Damien's POV
My phone rang, somehow I knew who it was before I answered.
Still, I picked up.
"Dad"
He didn't waste time.
"Damien" he said, already halfway into it, "Why are operations being shut down? Why is everything suddenly moving in different directions? Do you have any idea what kind of message that sends?"
I kept my eye on the road, one hand steady on the wheel.
"I do" I replied, calm. "And right now, that message matters less than what we're dealing with."
"That's not an exception"
"It's not meant to be one. Not over the phone."
There was a pause on the other end. Not silence - thinking.
"You froze everything under your name", he continued, more controlled now but no less firm. "You don't make that kind of call unless something is seriously wrong. So I'm asking you again, what is going on?"
I exhaled slowly.
I didn't need to see him to know.
"Compromised how?"
"Information" I said, "Access. Patterns. Whoever this is, they didn't just break in. They've been inside long enough to understand how we operate. They're not reacting to us - we're reacting to them."
Another pause. Shorter this time.
"And you're only acting now?"
"They decided to show themselves now"
That was the part that mattered.
"They've been watching" I added, quieter. "But now they want us to know"
The line stayed quiet for a second longer.
Then -
"Get home", he said. "We'll talk here"
"I'm a few minutes out."
The call ended.
***
By the time I got to the mansion, the house already felt... different.
Not loud. Not chaotic.
Just aware.
The kind of quiet that comes when something has shifted and everyone can feel it, even if they don't fully understand why.
I didn't stop to acknowledge anyone. Didn't go to the study. Didn't look for Dad.
I went straight to Cyrus's room.
The door was slightly open.
I pushed and stepped inside.
Empty.
Well - not entirely.
Cyrus was on the bed, exactly where he'd been for months. Machines steady. Breathing even, eyes closed. Noel wasn't there.
That registered immediately.
The chair beside the bed was slightly out of place, like someone had just gotten up.
I let my gaze move slowly around the room, picking up the small things, the kind most people ignore.
Then my eyes landed on the camera.
Mounted high in the corner. We installed it for one reason.
Noel.
Her way of not leaving him alone even when she physically wasn't there.
YOU ARE READING
OUR BOND
AléatoireEver since Alessia, Noel's mother passed away it has never been the same. She doesn't get along with her father and it's been like that for the past years. He eventually gets tired of it and decides to send her to his brother-in law's place in Italy...
