His Enemy, My Husband

Chapter 17: When The Devil's Knock

The morning after the marriage contract got leaked, Damien's mansion was swallowed by an eerie silence. Even the air and walls seemed to know something fragile had shattered beyond repair.

Isla was standing by one of the windows, arms folded, eyes vacant, staring at nothing.

Across from her was Damien, who was sitting on one of the couches with a cup of coffee in his hand. Once in a while, he would take a sip. As always, his expression was blank as a slate.

After a few minutes had passed and without the slightest warning, Damien suddenly rose to his feet.

The abrupt movement sent Isla’s head flinging toward him in startlement.

“We’re going out,”

He announced calmly but with a tone that bore finality.

Isla frowned, her lips parting slightly in confusion.

Going out? A pause stretched between them before she found the voice to ask,

“To where?”

Damien didn’t answer. He turned away from her, one hand slipping into his pocket as he started to stride toward the exit. Then, from the top of his head, he ordered again in the same tone.

“Get in the car.”

That afternoon, Damien walked into a law firm unannounced, and behind him, Isla, with her confused-looking face, was trailing with uneasy steps.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the atmosphere changed drastically.

The receptionists, paralegals, and junior associates froze like frightened mannequins.

They had withered on the spot the moment their gazes landed on Damien.

Not one of them dared speak. No one dared to move or stop him. Tension hung loose in the air like an iron fist.

Damien didn’t even glance at them. He walked straight down the route that led to who he had come to see.

Meanwhile, Isla had her hands clasped tightly in front of her, hastening after him with a rumpled face and a bubbling mind.

Where was he going?

Where he was going became clear about a minute later when they stopped in front of a particular company. She knew this place because of its popularity.

Damien pushed the main entrance door open with force and barged in while Isla could not help but gasp.

Behind the desk, a man with rimless lenses jumped on his seat at the sight of Damien.

It was Arthur Langford, Damien’s attorney. His face was that of one who had seen a ghost. For the first few seconds, there was only silence.

Arthur, unable to hold his gaze, shifted his wide eyes toward Isla as if searching for an escape.

When none came, he swallowed hard and finally summoned the courage to adjust himself in his chair as he made his first attempt to speak,

“Mr. Blackwood, I…”

Damien cut him off when he started to walk further in. The calm menace in his approach sucking the breath from Arthur’s lungs.

The sight sealed the Barrister's lips, leaving him trembling again.

Damien eventually stopped at the other end of the desk, placed both hands flat against the surface, and leaned in to blurt out one word with a razor-sharp and deadly tone,

“Who?”

Arthur’s Adam’s apple bobbed in apprehension. He knew his client.

Damien, whom he had served for years, would never leave without an answer. And he dared not lie to him.

“I… I already looked into it,” Arthur stammered to admit frantically. “It… it was one of my staff. Daniel Monroe. He accessed the files three nights ago.”

Damien kept staring, he didn’t even blink. Neither did he show any other reaction. All he did next was tilt his head and ask further,

“And where is he now?”

Arthur hesitated, glancing around the room cluelessly at first as if the walls themselves might offer guidance.

Then, with a sudden agility, he snapped his fingers twice, and then, after a five-second pause, the security entered, dragging in a man.

In their grasp was the Daniel Monroe fellow, a wiry man in his mid-thirties, His entire frame was trembling like a leaf caught in a violent storm.

The men held him up in front of Damien, his breath coming in apprehensive gasps as murmured to explain,

“The person. She called me on the phone, uh…She offered fifty thousand dollars. I didn’t think….”

A surprising chuckle from Damien instantly cut him off.

There was no warmth in the sound. Just ice-cold malice that sent shivers through the spine of everyone present, especially Daniel.

“You didn’t think?” Damien echoed. “That’s the problem.”

After he said that, Damien started walking closer to Daniel whose face was now becoming white with terror.

When he was close enough, Damien leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper meant only for the latter’s ears.

“You touched something that belonged to me, boy. And for that…I’ll make sure no company ever hires you again.”

At once Daniel broke down, his hands shot up in surrender as he collapsed onto his knees,

“Oh Christ…No boss. No, I beg you!”

His voice was breaking into desperate, unintelligible pleas. Tears were streaming down his face but Damien didn’t spare him another glance, neither did he even say anything else to Arthur.

He had already turned and started walking away, his verdict delivered.

Isla followed nimbly, but as they began to step out of the office, a thought started to bring her eyes closer to themselves, her head slightly bowed.

“This wasn’t just business for Damien. It was personal. But why?”

His reaction, the extent of his fury, was far too personal.

“ And the Daniel guy mentioned, I believe that was the betrayal I called a best friend.”

~~~

That night, in the mansion, Vanessa was sleeping without a care in the world, unaware of what was coming.

But it did not take long before the sudden ring of her phone made a stir, and she let out a lazy groan on the bed.

She tried to ignore it at first but the caller kept on calling and calling.

With her face red with annoyance, Vanessa exhaled sharply, rolling onto her back, ready to push the device away with all her power.

But then, the sight of the name glowing on the screen immediately stopped her hand.

It was her mother.

“Really? At this time?”

She murmured with a frown as she sluggishly sat up, yawning.

Then with a groggy voice, she finally answers,

“What is it?”

The reply did not come in words, but rather a rush of terrified screams, sirens, and sheer chaos persisted in the background.

Vanessa jumped to her knees on the bed.

“Mum? What the hell is going on back there!”

Then she heard her mother's voice next, it was very cracked and screaming and teary.

She also appeared to be running at the same time as she was speaking,

“The house... the house…it’s burning!”

Vanessa’s breath snagged in her throat. Her free hand gestured wildly, forgetting that her mother could not see her panic.

“What?! What do you mean?!”

Her voice is raw as she simultaneously scrambles out of the bed; she races towards the window after hearing a sound; her fingers tremble as she yanks the heavy curtains aside.

Her violently trembling fingers could no longer bear her phone, it slipped from her fingers, crashing to the floor with the screen cracking into zigzag pieces.