The first crack did not arrive loudly.
It arrived disguised as courtesy.
Mrs. Julia Rowane stood outside Damian's study, posture immaculate, hands folded as if the message she carried did not weigh a hundred pounds. Years of service had taught her how to recognize danger that wore a pleasant voice.
Damian looked up from the documents spread across his desk and knew.
"What is it?" he asked.
Julia stepped inside and shut the door carefully. "Ethan Cole called."
The room stilled.
"He was polite," she continued. "He asked that the writer be sent to his office today. He said he wished to speak with her personally."
Personally.
Damian rose slowly. Two years of discipline pressed against his chest. Every erased footprint. Every careful disappearance. Ethan had never asked for proximity before.
This was not curiosity.
This was confirmation hunting.
"Did you give him anything?" Damian asked.
"No," Julia said at once.
Good.
"You may go," Damian said.
When the door closed, he remained standing, hands braced against the desk, staring at the past he had buried and the future suddenly clawing back to life.
Ethan was circling.
And Aria was the center of the trap.
---
He found her in the sitting room, notebook open but untouched. She looked up immediately, eyes sharp with instinct.
"What happened?"
Damian did not soften it. "Ethan wants to see you."
The color drained from her face.
"Why?" she whispered.
"Because of the interview," he replied. "And because you exist too close to unanswered questions."
She stood, fear breaking through her composure. "Do I have to go?"
The question was not dramatic. It was bare.
"I don't like it," Damian said quietly. "I don't want you near him."
"But," she said.
"But you refusing will look worse. It will suggest something in this mansion is controlling you. That would invite more attention."
Her hands trembled. "I'm just a writer, Damian. I'm not trained for interrogation."
"I know," he said. "That's why this matters."
He stepped closer, voice lowered. "You deny certainty. You say the interview twisted your words. You emphasize confusion."
"And you?" she asked.
"You never saw me," Damian said firmly. "You never confirm anything."
She hesitated. "What if he asks about the memoir?"
A pause.
"He won't," Damian said, though something in his eyes suggested doubt.
When she left the mansion, Damian watched until the gates swallowed her car.
The unease did not leave.
---
Ethan's office was glass and steel, power dressed as restraint.
He greeted her himself.
"Ms. Hale," he said smoothly. "Thank you for coming."
"You asked to see me," Aria replied, keeping her spine straight.
"Yes. Sit."
He played the interview. Asked precise questions. Let her deny. Let her explain. Let her breathe just enough to think she was succeeding.
Then he asked, lightly, "You said you saw him."
Aria's pulse jumped. "I said I saw something I could not explain."
Ethan tilted his head. "So to be clear, you never saw Damian Cole."
She met his gaze. "I never claimed certainty. I saw a man. A figure. Grief can do strange things."
He studied her.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Then he leaned back and asked, casually, "How is the memoir coming along?"
The room shifted.
"I'm still researching," Aria said. "It's complex."
"May I see it?"
"It isn't ready."
"I didn't ask if it was ready," Ethan said calmly. "I asked to see it."
Silence.
That was answer enough.
Ethan stood, the warmth draining from his expression. "Ms. Hale, you are withholding information."
"I can't give you what I don't have," she said quickly. "I need access to family matters to complete your brother's memoir."
His smile returned, colder. "You already have access you should not."
Her breath hitched. "I'm leaving."
"No," Ethan said, voice gentle and final. "You're staying."
"This is illegal."
"This is necessary," he replied. "And until I'm satisfied, you do not go anywhere."
---
Hours passed.
No phone. No updates.
Back at the mansion, daylight bled into evening.
Damian checked the time again.
Too long.
"She should be back," he said.
Julia hovered nearby. "Perhaps traffic—"
"No," Damian cut in.
He remembered her fear. Her unsteady hands. The way she had asked if she had to go.
Two years of invisibility suddenly felt worthless.
If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself.
That was the last straw.
Not strategy.
Guilt.
"I'm going," he said.
Julia's voice trembled. "Sir, please think this through."
He did not answer.
The engine started.
---
When Damian stepped into Ethan's office, the air changed.
Aria looked up.
Relief crashed through her so fast she nearly collapsed.
Ethan froze.
The ghost stood before him.
Alive.
Real.
For a moment, silence ruled.
Then Ethan smiled. Slow. Dangerous.
"Well," he said softly. "So it's true."
Damian ignored him. His eyes were on Aria.
"Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, tears burning.
That was enough.
Proof was never paper.
It was presence.
And once seen, it could never be erased.
Somewhere beyond those walls, the world was about to learn what Ethan now knew.
Damian Cole was alive.
And nothing would ever be contained again.