Chapter 8: The First Bullet

The flash grenade exploded.

A blinding white light swallowed the study.

Ava squeezed her eyes shut as a deafening ringing filled her ears.

She couldn't hear.

She couldn't see.

Only chaos.

"Stay down!" Damien's voice cut through the ringing.

The sound of breaking glass echoed again.

Then came hurried footsteps.

Someone was inside the study.

Lucas drew his pistol.

"Security! North wing! Now!"

The beam from his flashlight swept across the room just as a masked man lunged toward the desk.

His target wasn't Damien.

It was the cream-colored file.

Damien reacted instantly.

He tackled the intruder before the man could grab it.

Both crashed into the floor.

The attacker pulled a knife from his sleeve.

Ava gasped.

"Damien!"

The blade slashed through the air.

Damien caught the man's wrist, forcing it away from his chest.

For a moment, they struggled in silence.

Then the masked man drove his knee into Damien's ribs.

Damien grunted, losing his grip.

The attacker broke free, snatched the file, and sprinted toward the shattered window.

"No!" Ava shouted.

Without thinking, she grabbed the heavy silver pocket watch from the floor.

She hurled it with all her strength.

The watch struck the intruder's shoulder.

He stumbled.

The file slipped from his hands.

Damien was already moving.

He slammed the man against the wall.

Lucas reached them, gun raised.

"Don't move!"

Instead of surrendering, the intruder smiled beneath his mask.

A second later—

He jumped backward through the broken window.

By the time security flooded the gardens...

He was gone.

Only the torn mask remained, caught on a rose bush.

---

An hour later...

Police officers searched every corner of Blackwood Manor.

The study had become a crime scene.

An officer approached Damien.

"No fingerprints."

"No footprints."

"It looks like he knew the property."

Damien nodded.

"I expected that."

The officer hesitated.

"There's one more thing."

He handed Damien a bullet sealed inside an evidence bag.

"It was lodged in the bookshelf."

Damien examined it carefully.

His expression darkened.

Lucas noticed.

"You recognize it?"

Damien looked up slowly.

"This isn't military."

"It isn't civilian either."

"What is it?"

Damien slipped the evidence bag into his coat.

"A custom-made round."

"Only one organization uses these."

Ava frowned.

"Who?"

Damien met her eyes.

"The people responsible for my father's death."

Silence settled over the room.

Lucas looked stunned.

"You think they're involved after all these years?"

"I know they are."

---

The next morning...

News of the attack spread like wildfire.

Every major newspaper carried the headline.

BREAK-IN AT BLACKWOOD MANOR. POLICE SUSPECT TARGETED ROBBERY.

The truth, however, remained hidden.

Only Damien, Ava, and Lucas knew the intruder hadn't come for money.

He had come for the file.

Inside Blackwood Group headquarters, the atmosphere was tense.

Damien strode into the executive elevator with Ava beside him.

Employees watched in silence.

Unlike yesterday, no one whispered.

After the attack, everyone understood one thing.

Whoever stood beside Damien Blackwood...

Was now a target.

As the elevator doors closed, Ava finally spoke.

"You were almost killed because of me."

Damien looked at her.

"No."

"Because of the truth."

She shook her head.

"If I hadn't entered your life—"

"They would've come eventually."

His voice was steady.

"This isn't your fault."

For the first time, Ava believed him.

---

Later that afternoon...

Lucas entered Damien's office carrying a sealed envelope.

"It arrived from the police laboratory."

Damien opened it.

Inside was the forensic report on the torn mask.

His eyes narrowed.

"What is it?" Ava asked.

Lucas answered before Damien could.

"They found DNA."

Hope flickered across Ava's face.

"They know who attacked us?"

Damien slowly handed her the report.

She scanned the page.

Then stopped.

Her face turned pale.

"This has to be a mistake."

The DNA belonged to someone officially declared dead.

Five years ago.

A man named...

Daniel Carter.

Ava's lips trembled.

"My..."

"My brother?"

Lucas looked confused.

"I thought you were an only child."

"So did I," Ava whispered.

The room fell silent.

Damien's gaze shifted from the report to Ava.

The family register had listed only one child.

Her parents had never mentioned another.

Yet according to the police records...

Daniel Carter had died in a car accident.

Five years earlier.

If that was true...

Whose DNA had just been found at Blackwood Manor?

Before anyone could speak, Damien's phone rang.

It was Harris, the old butler.

His voice shook.

"Mr. Blackwood..."

"The family cemetery..."

Damien's expression hardened.

"What happened?"

"Someone broke into your grandfather's crypt."

"And..."

"They stole his coffin."