Lena sat in Damian's study, her fingers gripping the sleek black phone he had handed her. The room was silent except for the faint ticking of a clock somewhere behind her, but the tension in the air was suffocating.
She could still hear his words before he left.
"If anything happens, call Knight."
Anything.
The problem was, something was already happening.
She could feel it an invisible weight pressing down on her, the kind that came when you knew you were being watched.
Exhaling slowly, she stood and paced the length of the room, trying to make sense of everything. Damian hadn't told her much, but she was no fool. Whoever had cut the power had done it deliberately. Whoever had been outside her door had wanted her to know they were there.
And now she was locked in his study like a prisoner while he hunted down the truth.
Her gaze drifted toward his desk.
If Damian thought she was just going to sit here and wait for answers, he didn't know her at all.
Carefully, she moved behind the desk, scanning the papers scattered across its surface. There were financial reports, stock projections, and documents she didn't fully understand, but nothing out of place.
Then she spotted his laptop.
She hesitated.
Would he be furious if he knew she was prying? Without a doubt.
Did she care? Not right now.
Taking a seat, she opened the device. A password screen flashed across the monitor. Of course. Damian Blackwood wouldn't be careless.
Biting her lip, she tried a few combinations his last name, his company's name, even the date of their wedding. Nothing.
She exhaled sharply and leaned back, frustrated.
Then, her eyes landed on a framed photograph beside the laptop.
It was old, the edges slightly worn, but the image was clear: a younger Damian, maybe in his early twenties, standing beside an older man. The resemblance was undeniable same sharp jawline, same piercing gray eyes. But there was something softer about this Damian, something human.
A father.
Lena had read enough about Damian to know his father had died years ago, but she had never seen a picture of them together.
Heart pounding, she typed in the name she had seen in old news articles.
Richard Blackwood.
The screen blinked.
Then, to her shock, it unlocked.
Lena's stomach twisted.
What kind of man still used his dead father's name as his password?
Pushing the thought aside, she began scrolling through the files.
Most of them were standard business documents—contracts, financial statements but then she saw a folder labeled Eclipse.
Her fingers hovered over the trackpad.
The name meant nothing to her, but something about it felt important.
She clicked.
A string of emails popped up.
Her pulse quickened as she scanned the messages. Most were from Damian to someone named Knight, but one in particular stood out.
Sender: Unknown
Subject: The past doesn't stay buried forever.
Message: You took everything from me. Now it's my turn.
Lena's blood turned to ice.
Her breath came faster as she clicked on another email, this one sent just a week ago.
Sender: Knight
Message: We found another lead. The breach wasn't an accident. Someone inside the company is working against you. We need to move carefully.
Someone inside the company.
She swallowed hard.
Damian wasn't just dealing with an enemy—he was dealing with a traitor.
And she had just stumbled onto something she wasn't meant to see.
A sharp knock at the study door made her jump.
She spun around, her heart slamming against her ribs.
"Lena."
The voice was low. Controlled.
But it wasn't Damian's.
Whoever was on the other side of that door wasn't supposed to be there.
She stared at the handle as it turned slightly, her pulse hammering.
Then she did the only thing she could.
She grabbed the phone and dialed the number Damian had given her.
A deep, steady voice answered on the second ring.
"Knight."
Lena's voice was barely a whisper.
"Someone's outside the door."