Chapter 10 – The Missing Man

The Blackwood mansion was unusually quiet.

Hours had passed since the attempted assassination at the wedding, yet the tension lingered in every corner of the estate. Security guards patrolled the grounds, their radios crackling every few minutes as the investigation continued.

Sleep refused to come to Ava.

Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the gunshot again.

Unable to stay in her room, she wrapped a light cardigan around herself and wandered down the dimly lit hallway. Somehow, her feet carried her back to the one place that had been occupying her thoughts since she first arrived at the mansion.

The library.

She pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped inside.

Moonlight streamed through the tall windows, illuminating rows of antique books and polished wooden shelves. The room felt frozen in time.

Ava walked toward the shelf where she had hidden the old photograph.

She reached behind a row of dusty books.

It was still there.

Carefully, she unfolded the faded photograph and studied it beneath the reading lamp.

A young couple smiled brightly at the camera while a little girl stood between them, laughing as if she didn't have a single worry in the world.

The girl's face tugged at something deep inside Ava.

She looked strangely familiar.

But it was the man standing beside them that caught her attention once again.

Someone had deliberately torn away his face.

Not the entire picture.

Only him.

Her fingers traced the rough, ripped edge.

"Who were you?" she whispered.

"And why did someone erase you?"

"You ask too many questions."

The deep voice behind her made her jump.

She spun around.

Damian stood at the entrance of the library.

His sharp eyes settled immediately on the photograph in her hands.

For a brief moment, something flickered across his face.

Shock.

He crossed the room in a few quick strides.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it here a few days ago."

She held it out.

"I've been trying to understand why someone's face was removed."

Damian accepted the photograph carefully.

The moment his eyes landed on it, his expression hardened.

His thumb brushed against the torn section.

"I know this picture."

Ava's heart skipped.

"You do?"

His gaze never left the photograph.

"I recognize the missing man."

The room suddenly felt colder.

"Who is he?" Ava asked.

Damian remained silent.

"He was someone my family once trusted."

"Then why was his face torn out?"

His jaw tightened.

"Because someone wanted him forgotten."

His answer only deepened the mystery.

"Who was he?" Ava pressed.

Damian folded the photograph and slipped it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

"That question isn't yours to ask."

Ava frowned.

"It became my question the moment I found that photograph."

Their eyes locked.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Damian quietly walked past her and left the library.

---

From the second-floor balcony overlooking the hallway, Lucas Steele watched Damian disappear into his private study.

His instincts immediately told him something was wrong.

Damian never lost his composure.

Not unless the past was involved.

Lucas waited a moment before following him.

The study door had been left slightly open.

Inside, Damian stood beside the fireplace, the photograph resting on his desk.

Lucas stepped inside.

"You recognized him."

Damian didn't answer.

"I saw your face," Lucas continued. "You know exactly who that man is."

Still silence.

Lucas sighed.

"How much longer are you planning to hide the truth?"

Damian finally looked up.

"As long as I have to."

"You think keeping secrets is protecting her?"

"It is."

Lucas shook his head.

"You're making the same mistake they did."

Damian's expression darkened.

"No."

"The truth always comes out," Lucas said quietly. "It always does."

Damian turned toward the window, staring into the darkness beyond the glass.

"Not this time."

---

Ava had been searching the mansion for Damian.

She wanted answers.

As she reached the study, she noticed the door wasn't fully closed.

Voices drifted into the hallway.

She stopped without meaning to.

"...she deserves to know," Lucas was saying.

"No."

Damian's voice was calm but firm.

"You can't keep this from her forever."

There was a long silence.

Ava's heartbeat quickened.

She took one hesitant step closer.

Then Damian spoke.

His words struck her like another gunshot.

"She must never know who her father really was."

Ava's breath caught in her throat.

Her father?

What did Damian know about the man she had spent her entire life believing was dead?

And why was everyone so desperate to keep the truth from her?