Beneath The Golden Gaze

Chapter Twenty: The Darkness Unveiled

Heaven’s pulse pounded in her ears as she processed the revelations Alexander had laid bare. Her father’s death, her hidden past, the looming threat—everything suddenly made sense, but it also felt like her entire world had been ripped apart and reshaped into something unrecognizable.

"I was just ten," she whispered, more to herself than to Alexander. "Ten years old when he died, and all this time, I’ve been living in a lie."

Alexander’s grip on her hand tightened as if sensing her spiraling thoughts. "You were never supposed to know. Your father… he thought he was protecting you by keeping the truth hidden."

Heaven pulled her hand away, pacing restlessly, her heart racing with emotions too complex to name. "Protecting me from what? From them? Or from himself?" She spun to face Alexander, her eyes blazing. "He built a life on lies, and now I’m the one left to clean up his mess."

"Heaven," Alexander started, but she cut him off.

"No, don’t you dare. You knew too. You were part of this, you helped him. And now you’re telling me that I have the key to bringing down an entire underground empire? I’m just supposed to accept that?"

Alexander’s expression hardened. "Yes. Because whether you like it or not, this is your reality now. Those people—the ones who killed your father—they’re still out there. And they’re not going to stop until they find what he left behind."

Heaven’s breath hitched, and for a moment, fear gripped her heart. It was like being that little girl again—ten years old, hiding in the shadows, listening to the whispers of her aunt and uncle as they discussed her father’s sudden death. She had always suspected something was off, but never like this. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined this level of betrayal and danger.

Her voice trembled as she spoke. "So, what now? I don’t know where the evidence is, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be looking for."

Alexander moved closer, his presence both comforting and suffocating. "Your father wasn’t just gathering random pieces of evidence. He was compiling a ledger—a record of every deal, every transaction, every name tied to the criminal syndicates he worked with. If we find that ledger, we can destroy them all."

"A ledger?" Heaven frowned. "But I don’t—"

"You don’t remember because it was hidden in plain sight. Everything you need to find it is in your memories, Heaven. Places you visited with your father, things he said to you before he died. He was preparing you without you realizing it."

Heaven stared at him, her mind racing. "How am I supposed to remember something like that? It’s been fifteen years since he died."

Alexander’s gaze softened, the slightest flicker of emotion crossing his usually stoic face. "I’ll help you. We’ll find the clues together."

But as he spoke, something shifted in the room. It was subtle, but Heaven felt it—a sudden tension, an unease creeping up her spine. She glanced toward the window, the storm still raging outside, but this was something else.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Alexander stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the shadows. "Stay behind me."

Before Heaven could react, there was a sharp crack—a gunshot. The window shattered, and Alexander lunged toward her, knocking her to the ground as glass rained down around them.

"Get down!" he barked, shielding her with his body.

Her heart raced, adrenaline surging as she struggled to breathe beneath him. "What—what’s happening?"

"They’ve found us," Alexander growled, his voice tense with fury. "They’re here."

Heaven’s blood turned to ice. The people who had killed her father—the same people who had been hunting her for years—were finally closing in.

Alexander pulled her to her feet, his grip firm as he scanned the room. "We need to move. Now."

"But—" Heaven started, panic rising in her chest, but Alexander didn’t give her time to argue. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the back of the house, moving quickly through the shadows.

They reached a hidden door near the library, and Alexander yanked it open, revealing a narrow staircase leading down into the darkness.

"Where does this go?" Heaven asked breathlessly.

"Underground tunnels," Alexander said, his voice tight. "Your father built them as a backup plan. In case something like this ever happened."

Heaven stared at him in disbelief. "You knew about this? About all of it?"

"There’s a lot I haven’t told you, Heaven," he said darkly, ushering her into the tunnel. "But right now, we don’t have time for explanations. We need to get out of here."

As they descended into the dark, cold passage, the sound of footsteps and voices echoed behind them. The men were inside the house now, searching for them. Heaven’s heart pounded as the reality of the situation sank in.

These people had murdered her father, and now they were coming for her.

As they moved through the narrow tunnels, Alexander handed her a small flashlight, the dim light barely cutting through the suffocating darkness. Heaven clutched it tightly, her mind spinning with questions, but none of them mattered more than the pressing reality of survival.

"How much farther?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"Not far," Alexander said, glancing over his shoulder, his brow furrowed in concentration. "We’ll surface in a safe house a few blocks from here."

Heaven was about to respond when something caught her eye—a faint shimmer in the darkness, etched into the walls of the tunnel. She stopped, her breath catching in her throat. "Wait… what is this?"

Alexander stopped too, frowning as he turned his flashlight toward the wall. There, etched into the stone, were symbols—familiar symbols. Her heart skipped a beat.

"I remember this," Heaven whispered, her fingers brushing against the symbols. "I used to draw these with my father… in his office."

Alexander’s eyes widened. "These are part of the code," he muttered, almost to himself. "Heaven, this is it. This is the first clue."

Heaven’s breath caught. The first piece of the puzzle her father had left behind.

But they didn’t have time to linger. The voices were getting closer, echoing through the tunnels. Alexander grabbed her hand again, urgency in his voice. "We need to move. We’ll come back for this later."

As they ran through the darkness, Heaven’s heart pounded in her chest, the weight of everything pressing down on her. The danger, the secrets, the overwhelming truth of who her father had been and what he had left behind.

But through it all, there was one thought that burned brightly in her mind:

She wasn’t just running from the past anymore. She was running toward it.