Chapter 36 Chapter 36
Damien has ordered someone to watch your every move.
I stared at the message until my vision blurred. My hands trembled as I read it again and again. Someone was watching me. Right now. In this very moment. I looked around the empty room and felt my skin crawl. The walls suddenly seemed too thin and the shadows too deep.
I deleted the message and tried to calm my racing heart. Think, Lisa. Think. If someone was watching me then they knew about the flash drive. They knew I had moved it. They knew everything. Which meant I was running out of time. I needed to get to the flash drive before whoever was watching me did.
I waited until the mansion grew quiet. Until the footsteps in the hallway faded and the lights in the other rooms went dark. Then I slipped out of bed and moved to the door. I pressed my ear against the wood and listened. Nothing. I turned the handle slowly and it opened. Marcus had forgotten to lock it after he left.
The hallway was empty and cold. I moved quickly and stayed close to the walls. My bare feet made no sound on the marble floor. I passed Damien's office and the library, and the sitting room where we had shared wine just days ago. Everything felt different now. Tainted. Like the whole mansion was holding its breath.
I reached the servant's quarters and found Elena's room. I knocked softly. No answer. I knocked again. Still nothing. I tried the handle, and the door swung open. The room was empty. The bed was made. Her clothes were still in the closet, but there was no sign of her. She had vanished.
Panic clawed at my throat. Elena was the only person in this house I thought I could trust, and now she was gone. I backed out of the room and ran straight into someone. I spun around and saw Marcus standing there with his arms crossed. "Looking for someone?" he asked.
"I was just checking on Elena. She has not answered my messages."
"Elena is gone. Damien sent her away this afternoon."
"Why would he do that?"
"Because he does not trust anyone right now. Not after what happened with the flash drive." Marcus studied my face. "You should get back to your room, Lisa. It is not safe to wander around at night."
"I needed some air. I could not sleep."
"Then open a window. But stay in your room." He moved closer and his voice dropped. "There are things happening in this house that you do not understand. Things that could get you killed if you are not careful."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that Victor has people inside this mansion. People who report everything back to him. People who would sell you out in a heartbeat if it meant saving their own skin." His eyes were hard. "So do yourself a favor and stay locked in your room until Damien comes back."
He walked away and left me standing alone in the dark hallway. I watched him disappear around the corner and then I ran. I ran to the place where I had hidden the flash drive three days ago. The small storage room in the basement where nobody ever went. Where the old furniture and forgotten boxes gathered dust.
I pushed open the door and fumbled for the light switch. Nothing happened. The bulb must have burned out. I pulled out my phone and used the flashlight to navigate through the cluttered space. I moved past broken chairs and rolled up carpets until I found the old trunk in the corner. I opened it and reached inside for the false bottom where I had hidden the flash drive.
My fingers touched metal. Relief flooded through me. It was still here. Nobody had found it. I pulled it out and held it up to the light. This tiny piece of technology held enough information to destroy empires. Enough secrets to end wars. And I was holding it in my hand.
I needed to see what was on it. Needed to understand what I was really dealing with. I went back upstairs to the library, where I knew Damien kept a laptop. I locked the door behind me and sat down at the desk. My hands shook as I inserted the flash drive and waited for it to load.
Files appeared on the screen. Hundreds of them. Financial records. Transaction logs. Encrypted messages. I started opening them one by one, and what I found made my blood run cold. Damien had not been lying. There were names of people I recognized. People who worked for him. People who sat at his dinner table and shook his hand and swore their loyalty. All of them were on Victor's payroll.
But there was more. Much more. As I scrolled through the files I kept seeing the same name repeated over and over. The Syndicate. It appeared in emails and financial transfers and encrypted communications. Victor was not working alone. He was part of something bigger. Something that stretched far beyond this city and this war.
I clicked on a folder marked Syndicate Operations and my stomach turned. Inside were detailed plans for weapons trafficking. Drug distribution. Human smuggling. This was not just a power struggle between two men. This was organized crime on a massive scale. And both Damien and Victor were connected to it.
I found a subfolder labeled Personnel and opened it. More names. More faces. Some I recognized. Others were strangers. Then I saw one that made me freeze. Marcus Chen. Syndicate operative since 2019. Status: Active.
No. It could not be true. Marcus was Damien's most trusted advisor. His right hand. His friend. But the evidence was right there in front of me. Transaction records showing payments from Syndicate accounts to Marcus's offshore holdings. Encrypted messages between Marcus and someone named The Director. Plans to infiltrate Damien's organization and feed information back to Victor.
Marcus was the mole. He had been working for Victor this whole time. Which meant everything he had told me was a lie. Every warning. Every piece of advice. All of it is designed to manipulate me. To control me. To keep me exactly where Victor wanted me.
I needed to tell Damien. Needed to show him this evidence before Marcus could do any more damage. I pulled out my phone to call him, but there was no signal. I tried again. Nothing. The whole mansion had gone dark on communications.
I saved the files to my phone and pulled the flash drive from the laptop. I needed to hide it somewhere new. Somewhere Marcus would never think to look. I slipped it into my bra and stood up. The library door was still locked. I was safe for now.
But then I heard footsteps in the hallway. Slow. Deliberate. Coming closer. I held my breath and listened. They stopped right outside the door. Someone knocked. Three sharp raps that echoed through the silent room.
"Lisa." It was Marcus's voice. Calm. Controlled. "I know you are in there. Open the door."
I did not move. Did not breathe.
"We need to talk about what you found on that flash drive. About what you think you know." A pause. "Damien is not who you think he is, Lisa. He has been using you from the beginning. But I can help you. I can get you out of here before it is too late."
My heart pounded. Was he telling the truth? Or was this another manipulation?
"You have ten seconds to open this door," Marcus said, and his voice turned cold. "Ten. Nine. Eight."
The power went out, and the entire mansion plunged into darkness. I heard footsteps approaching my room.