Chapter 5 - BUTTONS
Damian tore the stuffed rabbit apart himself.
Sophie cried so hard Elena almost stopped him.
Inside Buttons’s left foot was a tracker smaller than a coin.
Victor crushed it.
Sophie stared at the stuffing scattered across the kitchen table.
“You killed him.”
Damian looked horrified.
“I can fix him.”
“No, you can’t.”
“I can buy another one.”
“I don’t want another one!”
Damian Cross had negotiated million-dollar deals and ceasefires between men who despised each other.
He had no defense against a heartbroken four-year-old.
Elena folded her arms.
“Apologize.”
Victor turned away to hide a smile.
Damian crouched.
“Sophie, I’m sorry.”
“You ripped his butt.”
Victor coughed.
Damian maintained remarkable composure.
“I did.”
“He trusted you.”
That one hurt more than it should have.
“I know.”
Sophie sniffed.
“Fix him.”
“I will.”
Damian spent forty-five minutes sewing Buttons with Elena’s emergency sewing kit.
His stitches were terrible.
Sophie inspected them.
“You’re bad at this.”
“I’m aware.”
“But he’s okay.”
She hugged the rabbit.
Then, unexpectedly, hugged Damian.
He froze.
Tiny arms around his neck.
A child’s cheek against his shoulder.
No fear.
No agenda.
No request.
Something broke open inside him.
Elena saw it.
And looked away to give him privacy.
That evening, Damian received a call from Sebastian.
“Nephew.”
Damian’s face hardened.
“Uncle.”
“You’ve been difficult to reach.”
“I’ve been busy discovering my childhood was a lie.”
Sebastian sighed.
“Maria was emotional.”
“You murdered her.”
“No.”
“Then come tell me in person.”
“I’d rather discuss the ledger.”
Damian said nothing.
Sebastian continued.
“Your mother stole something that belonged to me.”
“So it exists.”
Silence.
Damian smiled.
“Thank you.”
Sebastian realized his mistake.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
“I’m beginning to.”
“If those names become public, the city burns.”
“Maybe it needs light.”
“You sound like your mother.”
“Good.”
Sebastian hung up.
The ledger had to be somewhere Maria believed Damian might eventually find it.
They searched the lake house.
Nothing.
Until Elena noticed the old piano.
One key did not sound right.
Damian removed the panel.
Inside was an envelope.
Not the ledger.
A letter.
My darling Damian,
If you are reading this, then I failed to give you the ordinary life I wanted for you.
Damian’s hands shook.
Maria wrote that power would surround him.
Men would teach him fear was respect.
Money was safety.
Control was love.
They were lies.
Then came the final clue.
When you need the truth, return to the place where you first learned that the smallest light can defeat a dark room.
Damian closed his eyes.
“I know where it is.”
“Where?” Elena asked.
He looked at her.
“My old bedroom.”
Not at the estate.
At the brick house where Maria died.
The house Damian had secretly kept for twenty-nine years.
They arrived after midnight.
The kitchen still had the same window.
The same floor.
Damian stopped at the doorway.
Elena did not touch him.
She simply stood beside him.
He finally walked upstairs.
His childhood bedroom had remained untouched.
Baseball cards.
A wooden airplane.
Glow-in-the-dark stars.
And beside the bed—
a small night-light.
Damian stared.
“The smallest light.”
Behind the outlet they found a key.
The key opened a metal box beneath a loose floorboard.
Inside was Maria’s ledger.
And a cassette tape.
Damian played it.
Maria’s voice filled the room.
She named Sebastian.
She named police officials.
She named judges.
Then she said something Damian never expected.
“Damian’s father knows.”
Damian stopped the tape.
His father.
Anthony Cross.
The man who raised him after Maria died.
The man Damian had worshipped.
The man who died ten years later.
He had known Sebastian threatened Maria.
And did nothing.
Damian sat on his childhood bed.
His entire family history collapsed around him.
Elena sat beside him.
“I spent my life becoming my father,” he whispered.
“Then stop.”
He looked at her.
“That simple?”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“But possible.”
Damian looked at the ledger.
An empire built on blood had finally placed its confession in his hands.
He could protect it.
Use it.
Become more powerful than Sebastian ever dreamed.
Or he could destroy everything.
May you like
Including himself.
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