Chapter 2: The Maid Who Knew the Dead Man's Secret
The silence after Sofia’s confession was heavier than any scream.
Damian Cross had faced men with weapons pointed at his head.
He had walked into rooms where every person inside wanted him dead.
He had negotiated with criminals who smiled while planning his funeral.
But nothing prepared him for the quiet certainty in Sofia’s voice.
"He was murdered.""
Three words.
Three words that turned six years of grief into something far more dangerous.
Damian stared at her.
Waiting.
Demanding.
Trying to decide whether he was looking at the only person who could finally give him answers...
or the person who had been lying to him all along.
"You expect me to believe that?""
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Sofia lowered her eyes.
"I expected you not to.""
"Why?""
"Because everyone else decided it was easier to believe he made a mistake.""
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Ethan didn't make mistakes.""
The words came instantly.
Like a reflex.
Like a brother defending someone who could no longer defend himself.
Sofia looked at him carefully.
"No. He didn't.""
That answer surprised him.
Most people avoided talking about Ethan.
They offered sympathy.
They offered apologies.
They offered carefully prepared sentences about how tragedy happened and how time healed everything.
But Sofia didn't.
She spoke about him like she knew him.
Like she remembered him.
Damian noticed.
"You said you never met him.""
"I didn't.""
"Then how do you know what kind of person he was?""
Sofia hesitated.
The wrong answer could ruin everything.
The truth could ruin even more.
"I know because people show who they are when they think nobody is watching.""
Damian studied her face.
"That's something a maid would know.""
There was no insult in his voice.
Just observation.
Sofia nodded.
"Yes.""
"You watch people.""
"That's part of my job.""
"No.""
Damian stepped closer.
"Cleaning rooms is your job.""
His eyes narrowed.
"Knowing everyone's secrets is something else.""
Sofia felt her hands tighten.
He was right.
She had learned things she shouldn't have known.
She had overheard conversations between businessmen who thought servants were furniture.
She had seen people enter Cross Manor smiling and leave terrified.
She had learned that wealth did not make people honest.
It only gave them better places to hide their lies.
But Ethan's secret was different.
That was one secret she had never wanted.
One she had carried because she didn't know who else to trust.
"I didn't want to know," she whispered.
Damian's expression changed slightly.
"What does that mean?""
Sofia looked toward the damaged roadster.
"It means I wish I had never been there.""
The rain outside became louder.
For a moment, Damian said nothing.
Then:
"Where were you?""
Sofia froze.
The question she feared.
The question she knew would eventually come.
"I—"
"Where were you the night Ethan died?""
Her heart pounded.
Because she remembered every second.
Every sound.
Every image.
The rain.
The headlights.
The broken glass.
The voice of a dying man trying to warn someone who wasn't there.
She remembered running toward the accident.
She remembered calling for help.
She remembered finding Ethan still alive.
Barely.
And she remembered the stranger who arrived before the ambulance.
The stranger who shouldn't have been there.
"I was nearby.""
Damian's eyes hardened.
"Nearby isn't an answer.""
"I was walking home.""
"From where?""
Sofia didn't answer.
And that was enough.
Damian turned away.
"You're lying.""
"No.""
"Yes.""
He looked back at her.
"You know what happened that night.""
Sofia swallowed.
"I know someone killed him.""
"And how do you know that?""
Because Ethan told me.
Because he grabbed my hand with his last strength.
Because he looked terrified.
Because he whispered a name.
But Sofia couldn't say that.
Not yet.
Not until she knew who she could trust.
"I saw something.""
Damian's expression sharpened.
"What?""
Sofia looked at him.
"The accident.""
A pause.
"You saw it?""
She nodded slowly.
"I didn't see everything.""
"Tell me what you saw.""
The command was immediate.
But Sofia noticed something else beneath it.
Desperation.
For six years, Damian Cross had lived with a question nobody could answer.
Now he finally had someone standing in front of him who could.
And that terrified her.
"I saw another car.""
Damian went completely still.
"What kind?""
"I don't know.""
"Color?""
"Black.""
"Make?""
"I don't know.""
"License plate?""
"I couldn't see.""
Each answer frustrated him.
But Sofia continued.
"It was following him.""
Damian's eyes darkened.
"Following?""
"Yes.""
"How do you know?""
"Because Ethan was trying to get away.""
The words hit him harder than she expected.
Damian looked away.
His hand slowly closed into a fist.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?""
Sofia had asked herself that question a thousand times.
Why hadn't she gone to the police?
Why hadn't she told Damian?
Why had she stayed silent?
The answer was simple.
Fear.
"I tried.""
Damian looked back.
"What?""
"I tried to tell the police.""
"And?""
"They didn't listen.""
"Why?""
Sofia laughed quietly, but there was no humor in it.
"Because I was nineteen years old, covered in mud, wearing a cheap jacket, and standing outside a crime scene where a billionaire's son had died.""
Damian said nothing.
"They asked me what I wanted.""
Her voice became softer.
"I said I wanted them to find whoever did it.""
