

Amelia looked away.

She couldn’t tell her.

Not yet.

Because if Damian knew about Richard, everything Amelia had spent years protecting could fall apart.

Her father’s life.

Her own life.

And the one secret she had promised never to reveal.

⸻

Across town, Damian sat in the back of his car.

“Where are we going?” Ethan asked from the front.

“Richard Hart’s address.”

Ethan glanced at him through the mirror.

“Sir, are you sure about this?”

Damian’s eyes hardened.

“Drive.”

The car moved through the city.

Damian stared out the window.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Amelia.

The woman he’d married three years ago.

The woman he’d barely bothered to understand.

The woman he’d just divorced.

He had spent years believing Amelia was simply a sweet, ordinary woman who had fallen in love with him.

Maybe that had been the biggest lie of all.

His phone vibrated.

A message from Ethan.

The address is confirmed.

Damian looked up.

“How far?”

“Ten minutes.”

“Good.”

His jaw tightened.

He needed answers.

And Richard Hart was going to give them to him.

⸻

Twenty minutes later, Damian stood outside a modest house in a quiet neighborhood.

He stared at the address.

It didn’t look like the home of a man who had once been one of the most feared businessmen in the country.

Damian knocked.

Nothing.

He knocked again.

Still nothing.

He reached for his phone.

Then the door opened.

An older man stood there.

Damian froze.

The man’s hair was gray.

His face was older.

But there was no mistaking him.

Richard Hart.

The man who was supposed to have died fifteen years ago.

Richard’s eyes widened.

For several seconds, neither man spoke.

Then Richard’s expression changed.

Fear.

Real fear.

“Damian Blackwood.”

Damian stepped forward.

“You know who I am.”

Richard laughed bitterly.

“How could I forget?”

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

Richard stared at him.

“And you’re supposed to leave my daughter alone.”

Damian went completely still.

“My daughter.”

Richard’s face hardened.

“Go home, Damian.”

“Why is Amelia involved in this?”

Richard said nothing.

Damian stepped closer.

“What did my father do to your family?”

Richard’s eyes flashed.

“You really don’t know?”

“Know what?”

Richard looked at him for a long moment.

Then he stepped aside.

“Come in.”

⸻

Richard’s house was small and almost empty.

Damian walked inside.

There were no expensive paintings.

No luxury furniture.

Nothing that suggested Richard Hart had once been a powerful man.

Richard closed the door.

“You shouldn’t have come here.”

“I didn’t come here for your permission.”

Richard gave him a cold look.

“Still arrogant.”

“Still avoiding the question.”

Richard sighed.

“Your father destroyed my family.”

Damian’s expression changed.

“My father?”

“Yes.”

“What did he do?”

Richard turned toward the window.

“Fifteen years ago, I discovered that your father was stealing money from the Blackwood company.”

Damian stared at him.

“That’s impossible.”

“That’s what I thought too.”

Richard’s voice was bitter.

“I confronted him. I had proof.”

“What happened?”

“He threatened me.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

“And?”

Richard turned around.

“Three days later, my company was destroyed.”

Damian said nothing.

“My accounts were frozen. My reputation was destroyed. The police came after me. Everyone believed I had stolen millions.”

Damian’s face tightened.

“You were framed.”

Richard laughed without humor.

“Finally.”

Damian’s mind raced.

His father’s death had always been described as a tragic accident.

But if Richard was telling the truth—

“Why did you disappear?”

Richard’s expression softened.

“Because I had Amelia.”

Damian’s chest tightened.

“She was only a child. I knew if I stayed, they’d come after her too.”

“So you abandoned your daughter?”

Richard’s eyes flashed.

“I protected my daughter.”

Damian went silent.

Richard walked toward an old cabinet.

He opened it and pulled out a photograph.

He handed it to Damian.

Damian looked down.

Amelia.

She was young.

Maybe sixteen.

Standing beside Richard.

Damian’s eyes lingered on her face.

She looked happy.

Nothing like the woman who had walked out of his penthouse the previous night.

Richard spoke quietly.

“She knew I was alive.”

