Chapter 46: Damien’s Awakening

Chapter 46: Damien’s Awakening
 Damien Blackwood’s POV

There was a problem.

My face was against the cool window as the driver drove me home from school. I was in the back of the car. I was not seeing anything as the city went by in blurs of light and colour. Not even the news, the rumours, or the chaos that was starting to happen around the Blackwood name was on my mind.

It was more than that, though.

Something I did not understand.

It felt like there was a weight in my chest that was not going away. It was getting heavier. It felt like something was missing that I could not name, something that was just out of reach that I did not know I needed.

And it began the first time I saw him.

David.

The boy who looks like me.

I hated him at first because he looked too much like me, but he was softer in some ways. He did not have the same cold look in his eyes as I did. He changed the way he smiled. He walked differently. But I saw it after looking at him for a while.

What is the same?

The news stories then came out.

The son that no one knew about. What a scandal. Going out. The secret past of Kieran Blackwood.

My past.

I locked my jaw and clenched my fists in my lap.

Why did not someone tell me? Why did I think I was the heir, the only child, and the perfect child of power and wealth?

Now... now there he was.

David.

Even worse, Father was no longer there.

Go away.

That is it.

Nothing. No message. Not even a trail for safety. They found his car with the door open and the engine still running near the East Bridge, which was the last place anyone knew he was.

She screamed when she got the call that night. That was the first time I saw her that way.

She looked like a person. Thrilled. It was not just worry about him, though.

She was scared of what would happen next.

The empire was falling apart. There were rumours of board takeovers, investigations, and lawsuits. The world we lived in, which was based on power and shadows, was falling apart, and I felt like I did not belong anywhere anymore.

The car got close to the house. I did not wait for the driver to open the door before getting out.

There was less noise inside than usual. The staff did not even look at me.

I skipped over the grand staircase and went straight into Father's study. Since he left, the room had been empty and quiet. After walking inside and locking the door, I stood still and listened to the sound of my breath.

The leather chair still smelt like his cologne. The whisky bottle he liked best was still half full. Above the fireplace was an oil painting of him when he was younger. It looked down at me with cold eyes.

That painting was awful.

I walked toward his desk, fingers trailing over the surface. I opened the drawer on top. There are pens, notes, and a half-burned letter. The lock was in the second drawer.

Of course.

But I had seen him open it a hundred times. I knew the code.

I pressed the keys.

Damien's birthday.

The lock went off.

Inside was a small black box. I lifted it out, confused.

When I opened it, a key rested inside.

There was a tag on it.

Safehouse in Unit 23B.

My heart beat fast.

I had no idea why, but all of a sudden I had to know what was in that safehouse.

I waited until it got dark.

I told the driver I was going to a school event and then sneaked out the back gate.

An old industrial area near the docks held the address on the tag. It was in a quieter part of the city.

It looked like the building was empty from the outside. Weak walls, rusty gates, and vines that have grown too tall. But the key worked perfectly in the rusty lock.

The place was clean on the inside. Nice and clean. Everything was fine. A simple desk. A wall that is full of file cabinets. A little bed in the corner.

One folder was on the desk.

Written on in black ink.

Ask Adrian Callahan.

My throat got tight.

I slowly opened it because I thought the truth inside might hurt.

Then I saw them.

Picture.

Dozens.

Adrian, from a long time ago. Pics from school. Images from surveillance. Some pictures of him when he was a baby, in Evelyn's arms. Others are newer, like Adrian walking to school, laughing with friends, or sitting by himself in a park.

There were also notes. In the handwriting of Father.

I can see him. That was a good job by Evelyn.
 English is his favourite subject. Very good at football. Peaceful.
 I do not deserve to know him.

My vision got fuzzy.

This was... this was an obsession. Pain and regret.

He had been seeing.

He knew.

He did not reach out, though. Instead, he put everything away where no one could see it.

I turned the page to the end.

The date was two days ago.

Tell him I love him even if I disappear. Even though I did not say it. Even when I did not deserve it. He is stronger than I am.

The paper was shaking in my hands.

I sat down slowly and stared at the words as if I could blink and erase them.

It dawned on me that this was not about the business. This was not about empire, power, or scandal.

It was about family.

Broken.

Spread out.

Harmed.

I chose not to have siblings. I never meant to share my dad. But now that I knew what I knew, I could not get rid of the feeling that Adrian might understand this mess better than I did.

He knew because he had lived it too.

The silence, rejection, and confusion were all things he had been through. He had not let it make him cold like I did, though.

Father was no longer there. And everything was going wrong.

Then I shut the folder and threw it in my bag. Serea would destroy this if she knew I found it. Act like it never happened. The same way she dealt with everything that was bothersome.

Adrian and I had to meet up again.

Not to fight. Not to fight.

But to ask a question, neither of us was brave enough to speak up yet.

What now?

I got away before Serena woke up the next morning. Instead of taking the car, I rode the metro like any other kid would, and I got to Adrian's school before the first bell.

I had no idea if he would show up.

He did, though.

He slouched as he walked up the stairs, his eyes tired. He also did not look like he had slept.

He stopped moving when he saw me.

We looked at each other.

We both did not move.

Then I slowly reached into my bag and took out the folder.

I held it up.

Adrian made a puzzled face and then narrowed his eyes.

"What is that?"

"Something you need to see."

He did not come up to me. Not at first.

I moved forward.

I told them, "I am not here to fight." "I just... I need to understand too."

It looked like he did not believe me. He might not have. I understood why he did it.

He asked, "Why now?"

I took a break.

"Because I believe we both lost him." We could lose more if we do not work together to solve this problem.

He looked at me for a very long time.

He then gave one quick nod.

"All right." "Let us talk."

A black SUV sped up to a stop across the street before either of us could move.

The doors flew open.

Men in dark suits jumped out.

Adrian went cold.

As my heart beat fast, I grabbed his arm.

"What the hell—"

He said, "They are not with us."

I turned around.

One of the guys picked up something.

A picture.

About me.

And yelled—

"Take the boy from Blackwood." We need to use leverage.