A bitter smile crossed her face.
"They asked me if I was sure I saw another car.""
"And you said yes.""
"I did.""
"What happened?""
Sofia looked at the floor.
"The next morning, someone came to my apartment.""
Damian's expression changed.
"Who?""
"I don't know.""
"You're telling me someone threatened you?""
"No.""
She paused.
"They didn't threaten me.""
"Then what did they do?""
"They showed me a picture.""
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"What picture?""
"Me.""
The answer confused him.
"What?""
"A picture of me leaving the accident scene.""
Silence.
"They told me they knew where I lived.""
Sofia's voice dropped.
"They knew my family.""
Damian understood.
It wasn't a threat.
It was worse.
A warning.
"Who sent them?""
"I don't know.""
"You're sure?""
"Yes.""
Damian stared at her.
"And you stayed here?""
Sofia looked around the garage.
"Where else would I go?""
The question was simple.
But it carried years of exhaustion.
Damian had spent his entire life surrounded by people who wanted something from him.
Money.
Power.
Protection.
Status.
But Sofia wanted none of those things.
She just wanted to survive.
His phone buzzed again.
Neither of them moved.
Finally, Damian answered.
"Yes.""
A voice spoke.
His expression changed.
"Bring everyone to the main house.""
He ended the call.
Sofia watched him.
"What's happening?""
Damian looked at her.
"The file arrived.""
"The police file?""
"No.""
His voice lowered.
"The private investigation file.""
Sofia frowned.
"You investigated Ethan's death?""
"Of course.""
"Then why didn't you know?""
That question stopped him.
Because it was the question he had avoided for years.
If Damian Cross could find anything...
why couldn't he find the truth about his own brother?
"I was told there was nothing else.""
Sofia looked at him.
"By who?""
He didn't answer.
And that silence told her everything.
Someone close to him had controlled the information.
Someone powerful.
Someone trusted.
The garage doors opened.
Several men entered.
Security.
Damian's personal team.
They immediately stopped when they saw the wrecked car.
No one spoke.
They knew.
They knew exactly what this meant.
Damian looked at one of them.
"Move the vehicle carefully.""
The man nodded.
"And Sofia?""
Damian looked at her.
The entire room waited.
Because everyone knew servants did not usually stand beside Damian Cross during private matters.
They disappeared.
They were dismissed.
They were ignored.
But Damian said something nobody expected.
"She stays.""
Sofia looked surprised.
So did everyone else.
The head of security hesitated.
"Sir?""
"You heard me.""
The man nodded.
"Yes, sir.""
As the men began working, Sofia watched Damian.
"Why are you keeping me here?""
His answer came immediately.
"Because someone tried to silence you.""
She looked at him.
"And?""
"And if they tried once, they'll try again.""
The words should have frightened her.
Instead, they made her feel something unfamiliar.
Safe.
And that scared her more.
Because Damian Cross was dangerous.
Everyone knew that.
A man like him didn't protect people without a reason.
"What do you want from me?""
Damian looked at her.
"The truth.""
"I already told you.""
"No.""
He stepped closer.
"You told me what happened.""
His eyes held hers.
"You haven't told me everything.""
Sofia couldn't breathe.
Because he was right.
There was still one thing.
The one thing she had never told anyone.
The thing Ethan whispered before he died.
The name.
Damian noticed her hesitation.
"Who was he afraid of?""
Sofia looked away.
"I don't know.""
Another lie.
Damian saw it.
"You do.""
She closed her eyes.
The memory returned.
Ethan lying beside the road.
Blood on his shirt.
His hand gripping hers.
His voice barely audible.
"Don't trust...""
She remembered leaning closer.
Trying to hear him.
"Don't trust...""
Then the final word.
The name.
A name that changed everything.
Sofia opened her eyes.
"I can't tell you.""
The room seemed to freeze.
Damian's expression became colder.
"You can't?""
"No.""
"Or you won't?""
Sofia didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
For the first time, Damian looked genuinely angry with her.
Not because she had hidden something.
Because he realized how afraid she was.
"Who are you protecting?""
Sofia whispered:
"No one.""
Damian stepped closer.
"Then who are you afraid of?""
She looked at him.
And for a moment, she almost told him.
Almost.
But then she remembered the picture.
The warning.
The years of silence.
And she remembered that whoever killed Ethan had waited six years.
They were patient.
They were watching.
They were still out there.
"I can't.""
Damian stared at her.
Then quietly said:
"Everyone who says that eventually tells me why.""
Sofia looked at him.
"What if I don't?""
A dangerous silence followed.
Then Damian answered.
"Then I'll find out myself.""
The words should have sounded like a threat.
But Sofia heard something else.
A promise.
And she suddenly realized the truth.
The moment she spoke Ethan's secret aloud...
her life had changed forever.
Because Damian Cross was no longer just the man she worked for.
He was the man searching for the same monster she had been running from.
And somewhere inside Cross Manor, someone was already afraid.
May you like
Because the truth that had been buried for six years...
was finally beginning to wake up.
