Shattered Loyalties
837 Words
Chapter 8 — Shattered Loyalties
(Dual POV — Aria & Damian)
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Aria’s POV
The gunshot echoed through the dark hallway, deafening and absolute.
For a moment, everything froze. No one moved. No one breathed.
Then chaos erupted.
I stumbled backward, my hands instinctively clutching the wall behind me. My heart hammered so violently I thought it would explode out of my chest.
“Stay down!” Damian’s sharp command sliced through the darkness.
But I couldn’t. My lungs felt like they were collapsing, every muscle trembling as my eyes searched desperately for any light, any sign of what just happened.
And then I heard it — a low, ragged groan.
Victor.
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“Damian…” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
He didn’t answer. I felt, rather than saw, his presence move closer to me, his arm sweeping around my waist, yanking me against him.
“Stay behind me,” he breathed against my ear, his voice dark velvet wrapped around steel. “No matter what happens.”
Something about the way he said it made my stomach twist — not just from fear, but from something heavier, sharper… something I couldn’t name.
I wanted to argue, demand answers, scream, anything — but then emergency lights blinked on, flooding the hallway in a cold, sterile glow.
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Damian’s POV
Victor was on one knee, clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his suit jacket.
But he was smiling.
The bastard was smiling.
“You missed,” he rasped, his voice hoarse but mocking.
I stepped forward slowly, keeping my gun trained on his chest. “I don’t miss twice.”
Victor chuckled lowly, glancing past me — at Aria. “Careful, Damian,” he said softly, “or she’ll see you for what you really are.”
I wanted to pull the trigger. God, I wanted to end him right there, but Aria’s shaky breath behind me anchored me in place.
Not now. Not in front of her.
“Cole,” I barked, never taking my eyes off Victor, “take him to the sub-basement. Secure him.”
Cole nodded and moved forward, two more of my men closing in on Victor. But the bastard didn’t fight. He just kept smiling like he’d already won.
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Aria’s POV
I couldn’t stop staring at the blood on Victor’s shirt.
I hated him. I feared him. But part of me couldn’t stop wondering why he’d risk coming here… and why he’d mentioned my father.
My father.
I turned to Damian sharply, my voice breaking despite my best efforts. “Is it true? What he said? About the drive? About my father?”
Damian froze. Just… froze.
“Not now,” he said finally, his voice low, controlled.
“Not now?” I choked out, stepping closer. “You’ve been lying to me since the moment we met, and you want me to wait for the right time?”
His jaw clenched, but his gaze softened, just for a second. “Aria… I’m trying to protect you.”
“From what?” My voice cracked. “From the truth?”
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Damian’s POV
I reached for her, but she flinched away.
The rejection stung more than I wanted to admit.
She didn’t understand. Couldn’t understand. If she knew the whole story… if she knew what her father had done, what I’d done to cover it up… she’d never look at me the same way again.
And yet Victor had planted the seed of doubt, poisoning everything.
I took a deep breath, forcing my voice steady. “Go upstairs, Aria. Please. Let me handle this.”
Her eyes searched mine, desperate for answers I couldn’t give her. Not yet.
When she finally turned away, it felt like something inside me cracked.
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Aria’s POV
I didn’t go upstairs.
I couldn’t.
Instead, I slipped behind the side corridor, following Cole and his men as they dragged Victor toward the sub-basement.
I didn’t even know why I was doing it — curiosity, desperation, something else entirely — but I knew one thing for certain:
Damian was hiding something.
And Victor was the only person willing to tell me the truth.
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The hallway grew colder as we descended into the sub-basement, the air thick with dampness and secrets. Cole and the others shoved Victor into a reinforced steel room, locking the door behind him.
When they left, I waited. Counted the seconds.
Then I stepped closer.
Through the small square of bulletproof glass, Victor noticed me immediately. His lips curled into a slow, triumphant smile.
“I knew you’d come,” he murmured, pressing a bloodstained hand against the glass.
My throat tightened. “Tell me. Tell me everything you know about my father.”
Victor leaned forward until his forehead almost touched the glass.
And his next words shattered the ground beneath me.
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Cliffhanger Ending
“Your father,” Victor whispered, his eyes burning into mine,
“didn’t just die, Aria.
He was murdered.
And Damian Blackwood pulled the trigger.”
- Writer
