Chapter 5 - The Truth Damian Never Wanted To Tell
The security room door unlocked.
Slowly.
Nobody moved.
Damian immediately stepped in front of Hazel.
Again.
The same way he had done before.
Not because he thought she was weak.
Because he knew someone was trying to reach her.
Hazel noticed.
And this time, she couldn't ignore it.
"You keep doing that."
Damian looked back.
"Doing what?"
"Standing between me and danger."
His expression remained unreadable.
"It's where I need to be."
Hazel stared at him.
For a man who claimed he trusted nobody, Damian Romano was protecting her too naturally.
Before she could ask anything else, the door opened.
A man stood outside.
Adrian.
Damian's security chief.
He held a weapon at his side, but his expression changed the moment he saw Hazel's mother.
"You."
The woman's face went pale.
Adrian looked at Damian.
"You knew?"
Damian shook his head.
"No."
Adrian looked confused.
"Then how is she here?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody had an explanation.
Hazel looked between them.
"Someone please tell me what is happening."
Adrian lowered his weapon.
"Her mother was believed dead."
Hazel looked at him.
"Believed?"
Adrian hesitated.
That single word told Hazel everything.
There were more secrets.
More lies.
More things everyone had decided she couldn't handle.
She turned toward Damian.
"Did you know?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
And somehow, she believed him.
Because Damian had lied before.
But this lie would have benefited him.
The truth seemed to hurt him too.
Hazel looked at her mother.
"Why did you let me believe you were gone?"
The woman looked down.
"Because if you knew I was alive, they would come for you."
"They came anyway."
A painful silence followed.
Her mother nodded.
"I know."
Hazel laughed softly.
"You know?"
Her eyes filled with anger.
"You know because you've been watching me?"
"No."
"Then how?"
Her mother looked at Damian.
That was enough.
Hazel's expression changed.
"You were both watching me."
Damian stepped forward.
"Hazel—"
"No."
She raised her hand.
The movement surprised him.
Nobody stopped Damian Romano.
But Hazel did.
"I need the truth."
Her voice was quiet.
But stronger than before.
"No more protecting me. No more deciding what I can handle."
Damian looked at her for a long moment.
Then slowly nodded.
"Okay."
One word.
Simple.
But it meant something.
Because Damian Romano was finally agreeing to give up control.
They returned to the security room.
Damian locked the door.
Adrian checked the cameras.
Three intruders were still moving through the estate.
But they were no longer searching.
They were waiting.
"They know we're here," Adrian said.
Damian looked at the screen.
"Yes."
Hazel frowned.
"Then why haven't they attacked?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone understood.
They weren't trying to break in.
They wanted Damian to open the door himself.
A message appeared on the monitor.
ONE HOUR.
Hazel looked at it.
"What does that mean?"
Damian's face darkened.
"It means they are giving us a deadline."
"For what?"
The screen changed.
A second message appeared.
BRING HER TO THE MAIN HALL.
OR EVERY SECRET BECOMES PUBLIC.
Hazel felt cold.
Her mother closed her eyes.
"They know."
Damian turned.
"Know what?"
The woman looked at him.
"They found the records."
"What records?"
The woman hesitated.
Then she said:
"The ones your father created."
The room became silent.
Hazel looked at Damian.
"What records?"
Damian didn't answer.
Not immediately.
And that scared her.
Because Damian always had an answer.
He always knew what to say.
But now he looked like someone facing something he had spent years avoiding.
"My father kept information on everyone around him."
Hazel waited.
"Why?"
"Control."
The word was cold.
"He collected secrets."
Her mother nodded.
"And some of those secrets involved me."
Hazel looked at the photograph again.
The one showing her mother beside Damian's father.
"What was your relationship with him?"
Her mother looked away.
"I worked for him."
Hazel frowned.
"That's all?"
"No."
The hesitation said everything.
Damian noticed too.
But before he could question her, another sound came from the hallway.
A loud crash.
Someone had entered the lower floor.
Adrian checked the camera.
"They're moving."
Damian looked at Hazel.
"We need to move."
"Where?"
"The main hall."
Hazel stared.
"You're actually going to meet them?"
"If we don't, they will start releasing information."
"About what?"
Damian looked at her.
"About you."
The answer terrified her.
Because after everything she discovered tonight, she still didn't know what made her important.
They moved through a hidden corridor beneath the estate.
Hazel walked beside Damian.
For the first time, they were not separated by fear.
They were surrounded by it together.
After several minutes, Hazel spoke quietly.
"Why did you hire me?"
Damian kept walking.
"I told you."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You told me someone was watching me."
She looked at him.
"But that's not why."
Damian stopped.
Hazel stopped too.
The dim hallway light reflected in his eyes.
"I saw you before you applied."
"When?"
"Three months earlier."
Hazel looked confused.
"Where?"
"Outside a hospital."
Her expression changed.
She remembered.
That day.
She had visited her mother’s old medical records.
A day she thought nobody noticed.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Damian looked away.
"Because I was looking for answers too."
Hazel studied him.
"About my mother?"
"About my father."
The connection between them became clearer.
They were both searching for the same thing.
A truth hidden by powerful people.
A truth that had destroyed their families.
They continued walking.
Then Damian suddenly stopped.
Hazel almost walked into him.
"What?"
He raised a finger.
Silence.
Someone was nearby.
Damian moved quietly toward the corner.
Hazel watched him.
He was completely different from the man everyone feared.
Not because he was less dangerous.
Because he was more focused.
He was protecting something.
Someone.
A shadow moved.
Damian grabbed the person instantly.
But instead of an enemy...
It was one of his own guards.
Except the guard wasn't moving.
He was unconscious.
A small device was attached to his jacket.
Adrian removed it.
His face changed.
"Tracker."
Damian looked at it.
"Placed inside the estate."
Hazel stared.
"Someone helped them."
Damian nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian looked at the unconscious guard.
"Someone close."
The words remained in the air.
Someone close.
Someone inside Damian's world.
Someone who had access.
Someone who knew every weakness.
They reached the main hall.
The lights were off.
Only emergency lamps remained.
At the center of the room was a single chair.
And on that chair was a folder.
Hazel immediately recognized it.
Her name was written on the front.
HAZEL BROOKS.
Damian moved first.
"No."
But Hazel stepped forward.
"Stop."
He looked at her.
"I need to know."
She opened the folder.
Inside was one document.
A birth certificate.
Her name.
Her mother's name.
And one line that made her stop breathing.
Father's name:
Damian Romano.
She looked up slowly.
Damian was staring at the paper.
Because he had seen it before.
But he had never believed it.
Then the main hall doors locked behind them.
A voice came from the balcony above.
"Now you finally know."
Hazel looked up.
The person standing there removed the mask.
May you like
And Damian whispered a name he hadn't spoken in years.
"Victor..."
