Chapter Seven — Someone Was Already Inside
1716 Words
The door slammed upstairs.
Damian's hand tightened around my wrist.
“Stay behind me.”
“No.”
His eyes flashed.
“Amara.”
“I heard it too.”
“You don't know what's waiting upstairs.”
“Neither do you.”
For a moment, we stared at each other.
Then another sound came from inside the house.
A sharp crash.
My heart lurched.
“Serena's room.”
I pulled my wrist free and ran toward the entrance.
Damian cursed under his breath before following me.
The front door was unlocked.
I stopped.
I knew I had locked it earlier.
I looked at Damian.
“You see that?”
He nodded.
His expression had changed completely.
The coldness in his face was no longer controlled.
It was focused.
Alert.
He stepped inside and immediately scanned the hallway.
“Where are the security guards?”
“They're usually at the front gate.”
“Usually?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
He looked toward the staircase.
“Stay here.”
“I'm coming with you.”
“No.”
“I know this house better than you.”
“And I know how dangerous it is better than you.”
Before I could argue, he started up the stairs.
I followed anyway.
We reached the second floor.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No voices.
Only the faint hum of the air conditioner.
Then we heard something.
A drawer closing.
I stopped breathing.
Damian looked at me.
“Where?”
“Serena's room.”
We moved toward the door.
It was slightly open.
I pushed it.
The room was dark.
I reached for the light.
Nothing.
“The electricity is off.”
Damian pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight.
The beam swept across the room.
Everything looked normal.
Almost.
My eyes went straight to Serena's desk.
The drawer was open.
The one where I had found her notebook.
I rushed toward it.
“Someone's been here.”
Damian crouched beside the drawer.
“What was inside?”
“A notebook.”
“Where is it?”
I froze.
It was gone.
The red notebook was gone.
My stomach dropped.
“They took it.”
Damian stood.
“Who knew you found it?”
“I didn't tell anyone.”
He looked at me.
“Think carefully.”
“I didn't.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
“Mrs. Collins?”
“She saw the key, but not the notebook.”
“Who else?”
“I don't know.”
Damian's gaze moved around the room.
Then he stopped.
“What?”
He pointed toward the window.
The curtains were open.
I walked over.
The window was unlocked.
Cold rain blew against my face.
“Could someone have climbed through here?”
“Possible.”
I looked down.
We were on the second floor.
There was a narrow ledge outside, but nobody could easily reach it from the ground.
Damian examined the frame.
“There are marks.”
“From what?”
“Someone forced the window.”
I stepped backward.
“So they came in through here?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
He looked at me.
“Someone could have unlocked it from inside.”
My stomach tightened.
That meant whoever entered the room might have had access to the house.
Again.
Someone inside.
I turned toward the hallway.
“Dad.”
Damian's eyes narrowed.
“Don't assume that.”
“I didn't.”
But I had thought it.
He noticed.
“Amara.”
“What?”
“Your father isn't the only person who has keys to this house.”
I looked at him.
“Who else?”
“Security. House staff. Family members.”
I swallowed.
“And you?”
“I don't have a key.”
“Then how did you get inside?”
“Your front door was unlocked.”
I looked at him.
That answer somehow frightened me more.
---
A sound came from downstairs.
We both froze.
Damian immediately stepped in front of me.
“Stay here.”
This time, I listened.
He disappeared down the staircase.
I waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Nothing.
Then I heard him call my name.
“Amara.”
I ran downstairs.
He was standing beside the front door.
One of our security guards lay unconscious on the floor.
I covered my mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Damian crouched beside him.
“He's breathing.”
“What happened?”
“Someone hit him.”
I stared at the man's head.
There was blood near his temple.
“Is he dead?”
“No.”
Damian took out his phone.
“I'm calling an ambulance.”
I looked toward the front gate.
“Then someone really broke in.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His eyes lifted to mine.
“Your sister's notebook.”
I shook my head.
“Why would they risk breaking into my house just for a notebook?”
“Because you weren't supposed to find it.”
My chest tightened.
