Chapter Five
1208 Words
The Answers He Wouldn't Give
The drive to DC Corporation felt longer than it actually was. Elsie barely noticed the traffic around her as she replayed the events of the previous evening. The shareholder records, the acquisition agreements, and most of all, the photograph. No matter how many times she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why her father had never mentioned Damian Cross.
By the time she arrived at the towering glass building that housed DC Corporation, she was more frustrated than ever. She parked her car, stepped out, and headed straight for the entrance. The lobby was every bit as impressive as she expected. Employees moved briskly across the polished floors while visitors waited in the reception area.
After introducing herself, she was directed to Damian’s secretary. The woman immediately recognized her and offered a polite smile.
“Miss Walker.”
“I need to see Mr. Cross.”
The secretary nodded as though she had been expecting those exact words.
“Of course. Follow me.”
Elsie frowned slightly but said nothing. The lack of surprise bothered her. It felt as though Damian already knew she would come.
As they waited for the elevator, Elsie caught sight of her reflection in the mirrored doors. She looked exhausted. Her blonde hair was slightly disheveled from repeatedly running her fingers through it, and the first two buttons of her shirt had come loose. Embarrassed, she quickly fixed them before reaching into her handbag for a hair tie. By the time the elevator doors opened, she had pulled her hair into a loose bun.
The elevator carried them to the top floor. When the doors opened again, the secretary led her down a quiet hallway lined with glass offices. They eventually stopped outside a large wooden door.
“He’s waiting for you,” the secretary said.
Waiting for her.
The thought sent a strange feeling through her chest.
The secretary knocked once.
“Come in.”
She pushed the door open and stepped aside for Elsie to enter.
Damian looked up from the documents spread across his desk. For a brief moment, surprise flashed across his face before disappearing completely. Most people would have missed it, but Elsie didn’t.
He hadn’t expected her this soon.
“Miss Walker,” he said.
“Mr. Cross.”
His expression remained calm and unreadable as he gestured toward the chair opposite him.
“Please, have a seat.”
Elsie sat down and placed the folder she carried onto the desk between them. Damian’s eyes immediately settled on it.
“The shareholder records.”
It wasn’t a question.
“You knew I’d find them.”
“I assumed you would.”
His honesty irritated her more than she expected.
“You could have told me the truth from the beginning.”
Damian leaned back slightly in his chair.
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
The frustrating part was that he was probably right.
Elsie folded her arms. “So everything was legal. You bought fifty-five percent of the company’s shares from the other shareholders.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody was forced to sell?”
“No.”
She looked away for a moment. She had spent days convincing herself there had to be some hidden explanation. Fraud. Manipulation. A loophole somewhere in the paperwork.
Instead, every document pointed to the same conclusion.
Damian Cross had legally acquired control of Walker Corporation.
That didn’t make her any less angry.
“So what happens now?” she asked.
“Your forty-five percent remains untouched. You’ll continue managing Walker Hotels.”
Elsie’s brows furrowed.
“What about Walker Corporation?”
“I’ll oversee it.”
The answer came without hesitation.
She stared at him for a moment. From a business perspective, the arrangement made sense. Walker Hotels had always been her area of responsibility. Her father had gradually introduced her to that side of the company over the years.
Still, she didn’t like it.
“You trust me with an entire division of the company?”
A faint shadow crossed Damian’s face.
“It was your father’s wish.”
The mention of her father immediately captured her attention.
“My father’s wish?”
Something changed in Damian’s expression. It was subtle, but she noticed it. His posture stiffened slightly.
“That’s not what we’re discussing.”
“Actually, that’s exactly what we’re discussing.”
Before he could respond, she opened the folder and pulled out the photograph. She placed it on the desk between them.
The room fell silent.
Damian’s eyes lowered to the photograph.
For the first time since she had entered the office, he looked genuinely caught off guard.
Not nervous.
Not afraid.
Just surprised.
“You knew him,” Elsie said quietly.
Damian didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
The simple answer only deepened her confusion.
“How long?”
Several seconds passed before he responded.
“A long time.”
“How long is a long time?”
His gaze remained fixed on the photograph.
“Long enough.”
Frustration surged through her.
“That’s not an answer.”
“No,” he agreed. “It isn’t.”
Elsie pushed forward in her chair.
“My father never mentioned you. Not once. Yet I find a photograph of the two of you standing together like old friends. How am I supposed to make sense of that?”
Damian remained silent.
The silence only fueled her anger.
“Did you know him before he started Walker Corporation?”
No answer.
“Were you business partners?”
Still nothing.
“Damian.”
Finally, he looked at her.
“Your father and I had a complicated history.”
“Complicated how?”
His jaw tightened.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
For the first time, a trace of emotion appeared in his eyes.
“Both.”
Elsie stared at him in disbelief.
“You seriously expect me to accept that?”
“No.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
Damian stood and walked toward the large windows behind his desk. The city stretched beneath them, but he seemed lost in thought.
When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before.
“Your father didn’t want you to know.”
The words hit her harder than she expected.
“What do you mean?”
“He had his reasons.”
“What reasons?”
Damian turned back toward her.
“I can’t answer that.”
“Why?”
His gaze held hers.
“Because some promises don’t end when a person dies.”
The room fell silent again.
Elsie searched his face for any sign that he was lying, but found none. If anything, he looked troubled. Whatever secret connected him to her father, it clearly meant something to him.
But that wasn’t enough.
She hadn’t come all this way for half-answers and vague explanations.
As she gathered the photograph and returned it to the folder, one thing became painfully clear.
The truth existed.
Damian knew it.
And somehow, her father had trusted him enough to keep it hidden.
The question now was whether she could uncover that truth before it changed everything she thought she knew about the man who raised her
- Writer
