DARK OBSESSION

CHAPTER FOUR: SECRET BEHIND THE SMILE

The photograph remained on Ivy's bed long after Lily arrived.

Neither woman spoke.

The picture was simple: Ivy standing outside her apartment, carrying a grocery bag, completely unaware that someone was taking her picture.

But simplicity made it more frightening.

" Where did you get this?" Lily asked.

" I found it inside the notebook Daniel gave me."

Lily immediately picked up the notebook.

" Then Daniel did this."

Ivy shook her head.

" No."

" How can you be sure?"

" Because he gave me the notebook in person. He wouldn't have had the chance."

Lily looked at the photograph again.

" Then who did?"

Ivy had no answer.

She walked to the window but stopped before opening the curtains.

Her heart was pounding.

"I think someone has been following me."

Lily reached for her hand.

"Then we're going to figure out who."

Across the city, Damien Blackwood stood inside his private study.

The room was almost completely dark except for the light from his desk lamp.

On the desk lay several documents.

One name appeared repeatedly.

Daniel Cole.

Damien read the latest report carefully.

Daniel wasn't dangerous.

He wasn't connected to any criminal organization.

But there was one strange detail.

Three months earlier, Daniel's father had filed a lawsuit against a company owned by Blackwood Holdings.

The case had disappeared unexpectedly.

Damien frowned.

" Why wasn't I told about this?"

Nathan stood nearby.

" It was handled by the legal department."

" And Daniel?"

" He wasn't involved directly."

Damien closed the file.

" Find out why the case disappeared."

Nathan nodded.

Then Damien added:

" And find out who took that photograph of Ivy."

Nathan looked surprised.

" You're certain it wasn't one of our people?"

" Absolutely."

" Then someone else is watching her."

Damien stared toward the window.

" Exactly."

For the first time, his obsession with Ivy was overshadowed by something else.

A question.

Who was watching her first?

The next morning, Ivy returned to work.

She tried to behave normally.

She smiled at her colleagues.

She answered emails.

She attended meetings.

But her mind kept returning to the photograph.

At lunchtime, Lily placed a cup of coffee beside her.

" You haven't touched your food."

" I'm not hungry."

" You need to eat."

Ivy sighed.

" I keep thinking about the picture."

" I know."

" Whoever took it knew where I lived."

Lily lowered her voice.

" Then maybe you should move."

Amara looked at her.

" I can't afford to."

" I can help."

" No."

" Ivy—"

" I can't keep running every time something scares me."

Lily became quiet.

Ivy looked down at her hands.

" I'm tired of being afraid."

That afternoon, Damien entered the publishing house again.

This time, he wasn't alone.

Two security officers accompanied him.

Everyone immediately became quiet.

He walked straight toward Ivy's department.

Ivy saw him approaching.

" What do you want?"

" I need to speak with you."

" About what?"

" Your safety."

Her expression hardened.

" I can take care of myself."

" I don't doubt that."

" Then there's nothing to discuss."

Damien lowered his voice.

" Someone has been watching you."

Ivy froze.

" How do you know?"

" I have people who investigate threats."

" People?"

" Security."

She stared at him.

" Did you investigate me?"

He didn't answer immediately.

That silence told her everything.

" You did."

" Yes."

" Why?"

Damien's expression remained unreadable.

" Because I believed you were in danger."

" You don't even know me."

" I know enough."

Amara stepped back.

"That's exactly what scares me."

For once, Damien had no immediate response.

She walked away.

That evening, Damien returned home to find his mother waiting in the living room.

Victoria Blackwood was an elegant woman in her late fifties who possessed the same sharp eyes as her son.

" You've been avoiding me."

" I've been busy."

" You've been distracted."

Damien said nothing.

Victoria studied him.

" Who is she?"

His eyes narrowed.

" Who?"

" The woman."

Damien's expression changed.

His mother smiled knowingly.

" Your father used to look exactly like that whenever he was hiding something."

" Don't compare me to him."

The room went silent.

Victoria's expression softened.

" I didn't mean to upset you."

Damien turned away.

His father's name carried too much history.

Too much pain.

Too many secrets.

" Stay away from my personal affairs," he said.

Victoria sighed.

" I would if you weren't repeating his mistakes."

Damien turned sharply.

" What did you say?"

