Chapter 6: Secrets Beneath the Ashes

The library fell silent.

Damien stared at the photograph in his hand, his knuckles whitening around the phone.

His uncle.

Victor Blackwood.

The man who had practically raised him after his father's death.

The man he trusted more than anyone.

"No..." Damien murmured.

"This doesn't make sense."

Ava took a cautious step closer.

"You know him?"

Damien didn't answer immediately.

Instead, he enlarged the photograph.

Victor stood beside a smiling Ava, pointing to a stack of documents on a desk. She looked relaxed, unaware of the camera hidden across the room.

The timestamp read:

Fourteen months ago.

Lucas leaned over Damien's shoulder.

"Sir..."

"This image hasn't been edited."

Damien's jaw tightened.

"I know."

Ava's voice was barely audible.

"I've never met him."

"You did."

Damien held up the screen.

"You just don't remember."

She shook her head.

"I would remember meeting someone from the Blackwood family."

"You weren't introduced."

His words sent a chill through the room.

"Someone wanted you to sign those papers without realizing who was standing beside you."

Ava closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember.

A bank.

A conference room.

Her father.

A man talking on the phone.

She remembered waiting nearly an hour before the documents arrived.

But the man's face...

She couldn't see it.

"It's like..." she whispered.

"...my memory stops there."

Damien looked at Lucas.

"Find Victor."

Lucas hesitated.

"Sir..."

"I've already tried."

"What do you mean?"

"He left the country this afternoon."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

"When?"

"Thirty minutes before we received the photograph."

The room fell into another heavy silence.

Too convenient.

Someone had warned Victor.

Someone knew the investigation was getting close.

---

Across the city...

Inside a private airport lounge...

Victor Blackwood calmly stirred his coffee.

A man in a dark suit approached.

"Mr. Blackwood."

Victor looked up.

"Everything is ready?"

"Yes."

"The jet leaves in fifteen minutes."

"And Damien?"

"He's investigating the Carter girl."

Victor smiled faintly.

"I expected that."

The man lowered his voice.

"Should we be concerned?"

Victor's expression hardened.

"Not yet."

"And if he discovers the truth?"

Victor placed his cup on the table.

"He won't."

The man frowned.

"Why are you so certain?"

Victor looked through the window toward the waiting jet.

"Because he's looking in the wrong direction."

---

Back at Blackwood Estate...

Damien locked himself inside his study.

Ava stood outside the door for several seconds before gently knocking.

No answer.

She knocked again.

"Damien?"

Silence.

She slowly opened the door.

He stood before the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city, his back turned to her.

"I shouldn't have come in."

"You already did."

His voice was calm, but distant.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"If this photograph is real..."

"...then your family is involved because of me."

Damien let out a humorless laugh.

"No."

"My family was broken long before you entered my life."

He turned to face her.

For the first time since they'd met, the confident billionaire looked... tired.

"My father died believing his own brother loved him."

Ava remained silent.

"I buried him."

"I stood beside Victor while he promised to protect me."

His eyes darkened.

"If he's behind this..."

"...then I've been living beside my father's betrayer for ten years."

Ava didn't know what to say.

Instead, she walked closer.

"You believed in me."

"So..."

"...let someone believe in you."

Their eyes met.

Something unspoken passed between them.

Before either could speak again, Lucas burst into the study.

"Sir!"

Damien straightened instantly.

"What now?"

Lucas held out a sealed envelope.

"It was delivered by courier."

"No return address."

Damien opened it.

Inside was a single photograph.

Then another.

Then another.

Each one showed Ava.

Different ages.

Different places.

School.

University.

Charity events.

Graduation.

Dozens of photographs.

Someone had been watching her for years.

A handwritten note slipped from the envelope.

Damien unfolded it.

His expression became unreadable.

"What does it say?" Ava asked.

He hesitated.

Then handed her the note.

She read it aloud.

> You think you're protecting her.

The truth is... she was chosen long before she ever met you.

Ask your grandfather why he kept her name in his safe.

Ava looked up, confused.

"My name?"

Damien's pulse quickened.

"My grandfather..."

He suddenly remembered something.

Years ago...

As a child...

He had accidentally opened the old man's study.

Inside the safe had been a thin cream-colored file.

Across the front, written in black ink, were two words.

Ava Carter.

He had asked about it.

His grandfather had immediately taken the file away.

"Some names are tied to promises, Damien. When the time is right, you'll understand."

He hadn't thought about it again.

Until now.

Lucas looked between them.

"Sir..."

"You don't think—"

Damien was already reaching for his car keys.

"We're going to Blackwood Manor."

"Tonight."

Ava frowned.

"Why?"

Damien looked at her with an intensity she'd never seen before.

"Because I need to know why my grandfather knew your name..."

"...eighteen years before we met."

Outside, thunder shook the night sky.

Neither of them noticed the black SUV parked across the street.

Inside, a man lowered a pair of binoculars.

He picked up his phone.

"They're heading to Blackwood Manor."

A woman's voice answered.

"Good."

"Let them find the file."

The man frowned.

"You want them to?"

A slow laugh echoed through the speaker.

"They're about to discover exactly what we want them to discover."

The call ended.

The man watched Damien's car disappear into the darkness.

A satisfied smile crossed his face.

The trap had finally been set.