Project V
1056 Words
The flash drive felt like it burned a hole in her palm.
Aria clutched it tightly, her heart hammering like a drum against her ribs. The stranger’s words echoed in her mind—
“I knew your father. And who killed him.”
“Don’t trust Damien.”
Her world had already been cracking. This… this was an explosion.
She slipped the flash drive into her jacket pocket and scanned the library.
No sign of the man.
No footsteps. No sound. He was gone.
Just like that.
She returned to the bedroom, locking the door behind her. Damien was out for a business dinner—she’d refused to attend.
A small rebellion.
She sat on the bed, pulled out her laptop, and hesitated.
The words on the label haunted her.
PROJECT V
Was it some kind of business deal?
Or something darker?
She inserted the flash drive.
The screen flickered.
A single folder appeared.
“OPEN ME, ARIA”
Her breath caught.
She clicked.
Inside were dozens of files—PDFs, images, contracts… and a video file labeled “Watch First.”
She clicked it.
The screen filled with static for a second. Then:
Her father.
Fernando Valencia.
Standing in an office she didn’t recognize—harsh lighting, papers stacked behind him, face weary and pale.
“Aria,” he said, looking straight into the camera. “If you’re seeing this… I’m already gone.”
She gasped, hand flying to her mouth.
“I never wanted this for you,” he continued. “I made mistakes. Big ones. Dangerous ones.”
He reached off screen, pulled a folder marked Project V, and held it up.
“I created this project to protect the Valencia legacy… but I trusted the wrong man. Damien Blackwood.”
The name dropped like a bomb.
“I know he’s charming. I know he’s powerful. But he’s not who you think he is. He’s not just ruthless—he’s tied to something bigger. Something deadly.”
Tears stung Aria’s eyes.
“I signed the contract out of desperation,” her father said. “Not love. Not strategy. But fear.”
“I’m sorry, baby girl. I didn’t want to leave you in his hands.”
The screen flickered again.
Then went black.
Aria couldn’t breathe.
The silence in the room closed in on her like a noose.
Her father had feared Damien.
And now she was married to him.
Sleeping next to him.
Sharing his life.
What if he’d orchestrated everything?
The contract. The will. The marriage.
What if her father hadn’t died naturally at all?
She paced the room, fists clenched, heart thundering.
She had to leave.
Had to get out before she became another pawn in Damien’s twisted empire.
She ran to the closet, threw a small bag together—passport, cards, the flash drive.
The elevator was at the end of the hallway.
She reached it, pressed the button.
Nothing.
Tried again.
Still nothing.
A voice echoed behind her.
“I disabled it.”
She turned.
Damien stood in the hallway, his coat still on, hair damp from the rain.
Eyes like fire.
“You were planning to run.”
She didn’t hide the bag. “I found something. Something you didn’t want me to see.”
His expression didn’t flicker. “What did you find?”
“PROJECT V,” she said. “And a video from my father.”
Silence.
He took a slow step forward.
She raised the flash drive. “Tell me what it is. Or I’ll make it public.”
Damien’s gaze locked on hers. “You think you can threaten me?”
“I don’t care if you’re Damien Blackwood or the President. I will find out what you did.”
His jaw clenched.
Then he said, “Fine.”
“Fine?”
“I’ll show you.”
He led her down into the basement—into a section of the mansion she hadn’t seen before.
The doors were fingerprint-locked.
Security scanned his retina.
Inside: a private vault room.
Metal floors. Surveillance monitors. File cabinets bolted to the walls.
In the center—a locked steel box marked V-001.
He opened it.
Inside were folders—some labeled confidential. Others stamped with blood-red insignias from agencies she didn’t recognize.
He pulled one out and tossed it on the table.
“Your father created Project V as a cover. It wasn’t a company. It was a laundering system. He moved money for arms dealers and corrupt politicians.”
Aria’s knees weakened.
“No…”
“He was about to be exposed. I stepped in to protect your family name… and my investments.”
“You’re lying.”
He opened another file. “These are financial statements. Bank transfers. Offshore accounts. Your father’s name is on every one.”
Her hands shook as she skimmed the pages.
He wasn’t lying.
Not about this.
“But that doesn’t explain—why marry me?”
Damien looked at her then—closer than ever. His voice dropped.
“Because the only way to keep you safe… was to keep you mine.”
She backed away. “You did this to own me.”
“I did this to protect you.”
“No. You did this so no one else could get to me first.”
He didn’t deny it.
“You think this is love?” she asked, voice cracking.
“I don’t believe in love,” he said.
“But I believe in you.”
She wanted to scream.
Wanted to cry.
Instead, she turned and ran.
Back in the bedroom, she threw her bag onto the bed, shaking.
She needed to get out. She didn’t care if it was in the middle of the night.
She reached for the flash drive—
Gone.
Her blood ran cold.
She turned—and there he was again.
Damien.
Holding the flash drive between two fingers.
“I told you,” he said calmly, “nothing in this house is out of my reach.”
Aria lunged at him—but he stepped back, pocketing the drive.
“You’re not a prisoner,” he said coldly. “But if you try to run again…”
He leaned in, his breath against her ear.
“I will become the man your father feared.”
- Writer
