Chapter 11 - The Enemy InsideThe city changed overnight.
News reports accused Damen of murder.
Police raided his businesses.
His accounts were frozen.
His security team was arrested one by one.
And every piece of evidence pointed toward him.
Damen sat in a dark office, staring at the television.
Evelyn stood behind him.
“This was planned.”
“Yes.”
“By Victor?”
“Not entirely.”
She studied him.
“Who else?”
Damen looked at the ledger.
“Someone with access to my finances.”
“Nolan's mother?”
“Possibly.”
“Nolan?”
“No.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“Because he could have killed me yesterday.”
She frowned.
“And he didn't.”
“No.”
A knock sounded.
Nolan entered.
His arm was bandaged.
“I found something.”
He placed a phone on the desk.
A video was playing.
Damen's own voice.
Threatening a man.
Then another video.
Damen entering a warehouse.
A third.
Damen shooting someone.
Evelyn looked stunned.
“That's impossible.”
“Deepfake,” Nolan said.
Damen stared.
“Who's good enough to make all of these?”
Nolan looked at the ledger.
“Someone who has been collecting data on Damen for years.”
Evelyn felt cold.
“Vivian.”
Nolan shook his head.
“My mother isn't that sophisticated.”
“Then who?”
A voice answered from the doorway.
“Me.”
Everyone turned.
Clara stood there.
Damen raised his weapon.
“You.”
Clara smiled.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Evelyn stepped back.
“You've been helping Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor promised me something.”
“What?”
“My son.”
Silence.
Clara looked at Damen.
“Your father killed my husband.”
Damen said nothing.
“He destroyed my family.”
“And you want revenge.”
“I wanted justice.”
She lifted a phone.
Then showed them a photograph.
A little boy.
Alive.
Protected.
“Victor has my son.”
Evelyn stared.
“So you were forced.”
“Yes.”
“Then help us.”
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't have a choice.”
Nolan stepped forward.
“We can get him back.”
Clara laughed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“You're a Pierce.”
“And you're a mother.”
Clara froze.
Nolan continued.
“I know what it feels like to choose someone you love over everything else.”
Clara lowered the phone.
Then said:
“I know where Victor is.”
Damen looked up.
“Where?”
Clara whispered:
“At the Ward family estate.”
Evelyn stared.
“That house has been empty for ten years.”
“Not anymore.”
They drove there that night.
The estate looked untouched.
But inside, lights were on.
Damen entered first.
The walls were covered with photographs.
Evelyn.
Her mother.
Nolan.
Damen.
Dates.
Schedules.
Private information.
Someone had monitored all of them for years.
Evelyn found a room filled entirely with photographs of herself.
She felt sick.
Then she noticed one photograph dated fifteen years earlier.
She was twelve.
Standing beside a man she had never seen.
A younger Victor Hale.
Beside him was another man.
Damen.
Her breath caught.
Damen looked at the picture.
“I was here.”
“When?”
“I don't remember.”
Evelyn found another photograph.
This one showed her father.
Her mother.
Victor.
Vivian.
And Damen's father.
Everyone was smiling.
A family photograph.
Except one person stood apart.
A young boy.
Nolan.
Evelyn slowly realized.
“This wasn't a war.”
Damen looked at her.
“It was an inheritance.”
The lights came on.
Vivian stood above them on the staircase.
Clapping slowly.
“You finally figured it out.”
Nolan raised his weapon.
“What do you want?”
Vivian smiled.
“Everything.”
She looked at Evelyn.
“The trust.”
Then at Damen.
“His empire.”
Then at Nolan.
“And my son's obedience.”
She paused.
“But that's only the beginning.”
She pointed toward a hidden door.
“Because the man who started all of this isn't dead.”
Evelyn's heart stopped.
“Who?”
May you like
Vivian smiled.
“Your real father.”
