Chapter 5: The Room Nobody Was Allowed to Enter
Damian had grown up in Cross Manor.
He knew every staircase, every hidden passage, and every room that had once belonged to his parents.
But there was one room he had never been allowed to enter.
The blue room.
His father's private study had remained locked since the night of his supposed death. Victor had told him the room contained confidential business records and personal belongings that were too painful to revisit.
Damian had accepted that explanation.
Until now.
At 4:12 a.m., the convoy returned to the estate.
Ethan was taken to the medical room, where the family doctor removed the bullet and stitched the wound.
Sofia stood outside the door, her arms wrapped around herself.
Damian approached her.
"How is he?""
"The doctor says he'll survive.""
"Good.""
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Damian noticed the blood on her sleeve.
"You're hurt.""
"It's Ethan's blood.""
"That doesn't answer my question.""
She looked down.
A small cut crossed her forearm.
"It's nothing.""
Damian took a clean handkerchief from his pocket.
"Give me your arm.""
She hesitated before holding it out.
He carefully wrapped the cut.
Sofia watched his hands.
"You're different from what I expected.""
"Is that good or bad?""
"I haven't decided.""
A faint smile touched his mouth.
"Fair enough.""
She looked toward the medical room.
"Does he hate me?""
"Who?""
"Ethan.""
Damian considered the question.
"My brother has always been terrible at expressing gratitude.""
"He has reason to hate me.""
"Why?""
Sofia looked away.
"Because I disappeared when he needed me.""
Damian finished tying the bandage.
"Everyone has a reason for leaving someone behind. It doesn't always mean they wanted to.""
Before she could respond, Marcus approached.
"Boss. We have a problem.""
Damian's expression hardened.
"What now?""
"The security footage from the estate shows someone entering the west wing twenty minutes ago.""
"Who?""
Marcus hesitated.
"Your fiancée.""
Damian's eyes narrowed.
"Vivian?""
"Yes. She was supposed to be in the guest house under supervision. The guards found her room empty.""
"Where is she?""
"Unknown.""
Damian looked toward the second-floor windows.
"Find her.""
Marcus nodded.
"And there's something else," he added.
"She left a message on your desk.""
He handed Damian a folded envelope.
Damian opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed him as a child, standing beside his father and Victor outside the family estate.
Someone had drawn a red circle around the boy standing behind them.
A boy Damian barely remembered.
His cousin, Adrian Cross.
Adrian had supposedly died in a boating accident when Damian was fifteen.
On the back of the photograph, Vivian had written:
You should ask your uncle how many people he's buried without a funeral.
Damian stared at the message.
Then he folded it.
"Bring me the keys to the blue room.""
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"Sir, Victor specifically instructed security never to—"
"Victor doesn't give instructions in my house anymore.""
Within minutes, Damian stood before the heavy oak door at the end of the east corridor.
A brass plaque remained attached to it.
*ALEXANDER CROSS — PRIVATE.*
His father's name.
Damian inserted the master key.
The lock turned.
The room smelled of dust and old tobacco.
Heavy blue curtains covered the windows. A large desk stood near the fireplace. Family photographs lined the shelves.
Damian walked inside slowly.
For twelve years, he had imagined this room as a place of grief.
Now it felt like a crime scene.
"Marcus, search the desk.""
His head of security began opening drawers.
Sofia stood near the doorway.
"Do you see anything familiar?"" Damian asked her.
She shook her head.
Then her gaze stopped on a painting above the fireplace.
A landscape of the Cross estate, with a small red barn in the background.
She moved closer.
"That's strange.""
"What?""
"My mother had a photograph of this painting.""
Damian looked at her.
"Why?""
"She said your father used to hide things behind it.""
He walked toward the fireplace.
The painting was heavy, but the frame moved when he pulled its lower edge.
Behind it was a small metal safe.
Marcus approached.
"Do you know the combination?""
Damian stared at the keypad.
Then he remembered the day his father taught him to ride a horse.
His father had told him that every family had a secret language.
Their family had used four numbers.
The date their grandfather founded the business.
Damian entered them.
The safe opened.
Inside lay a leather ledger, a black envelope, and a small cassette recorder.