Damian’s head snapped up.

“What?”

“She has always known.”

The room seemed to shrink.

Damian stared at him.

“Amelia knew?”

“Yes.”

“And she never told me?”

Richard’s expression was unreadable.

“She had her reasons.”

Damian’s jaw tightened.

“What reasons?”

Richard didn’t answer.

Damian stepped toward him.

“What does my family have to do with her?”

Richard’s face suddenly became serious.

“Everything.”

Before Damian could respond, his phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

Amelia.

His heart jumped.

He answered immediately.

“Amelia.”

There was silence.

Then her trembling voice.

“Where are you?”

Damian glanced at Richard.

“Why?”

“Just tell me.”

Something about her voice made his expression change.

“I’m handling something.”

“Are you with my father?”

Damian froze.

Richard’s eyes lifted.

Damian slowly turned toward him.

“What did you say?”

Silence.

Then Amelia whispered,

“Damian…”

His grip tightened around the phone.

“You knew.”

“I can explain.”

“You knew your father was alive.”

“Damian, please—”

“You lied to me.”

Amelia’s breathing became shaky.

“You lied to me for three years.”

“I never lied about loving you.”

Damian went completely silent.

The words hit him harder than he expected.

Amelia seemed to realize what she’d said.

She quickly continued.

“That’s not what matters right now.”

“It matters to me.”

“Damian—”

“Where are you?”

“Why?”

“Because we’re going to talk.”

“No.”

His eyebrows pulled together.

“No?”

“I’ve spent three years trying to talk to you, Damian.”

Her voice cracked.

“You never wanted to listen.”

Damian’s chest tightened.

“Amelia.”

“I don’t owe you anything anymore.”

The call ended.

Damian stared at his phone.

Richard watched him silently.

Then he said something that made Damian’s blood run cold.

“She wasn’t supposed to marry you.”

Damian slowly looked up.

“What?”

Richard’s face was filled with regret.

“Your grandfather arranged that marriage because he was trying to protect you.”

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

“Protect me from what?”

Richard didn’t answer.

“Richard.”

The older man looked away.

“Ask your father.”

“My father is dead.”

Richard’s expression darkened.

“Is he?”

Damian froze.

The room fell silent.

“What does that mean?”

Richard walked toward the window.

“You’ve spent your entire life believing your family told you the truth.”

He turned around.

“They didn’t.”

Damian stared at him.

Richard’s voice dropped.

“Your father is the reason Amelia lost everything.”

Damian’s heart pounded.

“And Amelia…”

Richard paused.

“Amelia is the only person who knows exactly what happened that night.”

Damian’s eyes widened.

“What night?”

Richard didn’t answer.

Damian stepped closer.

“WHAT NIGHT?”

Richard looked at him.

“The night your father tried to kill me.”

Damian went still.

Before he could speak, Richard added quietly—

“And Amelia was there.”

⸻

Amelia sat on Clara’s couch, staring at her phone.

Her hands were shaking.

She had known this day would come.

She had just hoped it wouldn’t come so soon.

Clara sat beside her.

“What’s wrong?”

Amelia didn’t answer.

“Amelia?”

She finally looked at her best friend.

“Damian found him.”

Clara’s face went pale.

“Richard?”

Amelia nodded.

“And he knows.”

“Knows what?”

Amelia’s eyes filled with tears.

“Everything.”

Clara grabbed her hand.

“What are you going to do?”

Amelia looked toward the window.

For three years, she’d been terrified of the truth coming out.

But now Damian knew enough to start digging.

There was no going back.

She wiped her tears.

“I have to see him.”

“Damian?”

Amelia shook her head.

“My father.”

Clara stared at her.

“Why?”

Amelia’s voice dropped to a whisper.

“Because if Damian finds out what really happened that night…”

She looked down at her trembling hands.

“He’ll hate me even more.”

Clara’s eyes widened.

“Amelia, what did you do?”

Amelia closed her eyes.

And finally, she whispered the truth she’d been carrying alone for fifteen years.

“I was the one who pulled the trigger.”