All Chapters of Until The Truth Burns: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

26 Chapters

CHAPTER ONE - TANYA

I slowed down as I neared home. The house was unusually quiet, missing the soft jazz my mother usually played in the evenings. I turned the knob — unlocked. The second strange thing.I was about to call for my mum when I saw it. Bright red seeping into the carpet beside her lifeless body. A few feet away, in the dining room doorway, lay my father. Also lifeless.With trembling hands, I picked up the note in his palm.“I will be watching.”I stumbled back, and before the weight of it could sink in, someone grabbed me and I screamed—“NOOOO!!”I jolted awake, screaming for the third night in a row. Sweat clung to my forehead, the bedsheet damp. I turned on the small light above my bed and saw my terrified reflection in the dresser mirror—wild hair, wide eyes, dry lips.I poured a glass of water. As I drank, the memory replayed again, as it always did.The night my parents died.The night I lost everything.For two years I’d tried to understand why anyone would kill them in such a cold,

CHAPTER TWO - DAMIEN

The city hadn’t fully woken yet. From my office window, it looked peaceful—an illusion I didn’t buy. Down below, the streets were slowly coming alive, the skyline reflected in the glass like a second, quieter world.“Those numbers don’t add up,” I said into the phone. “You’re telling me there’s no variance?”A nervous voice crackled through the line. “Sir, I—I think it’s just a misalign—”“Fix it.” I hung up.Excuses. I hated excuses.Control was oxygen. Precision, my religion. Both had abandoned me tonight. I’d spent eight hours dissecting reports that refused to make sense. The figures were off—in a way i couldn't explain. I’d recalculated everything myself and still found nothing. Every trail looped back into silence.And silence always hid something.The team kept insisting it was formatting, an oversight, a simple mistake. I didn’t believe in simple mistakes. Someone was either sloppy, stupid, or hiding something, and I couldn’t decide which was worse.Not in my company. Not unde

CHAPTER THREE - TANYA

My encounter with Mr. Asshole had me fuming all morning. My attraction had dropped by a hundred percent—okay, fine, fifty. Don’t judge me. Have you seen the man??And you won’t believe this: everyone at LH walked around like smiling required corporate approval. Except the sweet receptionist. Honestly, considering their boss, I understood why. That brief sympathetic look she gave me finally made sense. Job listings here needed hazard signs: Warning—may cause emotional trauma.I cleaned the entire office with Olympic-level precision. Outside of studying numbers and reading dark romance books—which have definitely ruined my standards in men—I had the attention span of a toddler in an amusement park.“There. Perfect,” I muttered to the spotless desk. “Let’s see you complain now, Mr. Asshole.” I packed up and headed toward the elevator after changing in the janitor’s closet.Just as I stepped out, I almost bumped into a woman whose pencil skirt looked two sizes too small.“Watch where you’

CHAPTER FOUR - DAMIEN

I slipped into the private elevator and made my way to my office. The cleaner was gone, but her scent lingered—lavender and defiance. I should have forgotten it. I hadn’t.“It’s just the detergent,” I muttered, setting my briefcase down. But that didn’t explain why she was still in my head. Her absence annoyed me. Or disappointed me. I couldn’t tell which, and that bothered me more. She should’ve been here to answer for anything she’d done wrong—like the others.But the office was spotless.I took off my jacket and joined the first of three virtual meetings. The screen lit up with Mr. Harlan, one of our senior partners at Lockewood Heights Group—the luxury real estate empire carrying my name.“You’re playing a dangerous game, Damien,” he said tightly. “Pulling out of the East River project now will spook investors.”“Then let them be spooked.” I scrolled the projections. “Fear keeps people honest. I don’t build partnerships on wishful thinking.”“You’re risking a quarter billion in co

CHAPTER FIVE - TANYA

I walked into the executive wing this morning, still drained from Meghan’s ordeal last night. Not physically — emotionally. Her cracked voice, the bruise on her cheek, the way she shook… it haunted me through the night.I finished the other two offices, the lounge, and the conference room before heading into Mr. Asshole’s office, only to find papers scattered all over his desk.“And this man is supposed to be organized?” I muttered. Organized, my foot.I started cleaning the mess. Numbers always grab my attention, so I skimmed a page. Then another. And then I started lining the sheets up. Something was off.“Talk to me,” I whispered to the figures.Then I saw it — the starting balances had been carefully manipulated.“What,” a cold voice snapped behind me, “the fuck do you think you are doing?”I jolted so hard the papers flew. Damien Lockewood stood in the doorway looking ready to pounce.“I… clean… the paper…” I stuttered. Beautiful. Absolutely stunning performance.“Get out,” he sa