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
“And now they know.”
Damian stood.
“They probably knew before tonight.”
---
My father arrived twenty minutes later.
His car stopped outside.
He rushed into the house.
“What happened?”
His eyes went immediately to the unconscious guard.
Then to me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
He walked toward me.
I stepped backward before I could stop myself.
He noticed.
His expression fell.
“Amara?”
“I'm fine.”
He looked at Damian.
“What is he doing here?”
“I came to check on her.”
My father stared at him.
“You need to leave.”
Damian didn't move.
“Someone broke into the house.”
Victor's face tightened.
“What?”
“One of your guards was attacked.”
My father immediately called his head of security.
“Lock down the property.”
I watched him.
He looked frightened.
Not angry.
Not suspicious.
Just frightened.
And for a moment, I felt ashamed of myself.
Maybe I had been wrong.
Maybe my father's strange behavior really was grief.
Maybe he was simply terrified of losing me too.
Then he asked:
“Did they take anything?”
I looked at him.
Damian looked at him.
My father's eyes moved between us.
“Anything important?”
I hesitated.
“The notebook.”
His face changed.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But this time, I saw it clearly.
Fear.
Then he masked it.
“What notebook?”
My heart began beating faster.
I hadn't told him about it.
I looked at Damian.
He was watching my father.
My father noticed.
“What?”
I forced my voice to remain calm.
“Nothing.”
He stepped closer.
“Amara, what notebook are you talking about?”
I looked into his eyes.
“I found something in Serena's room.”
“What?”
“A notebook.”
“What was in it?”
I studied him.
“You seem very interested.”
He frowned.
“Of course I'm interested. Someone broke into our home.”
“Our home.”
I repeated the words quietly.
He nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked away.
“I don't remember everything that was inside.”
That was a lie.
I remembered enough.
Names.
Companies.
Money.
Adrian Black.
My father watched me carefully.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Did Serena mention Adrian?”
I froze.
Damian's eyes snapped toward him.
My father seemed to realize his mistake.
“What?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You said Adrian.”
“I've heard the name before.”
“Where?”
“I don't remember.”
“Dad.”
“Amara, it's been a terrible week.”
But he wouldn't look at me.
For the first time, the question wasn't whether my father was guilty.
It was simpler.
Why did he know that name?
---
Later that night, after the police had left and the security team had searched the property, I returned to my bedroom.
I locked the door.
Then I pulled out the flash drive Damian had given me.
I stared at it.
Serena's last file.
I plugged it into my laptop.
One folder appeared.
FOR AMARA.
Inside was a single video.
My finger hovered over the screen.
I pressed play.
Serena appeared.
My breath caught.
She was sitting in what looked like her bedroom.
But the video had clearly been recorded before she entered the hospital.
Her face looked tired.
“Amara,” she said, “if you're watching this, something happened to me.”
Tears filled my eyes.
She continued.
“I need you to understand something before you believe anything anyone tells you.”
She paused.
Then looked directly into the camera.
“Damian Cross is not the man you think he is.”
My heart stopped.
The video suddenly froze.
The screen went black.
I frowned.
“No…”
I clicked the file again.
Nothing.
The laptop displayed an error.
FILE CORRUPTED.
My stomach dropped.
Someone had altered the video.
But then I noticed something.
A second file had appeared.
It hadn't been there before.
Its name was simple.
17.
I opened it.
There was no video.
No document.
Just an audio recording.
I pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Serena's voice.
Whispering.
“Amara…”
I leaned closer.
“If you're hearing this, don't go to the police.”
I froze.
“Don't trust anyone.”
A pause.
Then her voice became even quieter.
“Especially the person who tells you he can protect you.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the screen.
Damian's words came back to me.
I'm the only man who can protect you.
My heart began racing.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
You finally opened it.
I stared at the screen.
Another message appeared.
Now ask Damian why Serena was still alive when he left her.
I stopped breathing.
Because that meant whoever was texting me knew something Damian hadn't told me.
And if it was true…
Then Damian had lied about the night my sister died.
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