A deads man secret
890 Words
Chapter 14: A Dead Man's Secret
Edward Sterling was dead.
The words hung in the air like smoke.
Ava stared at Damian.
"What?"
His phone remained pressed against his ear.
The color had completely drained from his face.
For several seconds, he listened without speaking.
Then:
"When did it happen?"
Silence.
Another pause.
"Was anyone else hurt?"
Ava's heart pounded.
The city below was chaos.
Police sirens screamed through the streets.
Red and blue lights flashed against nearby buildings.
Something terrible had happened.
Finally Damian ended the call.
The silence that followed felt unbearable.
Ava stepped closer.
"What happened?"
Damian looked at her.
"The explosion."
His voice sounded distant.
"Edward was inside the building."
A chill ran through her body.
"No survivors?"
Damian slowly shook his head.
The realization hit hard.
Less than twenty-four hours ago, Edward Sterling had been a suspect.
A man with answers.
A man who could explain everything.
Now he was dead.
Conveniently dead.
Too conveniently.
Ava saw the same thought cross Damian's face.
"This wasn't an accident."
It wasn't a question.
Damian nodded.
"No."
---
By midnight, the penthouse was filled with investigators.
Police officers.
Security consultants.
Private investigators.
People asking questions.
Lots of questions.
Damian answered most of them.
Ava answered a few.
Neither mentioned the flash drive.
Neither mentioned the fraud investigation.
Not yet.
The fewer people who knew, the better.
At least for now.
Around two in the morning, the police finally left.
The penthouse became quiet again.
Exhausting silence.
The kind that follows disaster.
Ava sat on the couch.
Wrapped in a blanket.
Too tired to sleep.
Too worried to rest.
Damian stood near the window.
Looking out over London.
Thinking.
Always thinking.
"You believe someone killed him."
He didn't turn around.
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
Certain.
Absolute.
Ava swallowed.
"Because of the fraud?"
"Because he knew something."
His reflection stared back from the glass.
Cold.
Focused.
Dangerous.
"Someone panicked."
Ava looked down.
The logic was impossible to ignore.
Edward was about to meet Damian.
Hours later he was dead.
That wasn't coincidence.
That was a message.
The thought terrified her.
Because if someone was willing to kill Edward...
Who was next?
As if reading her mind, Damian turned.
Their eyes met.
Neither needed to say it.
They were both thinking the same thing.
Richard Moore.
Edward Sterling.
Two dead men.
One mystery.
---
The next morning arrived too quickly.
Ava woke to voices.
Low voices.
Urgent voices.
She followed the sound into Damian's office.
Sophia was already there.
So was Oliver.
Everyone looked tense.
Very tense.
"What happened?"
Sophia looked up.
"We found something."
Damian handed Ava a folder.
Inside was a photograph.
Old.
Worn.
Faded around the edges.
At first glance, it looked ordinary.
Four people standing together outside a building.
Then Ava recognized one of them.
Her father.
Richard Moore.
Her breath caught.
Next to him stood a younger Edward Sterling.
And beside Edward...
Damian's grandfather.
The founder of Blackwood Finance.
Ava frowned.
"What am I looking at?"
Nobody answered immediately.
That was never a good sign.
Finally Sophia spoke.
"The picture was taken twenty-six years ago."
"So?"
Sophia took a breath.
"So your father helped build Blackwood Finance."
The room spun.
Ava blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Surely she had heard that wrong.
"My father was a gambler."
"He became a gambler."
Sophia corrected gently.
"Before that, he was one of the company's earliest financial analysts."
Ava stared.
Speechless.
Because nothing made sense anymore.
Nothing.
Her father had never mentioned Blackwood.
Not once.
Not ever.
Why would he hide something like that?
Unless—
A terrible possibility formed.
"What happened?"
Damian's expression darkened.
"We don't know."
"But we're getting closer."
---
Later that afternoon, Ava visited her father's old storage unit.
A place she hadn't seen since his funeral.
The unit was small.
Dusty.
Crowded with forgotten boxes.
Most contained junk.
Old clothes.
Broken furniture.
Stacks of newspapers.
Nothing useful.
Hours passed.
Nothing.
Then Oliver found a locked metal box.
"Uh..."
He held it up.
"This looks suspicious."
Ava took it carefully.
The box was old.
Heavy.
Important.
She could feel it.
Somehow.
Damian examined the lock.
Then smirked.
"What?"
"Your father used the same code for everything."
Ava frowned.
"How do you know that?"
"Because I already guessed it."
Click.
The box opened.
Everyone froze.
Inside sat a collection of documents.
Letters.
Photographs.
Bank records.
And one sealed envelope.
Ava's name written across the front.
Her hands began to shake.
Because she recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her father's.
The room became silent.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Slowly, Ava opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Only one page.
She unfolded it carefully.
Then started reading.
Her face went pale.
"Ava?"
She couldn't answer.
The words blurred together.
Tears filled her eyes.
"Ava."
Damian stepped closer.
Concern replacing confusion.
Finally she looked up.
Her voice barely worked.
"It's from my father."
"What does it say?"
Ava swallowed hard.
Then read the final sentence aloud.
"'If you're reading this, then I failed.'"
The room went still.
Completely still.
Ava continued reading.
"'Trust no one at Blackwood Finance.'"
Damian's jaw tightened.
Sophia looked alarmed.
Oliver looked terrified.
But Ava wasn't finished.
Because there was one final line.
One final warning.
One final secret.
The words that changed everything.
Ava looked up slowly.
Directly at Damian.
And whispered:
"'Especially Damian Black.'"
- Writer