CHAPTER SIX - DAMIEN

I didn’t sit down immediately after Tanya left.I stood there with one hand braced against my desk, staring at the sheets she’d touched like they were suddenly radioactive.Not because she touched them.Because she saw what I’d spent sleepless nights digging through.She spotted it in seconds.I exhaled slowly, gathered the papers, and hit the intercom.“Greyson.”“Yes, sir.”“Send in the Head of Finance.”A beat. Everyone in this building knew that tone.“Yes, sir.”While I waited, I replayed the image of Tanya leaning over my desk, pointing out decimals like breathing. No hesitation. No guesses. She just knew.And I found women who knew their stuff very sexy.“No women. Focus, Damien,” I muttered.A knock. My irritation flared.“Enter.”The Head of Finance stepped in—usually composed, but today he looked ready to bolt.“You asked for me, Mr. Lockewood?”I slid the stack to him. “Walk me through the logic behind these numbers.”“These were Hale’s submissions for the quarter, sir. Eve

CHAPTER SEVEN - TANYA

I was late.Of course I was late.Because nothing in my life ever behaved.I speed-walked down Alder Street, bag thumping against my hip, replaying this morning on a humiliating loop: me in Damien Lockewood’s office, dropping documents like I’d never used fingers before, telling him he wasn’t as smart as people thought… then Rose telling me he fired a whole manager minutes later.Yeah. That could’ve been me.Perfect start.The worst part?I wasn’t nervous because lateness was bad.I was nervous because Nick might decide he didn’t want someone who showed up fifteen minutes late on their first day.The café bell jingled as I slipped inside, hair windblown, dignity hanging by a thread. Morning & Co. was buzzing. Lila was flying around the counter; Nick was battling the chalkboard like it had personally offended him.“There she is!” Lila announced grandly. “On her first day! At… eleven fifteen.”“I can explain,” I sputtered.Nick didn’t turn around. “She overslept,” he said dryly.“Correc

CHAPTER EIGHT - DAMIEN

I stared at the cooling coffee on my desk, wondering why it tasted so damn good. I wasn’t a man who praised people or things, but the coffee spoke for itself—and no one could hear my thoughts anyway.I rubbed the bridge of my nose and forced my gaze away from the scattered files. The numbers were finally done right. No thanks to the people paid to do the work. But thanks to a pair of sharp eyes that didn’t belong where they insisted on being.Tanya Reed.There it was again—her name crawling through my mind like an itch I couldn’t scratch. I hated that. I didn’t get distracted. Not by people. Not by women. And definitely not by cleaners.I leaned back in my chair, letting the leather sigh beneath me. Maybe it wasn’t her. Maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t gotten laid in… hell, longer than I cared to admit.Fine—several months.A drought of my own making. I’d been too busy, too impatient, too uninterested in small talk, dinner dates, or women who mistook my silence for mystery instead

CHAPTER NINE - TANYA

I finally made it in and quickly locked the door behind me.My phone pinged again.A message from the same unknown number.You can’t keep her from me.At this point I knew the texts were coming from the low-life abusive boyfriend whose number I never bothered to save. Maybe I was a little confrontational by nature, but the dude wasn’t getting a reaction out of me. That was exactly what he wanted.I slipped the phone into my pocket and quietly stepped into the bedroom.Meghan was snoring lightly. Her cheeks were faintly pink, probably from wiping her face too much. She’d been crying—no doubt about that. My chest tightened at the sight of her curled under the blanket, trying to sleep through something that shouldn’t have happened to her.I wanted to report him. I wanted to do something that would make him stop.But I had to respect Meghan’s decision.At least for now.I took a cold shower, letting the chill burn away some of the anger still sitting under my skin, then slid into bed besid

CHAPTER TEN - DAMIEN

London had always suited me. Even at night, the city pulsed with quiet purpose—headlights cutting through rain-slicked streets, people slipping into taxis like the day was just beginning.The conference wrapped exactly as planned.Numbers aligned. Promises made. Hands shaken. No wasted time.I should have been satisfied.Victoria Hart found me at the hotel bar before I ordered my second drink.She slid onto the stool beside me like she’d done it a hundred times before—because she had. Same confidence. Same knowing smile. Same calculated elegance wrapped in black silk and expensive heels.“Damien Lockewood,” she said lightly. “Still pretending sleep is optional?”“Still pretending coincidence exists?” I replied.She smiled wider. “I heard you were in London. Thought I’d say hello.”Victoria didn’t say hello. She reappeared.We’d had an arrangement once. Clean. Predictable. Mutually beneficial. No illusions on either side. She’d known what I wanted—and more importantly—what I didn’t.

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