Damon had always been careful, but today he was operating on a whole different level of calculated awareness, and that was exactly why he had saved Seraphine’s number under the na Seth, a harmless, forgettable contact that wouldn’t raise suspicion even if soone stared at it twice.
So when Daisy’s eyes drifted toward his screen and caught the na lighting up, he didn’t flinch or tense or hesitate in a way that could betray him. He simply lowered the phone with an easy expression and gave her a smooth explanation that sounded casual enough to be true.
"That’s my broker," he said, glancing at the screen like it mildly annoyed him. "I need to see what he wants. It might be about the funds I transferred to your boyfriend."
The lie slipped out clean and effortless, and Daisy didn’t question it. If anything, she looked impressed. There was sothing about the way Damon carried himself when he handled business that made her admire him, and she followed him with her eyes as he walked away, clearly pleased with herself for being connected to soone who moved money around like that.
He did not just head to his bedroom like she probably expected. He went straight to the washroom.
Multiple doors between them ant better sound insulation, and Damon was not about to risk Daisy overhearing even the faintest tone of urgency in his voice.
By the ti he reached the sink and leaned back against the counter, the initial call had already ended. He stared at the screen for a second, jaw tight, before redialing.
Seraphine did not answer imdiately.
Instead of pacing or panicking, Damon used the waiting ti to open his stock portfolio. The numbers updated in real ti, red bleeding across his screen as the values dipped lower and lower, just like Seraphine had predicted earlier.
Watching it fall would have unsettled most people, but Damon didn’t feel fear clawing at his chest. He trusted her. If she said it would recover, then it would.
On another screen, Ravyn’s stocks were climbing at an almost aggressive rate, the upward trend sharp and confident, like a rival flexing in public. Damon watched those sa numbers with a thin, cold smile stretching across his face, his voice low as he murmured to himself, "You just wait, Ravyn. This isn’t over."
Right then, his phone rang again. He straightened slightly, already preparing an explanation for missing the first call, but the mont he answered, Seraphine didn’t give him the chance.
"Change of plans."
Her voice carried urgency that sliced straight through him, and every instinct inside him sharpened at once.
"What’s wrong?" he asked imdiately, all traces of ease gone from his tone. "What did you find out about Zane?"
"Nothing," she replied, and there was frustration woven tightly into that single word. "There’s absolutely nothing. Daisy is more dangerous than we thought, Damon. You need to be extrely careful around her."
He frowned, confusion tightening his features even though she couldn’t see him. "I don’t understand. How can there be nothing?"
Seraphine exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "There’s no record of her communicating with Zane at all. No ssages, no tadata, no trace of calls. It’s like the conversations never existed. Either she paid soone to wipe everything clean, or this Zane guy has serious technical skills and knows exactly how to disappear."
That was when the weight of it truly sank in for Damon. If Daisy had help, that ant she was playing a bigger ga than he had assud.
If Zane had those kinds of skills, that ant they were not dealing with so desperate nobody asking for cash.
"Would a distraction help?" Damon asked, his mind already racing ahead of the fear. He was not going to sit back and let this unfold without countering it.
"Tell what you’re thinking," Seraphine said instantly, her tone focused.
Damon leaned against the counter, staring at his reflection as he pieced it together out loud. "From what she was telling him, he needs money, and he’s threatening to show up if he doesn’t get it. So what if I disappear for a few days and make it look like I’m away from the pack on business?
At the sa ti, you block all transfers from your side. No money moves, nothing clears, the pressure builds. If he gets desperate enough, he’ll co looking for her in person."
On the other end of the line, Seraphine went quiet for a second, and when she finally spoke, there was a hint of impressed approval in her voice.
"So you’d stay sowhere inside the pack, hidden, watching her closely while she panics," she said slowly, already picturing it.
"Exactly," Damon confird. "If he shows up, I’ll see him, and know exactly who he is."
A breath of relief left Seraphine’s chest, soft but real, because it felt good not to carry the entire strategy alone. "I like it," she admitted.
Damon smiled and continued with his plan. "I’ll stall her requests from my side, promise her I’ll handle it personally. Then I’ll say transferring large amounts electronically is too risky right now and that I’ll go into the city to withdraw cash. I’ll encourage her to keep quiet about it and not tell Ravyn anything, and since it benefits her, she won’t question it," he confird, confidence settling in.
"Just tell when you need support," Seraphine added. "The second we identify him, we’ll know what we’re really dealing with." She paused briefly before softening just a little. "And don’t stress about your stocks. They’re going to rise again. I’m sure of it."
After the call ended, Seraphine gathered herself and left for the hospital, pushing aside the digital war simring in the background. Working with children did sothing to her heart that nothing else could.
Their laughter, the fragile hope in their eyes, gave her purpose beyond revenge and strategy. Every child she helped felt like one step closer to finding her own daughter, like the universe was slowly guiding her back to what she had lost.
When she stepped into the hospital lobby, Leon was already there. He stood near the entrance with a furrowed brow, arms crossed, his posture rigid in a way that told her imdiately sothing was wrong.
At first, she assud he wanted to discuss their attendance at the Sovereign Circle in a few days, so logistical detail or political nuance she needed to prepare for.
But when he looked at her and finally spoke, his voice carried an urgency that made her stomach tighten, and the request he made next caught her completely off guard.
User Comments
0 comments from readers