Broken Circles
1077 Words
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The world was watching.
Eliana scrolled through news headlines from the comfort of her lounge seat, legs crossed, a silk robe draped over her skin. Her phone buzzed endlessly. Messages from reporters, strangers, even distant relatives she didn’t remember existed.
Everywhere she looked: her face.
Her voice.
Her truth.
And yet, something still didn’t sit right.
Desmond walked in, tie loose, hair ruffled from stress. “Crisis team says we’ve held off most of the smear. The press is turning in our favor.”
She nodded slowly.
“But?”
Eliana met his eyes. “We’ve exposed your uncle. But he’s not the only one watching us.”
Desmond raised an eyebrow.
She set her phone down. “I got a message this morning. Untraceable number. Just one sentence.”
He waited.
She picked up her phone again and read aloud:
“You only know half of Desmond’s story.”
Desmond froze.
She watched him carefully. “Is there something I need to know?”
He looked away.
“Eliana…”
She stood. “No more silence. No more secrets. If we’re doing this, we do it right.”
He clenched his jaw. “There are things I’ve buried. Things I never thought would come back.”
“Now they’re clawing their way out.”
He stepped forward. “Give me until tonight. I’ll tell you everything.”
Her heart beat faster but she nodded.
“Okay.”
Later that day, Jason entered the office with tense eyes. “We have a problem.”
Eliana sat up straight. “What now?”
He hesitated, then laid a manila folder on her desk. “This came anonymously. I ran the fingerprints on the paper something felt off.”
She opened the folder. Inside were photos. Surveillance shots of her and Desmond taken during their private meeting with Zara. Another showed Jason handing her the USB of security footage.
Eliana’s eyes widened. “Who would’ve…?”
Jason looked away.
“That’s not the worst part,” he muttered. “The prints matched someone in our system.”
“Who?”
He looked up.
“Nora.”
Eliana froze.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not possible.”
“She’s been loyal, yes. But she also had access. To everything.”
Eliana’s throat tightened. “Where is she?”
“She’s not answering calls. And she left the mansion an hour ago without telling anyone...
Desmond stared down at the same photos minutes later.
Nora.
His assistant of four years.
The woman who arranged his schedules, guarded his passwords, filtered every call and email.
Betraying him.
“She’s been playing both sides,” Jason muttered.
Desmond’s face was unreadable. “No. She’s been protecting me since before I built the empire.”
“Then how do you explain this?”
Desmond said nothing for a long time.
Then turned to Jason.
“Find her.”
Eliana sat alone in the garden, numb.
She felt it now the cracks widening beneath their feet. Every ally was a potential enemy. Every room might be bugged. Every smile, a mask.
Her phone buzzed again.
A voice note.
She played it.
A woman’s voice, distorted. “You think you’re safe with him? Ask Desmond what happened to Serena.”
The name hit her like a slap.
Serena?
She didn’t know a Serena.
And yet… she felt like she should.
That night, Desmond kept his promise.
He met Eliana in his private study and locked the door.
“I said I’d tell you everything.”
She nodded. “Then tell me about Serena.”
His breath caught.
He looked down.
“She was my fiancée. Years ago. Before everything.”
Eliana stayed still.
“She died,” he said. “Or so I thought.”
“What do you mean, you thought?”
He looked at her now no shields, no arrogance. Just a man with blood on his hands.
“I was the last person she saw before she disappeared.”
Eliana’s heart pounded. “You think she’s still alive?”
“I didn’t… until now.”
Eliana sat slowly. “What happened?”
Desmond walked to the fireplace, staring into the unlit embers. “We were engaged. She was kind, beautiful, but she came from a rival family. My uncle arranged the match to secure a partnership, but we… we genuinely fell in love.”
He took a shaky breath.
“She found out something about a deal my uncle made. Something illegal. She planned to report it.”
Eliana whispered, “So they silenced her.”
“She vanished before she could. No body. Just her necklace left behind in my apartment.”
“And you never found her?”
“I tried. For years. Then the threats started. I was warned: if I ever went looking again, I’d be next.”
Eliana sat back, stunned.
“So this woman Serena could be alive? And trying to reach me now?”
He nodded slowly. “Yes. And if she is… it means my uncle didn’t just sabotage our company.”
“He murdered your love,” Eliana whispered. “And now he’s coming for your soul.”
Jason burst into the study without knocking.
“We found Nora.”
They turned sharply.
“She’s being held,” Jason said. “In a warehouse downtown.”
“By who?” Desmond asked.
Jason hesitated. “We don’t know. But she left behind a letter.”
He handed it to Eliana.
It was scribbled, rushed.
“I was trying to protect you both. I thought feeding them crumbs would keep you safe. But they know about Serena. They want Eliana next. I’m sorry.”
Eliana’s throat went dry.
Desmond turned white.
“Let’s go,” he said.
They arrived at the warehouse in a black SUV.
The air was thick. Quiet.
Too quiet.
Security moved through the shadows as Desmond and Eliana stepped inside.
They found Nora tied, bruised, but alive.
“Nora!” Eliana ran to her.
Desmond untied her hands.
Her voice trembled. “I didn’t betray you. I swear. I only gave them scraps event photos, minor reports. Nothing deep. I was trying to buy time.”
“Why?” Desmond asked softly.
“Because I knew,” she whispered. “I knew they were coming for her.”
She turned to Eliana.
“They want you to disappear, like Serena. But this time they want blood.”
- Writer