But Victoria had already walked away.

That night, Damien opened an old locked drawer.

Inside was a photograph.

A younger version of himself stood beside his father.

The picture had been taken years ago.

His father was smiling.

Damien wasn't.

Behind the photograph was a faded newspaper clipping.

BLACKWOOD FAMILY SCANDAL ROCKS BUSINESS WORLD.

Damien remembered that year.

He remembered the arguments.

The accusations.

His mother's tears.

And most importantly...

He remembered the woman who had disappeared afterward.

A woman whose name had been erased from the Blackwood family history.

Elena Cole.

Damien's eyes narrowed.

Cole.

He immediately reached for his phone.

" Nathan."

" Yes, sir?"

" Find every connection between Daniel Cole's family and Elena Cole."

There was a pause.

" Elena Cole?"

" Yes."

" I'll investigate."

Damien hung up.

For the first time, something began to make sense.

The following day, Ivy received another anonymous message.

You don't know who you're dealing with.

She stared at the screen.

Another message appeared.

Ask Damien about his father.

Ivy's blood ran cold.

She looked around the office.

Everyone was working normally.

Nobody appeared to be watching her.

She quickly locked her phone.

But the message had planted a question in her mind.

Who exactly was Damien Blackwood?

And why did someone want her to investigate his family?

That evening, Amara visited the public library.

She searched old newspapers for the Blackwood name.

After almost an hour, she found something.

A headline from twelve years earlier.

BLACKWOOD INDUSTRIES FACES FAMILY SCANDAL

She read the article carefully.

Most of it concerned financial disputes.

But one paragraph caught her attention.

An unidentified woman connected to the Blackwood family reportedly disappeared following the controversy.

Ivy's heart skipped.

She searched the woman's name.

Nothing.

She searched again.

Still nothing.

Then she found an archived article.

The woman's name was Elena Cole.

Ivy stared at the screen.

Cole.

The same surname as Daniel.

She closed the laptop.

This was no coincidence.

At almost the same moment, Damien received Nathan's call.

" Sir, I found something."

" Go ahead."

" Elena Cole was Daniel's aunt."

Damien closed his eyes.

" And the disappearance?"

" Never properly investigated."

" Why?"

" Because your father paid for a private settlement."

Silence.

Damien's expression hardened.

" My father?"

" Yes."

" Anything else?"

" There's one more thing."

" What?"

" Elena had a daughter."

Damien's eyes narrowed.

" Where is she?"

" We don't know."

" Find her."

" I'll try."

" No."

Damien's voice became cold.

" Don't try. Find her."

At the library, Amara gathered her things.

She walked toward the exit.

Then stopped.

A man stood outside the glass doors.

She couldn't see his face clearly.

He was watching her.

Amara's heart began pounding.

She stepped backward.

The man turned and walked away.

She rushed outside.

He was gone.

Only an empty street remained.

Then her phone vibrated.

One final message appeared.

Stop digging into the past.

Ivy stared at the screen.

Her fear slowly transformed into determination.

Someone wanted her to stop.

That meant she was getting close to something.

Something important.

Across the street, Damien watched from inside his car.

He had arrived moments earlier.

He saw Ivy leave the library.

He saw the stranger.

And he saw the message arrive.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel.

Whoever was threatening her had made one mistake.

They had revealed themselves.

Damien started the engine.

His phone rang.

Nathan.

" Sir, we found the missing connection."

Damien answered immediately.

" Tell me."

Nathan's voice was unusually tense.

" Elena Cole's daughter wasn't missing."

Damien frowned.

" Then where was she?"

A long silence followed.

" She was raised under another name."

Damien's eyes moved toward Ivy.

"And what name was she given?"

Nathan answered.

"Ivy Adams."

Damien went completely still.

For the first time since meeting her, he had no words.

The woman who had consumed his thoughts...

The woman he had been secretly investigating...

Was connected to the darkest secret of his family's past.

And suddenly, the photograph, the warnings, Daniel, Elena Cole, and the anonymous messages seemed to form one terrifying puzzle.

Damien looked toward Ivy.

His voice dropped to a whisper.

"Who are you?"

Amara, unaware of the revelation taking place only a short distance away, walked home through the evening crowd.

Behind her, the past was waking up.

And it was coming for her.