Chapter 10 — The Truth About That Night
1741 Words
Elena stood completely still in the blue room, staring at the message on her phone. Her fingers had gone cold, and for several seconds, she couldn't convince herself to breathe normally.
BECAUSE DAMIAN WAS THERE.
The words seemed to burn into her mind.
Of course Damian had been there.
He had already told her that much.
He had been fourteen when her mother came to the Cross mansion. He had seen her that night. He had admitted that her mother had given him something before she died.
But there was still something he wasn't telling her.
Something important.
Elena looked at the letter in her hand again.
Damian was never your enemy.
Her mother's words should have comforted her.
Instead, they frightened her even more.
If Damian wasn't the enemy, then why had the stranger specifically told her to ask what happened that night?
She quickly folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket.
She needed to speak to Damian.
Immediately.
Elena left the blue room and hurried down the corridor. She had barely reached the staircase when she saw him coming from the opposite direction.
Damian stopped when he noticed her expression.
“What happened?”
“Where were you?”
His brows furrowed. “Why?”
“I asked you a question.”
“I was in my office.”
Elena walked toward him, her eyes fixed on his face. “I found another letter.”
Damian's expression changed.
“Where?”
“In the blue room.”
“You went back there?”
“Yes.”
“Elena, I told you—”
“My mother wrote that you were never my enemy.”
Damian fell silent.
She watched him carefully.
“She also said someone close to me had been lying since the night she died.”
His jaw tightened.
“And then I received a message telling me to ask you what happened that night.”
Damian looked away.
Elena's heart sank.
“You know something.”
“I know what I told you.”
“No. You know more.”
“Elena—”
“Did you kill my mother?”
The question came out quietly.
Damian's eyes immediately returned to hers.
“No.”
There was no hesitation in his answer.
Elena searched his face for a lie.
She couldn't find one.
“Then what happened?”
Damian exhaled slowly.
“Your mother came to the mansion that night because she was trying to warn my father.”
“About what?”
“Your father.”
Elena's chest tightened.
“Again?”
“Yes. Your mother believed your father was involved with people who were stealing from my father's company.”
“But you said my father was only suspected.”
“He was more than suspected.”
Elena shook her head. “Why didn't my mother go to the police?”
“Because she didn't have enough evidence.”
“And she came to your father?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Damian's expression darkened as the memory returned.
“My father refused to believe her.”
“Why?”
“Because he trusted Richard Hart.”
Elena looked down.
That was the part she couldn't understand.
Her father had spent years telling her how much he respected the Cross family. Yet according to Damian, there had been a serious dispute between them.
“What happened after that?”
“They argued.”
“Who?”
“Your mother and my father.”
“About the money?”
“About everything.”
Damian walked toward the window.
“I was upstairs. I heard shouting and came down. Your mother was crying. My father was furious.”
Elena followed him.
“Did my father come?”
“Later.”
“Why?”
“To take your mother home.”
“Did they leave together?”
Damian nodded.
“But something happened before they left.”
“What?”
“My mother stopped them.”
Elena frowned.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Damian looked at her.
“She told your mother she knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
“I don't know.”
Elena's frustration returned.
“You were there!”
“I was fourteen!” Damian snapped.
The room went silent.
He lowered his voice.
“I'm sorry.”
Elena had never seen him lose control like that.
Damian closed his eyes for a moment.
“I remember pieces. Not everything.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember your mother giving me a small key.”
“The key you lost?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Damian stared at the floor.
“She told me to hide it.”
“Why?”
“She said if my father found it, people would die.”
Elena's heart raced.
“Did you hide it?”
“I did.”
“Where?”
“I don't remember.”
“You don't remember?”
“I was terrified. That night changed everything.”
Elena studied him.
“What happened to your father?”
Damian's face became hard.
“He died three days later.”
“And my mother?”
“Two weeks later.”
Elena felt a chill move through her.
“Both of them died within weeks of each other.”
“Yes.”