Damian took out the envelope first.
It contained a handwritten letter.
To my sons.
He recognized his father's handwriting.
He unfolded the page.
If this letter has been found, then Victor has failed to keep the truth buried.
Damian read the next lines.
I know what I did to Elena Voss. I know what I ordered, and I know what happened to her daughter. I also know that Victor has been using my name to protect his own operation.
Sofia stepped closer.
Her face had lost all color.
Damian continued.
I made many mistakes. But the greatest was believing my brother could be trusted with the future of this family.
He turned the page.
The final paragraph contained only three sentences.
Ethan is alive.
Adrian is alive.
And one of them has already been betrayed by the woman he loves.
Damian lowered the letter.
"What woman?"" he whispered.
A sound came from the doorway.
Someone was standing there.
Vivian.
She was wearing a black coat over her evening dress. Her hair was disheveled, and her mascara had run down both cheeks.
But she wasn't alone.
Victor Cross stood behind her.
His uncle carried a pistol.
"Put the letter down, Damian," Victor said.
Marcus immediately raised his weapon.
Victor pressed the gun against Vivian's back.
"One more movement and your fiancée dies.""
Damian stared at Vivian.
"You came back.""
She shook her head.
"Damian, I can explain.""
"Can you?""
Victor smiled.
"She's been very helpful.""
Damian's eyes moved toward the gun.
"What do you want?""
"The ledger.""
"No.""
Victor sighed.
"You always were stubborn.""
He pushed Vivian forward.
She stumbled into the room.
"Please," she whispered.
"Don't let him hurt me.""
Damian looked at her.
"Why should I believe you?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Because I loved you.""
Victor laughed.
"Don't embarrass yourself, girl.""
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a second photograph.
It showed Vivian standing beside Ethan in a hospital corridor.
She was holding his hand.
Damian's chest tightened.
"Explain that.""
Victor placed the photograph on the desk.
"Your brother wasn't the only one who survived that night.""
He looked at Damian.
"Your engagement was never about love. It was about making sure the Cross family stayed divided long enough for me to finish what your father started.""
Damian's fingers curled.
"Why Vivian?""
Victor smiled.
"Because she was the woman Ethan loved before the accident.""
The room fell silent.
Damian turned toward Vivian.
Her lips trembled.
"Is that true?""
She couldn't look at him.
Victor answered for her.
"She helped me keep your brother hidden. She helped me make you believe he was dead. And she agreed to marry you because she knew exactly how much it would hurt him.""
Damian looked at the ringless hand she had raised toward him in the garage.
All those dinners.
All those promises.
All those years.
"You were going to marry me while you were still in love with my brother?""
Vivian began crying.
"It wasn't like that.""
"Then what was it like?""
She looked at him.
"I thought if I stayed close to you, I could protect him.""
Damian's expression turned cold.
"By helping Victor?""
"I didn't know what else to do.""
Victor interrupted.
"Enough. The ledger.""
He pointed his gun at Sofia.
"Give it to me, or the girl dies.""
Damian looked at the leather book.
Then at Sofia.
Before he could move, Vivian suddenly lunged toward Victor.
The gun fired.
She fell against the desk.
Marcus fired twice.
Victor staggered backward, dropping his weapon.
But before Damian could reach him, Victor smiled.
A thin line of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"You still don't understand," he whispered.
Damian grabbed his collar.
"Understand what?""
Victor leaned closer.
"Your father is coming home.""
Then he collapsed.
Damian turned toward Vivian.
Blood was spreading across her dress.
She grabbed his wrist.
"Damian...""
He knelt.
"Don't speak.""
She struggled to breathe.
"There's something you need to know about Ethan.""
"What?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"He didn't disappear because Victor wanted him dead.""
Damian leaned closer.
"Then why?""
Vivian's trembling fingers tightened around his hand.
"Because Ethan was the one who ordered your father's death.""
And from the hallway came a voice Damian had not heard since childhood.
"That's enough, Vivian.""
An older man stepped into the doorway.
His hair was silver.
His face was thinner.
But Damian recognized him instantly.
Alexander Cross.
May you like
His father.
Alive.
