Chapter 6 - The Digital Ghost
Selene refused to sit down in the leather guest chair.
She stood rigidly in front of the desk, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.
"I do not understand why we are having a private meeting about a common thief," Selene spat, glaring at me.
"She stole millions of dollars in diamonds, Damian."
Damian ignored her outburst completely.
He opened a slim silver laptop on his desk and tapped a few keys.
The massive flat-screen television mounted on the wall suddenly flared to life.
It displayed a highly detailed spreadsheet filled with shipping manifests, banking codes, and digital access logs.
"Do you know what this is, Selene?" Damian asked, his voice eerily devoid of anger.
Selene’s face instantly drained of all color, turning a sickly, ashen gray.
She recognized the documents she had stolen just two nights before.
"I... I have no idea what that is," she stammered, her confident facade cracking instantly.
Damian pressed another button on his laptop.
The screen shifted to the black-and-white security footage Marcus and I had watched in the kitchen.
It clearly showed Selene looking over her shoulder, swiping her keycard, and entering the forbidden study.
"This house is not just a home, Selene," Damian explained coldly.
"It is the central nervous system of a multi-billion dollar logistics empire."
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't have silent alarms and encrypted access logs on my own private office?"
Selene took a step backward, her perfectly manicured hands trembling visibly.
"Damian, you don't understand," she pleaded, her voice rising in pitch.
"My father told me to look at those files just to ensure our upcoming merger was financially sound."
Damian slammed his hands flat against the mahogany desk, the sudden violence of the sound making me flinch.
"Your father used you to commit corporate espionage," Damian roared, dropping his calm facade entirely.
"He wanted my proprietary shipping routes so his failing cartel could undercut my prices in the European market."
He pointed a long, accusatory finger directly at her face.
"You stole my files, and when you realized Marcus was auditing the access logs, you panicked."
"You planted your own necklace in Elena’s room to create a distraction and get her fired before she could expose you."
Selene began to hyperventilate, tears of genuine panic streaming down her face.
"I love you, Damian," she sobbed desperately.
"I only did it because my father threatened to cut off my trust fund if I didn't help him."
Damian looked at her with an expression of pure, unadulterated disgust.
"You tried to frame a single mother for a felony," he said softly, the danger in his voice absolute.
"You were perfectly willing to let a seven-year-old child be thrown into the foster system just to cover your own tracks."
He turned to Marcus, who was watching the scene with grim satisfaction.
"Escort this woman off my property," Damian ordered.
"Pack her bags and have them thrown onto the driveway."
"If she ever sets foot in this house again, have her arrested for trespassing and corporate theft."
Selene screamed, a harsh, ugly sound, as Marcus grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door.
She thrashed and cursed, screaming vile threats at both Damian and me until the heavy doors finally closed behind her.
The silence that followed was heavy and exhausted.
Damian slumped back into his leather chair, rubbing his temples tiredly.
May you like
He looked across the room at me, the harshness fading from his dark eyes.
"I am so sorry, Elena," the billionaire whispered, offering an apology I never expected to hear.