“And you believe their deaths were connected.”
“I know they were.”
“How?”
Damian turned toward her.
“Because before my father died, he told me one thing.”
“What?”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“Never trust Richard Hart.”
Elena felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
She stepped backward.
“No.”
“He knew your father was involved.”
“No.”
“Elena—”
“My father isn't a murderer.”
“I never said he was.”
“But you keep making him sound like one!”
Damian remained silent.
Elena wiped the tears gathering in her eyes.
“My mother warned me not to trust him.”
“Yes.”
“Your father warned you not to trust him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did my father spend all these years pretending nothing happened?”
“I don't know.”
Elena looked toward the door.
“I need to see him.”
Damian immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“He's my father.”
“And someone is watching you.”
“I don't care.”
“I do.”
She looked at him.
His voice softened.
“You may hate me, Elena, but I'm trying to keep you alive.”
The words silenced her.
Before she could answer, Damian's phone rang.
He answered.
“What?”
Cole's voice sounded urgent.
“Sir, there's been another incident.”
Damian's expression changed.
“Where?”
“At the Hart residence.”
Elena's heart stopped.
“My father?”
“He's gone.”
Damian's grip tightened around the phone.
“What do you mean, gone?”
“The house was broken into. The security team arrived ten minutes ago, but Mr. Hart wasn't there.”
Elena rushed toward Damian.
“What happened?”
Damian ended the call.
“Your father's missing.”
Her face went pale.
“What?”
“We're going to the house.”
---
They reached the Hart residence less than thirty minutes later.
Police cars surrounded the property, while security officers searched the grounds.
Elena jumped out of the car before it had completely stopped.
“Dad!”
She ran inside.
The house was in complete disarray.
Drawers had been pulled open. Papers covered the floor, and several picture frames had been smashed.
Elena hurried toward her father's study.
The door was open.
She stopped at the entrance.
Everything inside had been searched.
Damian walked in behind her.
“Don't touch anything.”
Elena ignored him.
“My father was here.”
She looked around desperately.
Then she noticed something on the desk.
A photograph.
It showed her mother.
Beside it was a small envelope.
Her name was written across it.
Elena.
She picked it up.
Damian moved closer.
“Wait.”
But Elena had already opened it.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
Her father's handwriting filled the page.
Elena,
If you're reading this, then they've found me.
There isn't much time left. I lied to you because I thought I could protect you, but I was wrong.
Your mother didn't betray the Cross family.
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
She continued reading.
She was trying to expose the people who betrayed us.
Her breathing stopped.
At the bottom of the page was one final sentence.
And Damian's father was one of the people she trusted.
Elena slowly lowered the letter.
Damian looked at her.
“What does it say?”
She raised her eyes to him.
“My father says your father wasn't innocent.”
Damian's expression changed.
Before either of them could say another word, Elena's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
She opened the message.
YOUR FATHER IS ALIVE.
Her heart jumped.
Another message appeared.
BUT IF YOU WANT HIM BACK, COME TO THE OLD WAREHOUSE ALONE.
Then a final message arrived.
BRING THE BOX YOUR MOTHER LEFT YOU.
Elena stared at the screen.
Damian reached for her phone.
She pulled it away.
“I'm going.”
“No.”
“They have my father.”
“And they want you.”
“Then I'll go.”
“You're not going anywhere alone.”
Elena looked at him.
“What if they kill him?”
Damian's expression hardened.
“They won't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because if they wanted him dead, he would already be dead.”
He took the phone from her hand.
“We're going together.”
Elena didn't argue.
But as Damian walked toward the door, she looked down at her mother's photograph.
For the first time, she understood something terrifying.
Her mother hadn't left the twelve million dollars to her and Damian because of some strange promise.
She had done it because she knew the truth would eventually surface.
And now everyone who had spent years hiding that truth was coming after them.
The question was no longer whether Elena could escape Damian Cross.
The question was whether she could survive long enough to discover who had destroyed both their families.
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