Eva's heart was beating and she couldn't hear the speaker's voice over the intercom.
"Miss Laurent, a man is here requesting to see you," the security officer told her.
Announcing himself as Damien Sinclair, he claims to be your fiancé.
Suddenly, the sentence struck the room.
My fiancée.
Eva's fingers grasped the edge of the kitchen countertop.
She replied without hesitation, "No." "No, that's not feasible."
Adrian gingerly put the whiskey glass he was holding on the other side of her.
He got chilly and cryptic, saying, "Who on earth is Damien Sinclair?"
Eva unexpectedly shook her head.
"I have no idea. I've never heard of that name. "So how is he your fiancé?" "Because the Laurent family doesn't request authorization."
The room got quiet.
Adrian was silent for a time. Then he went across the room to stand square in front of her.
Eva furrowed her brow as she added, "Look at me, I'll have security remove him if you don't want him."
She planned to accept.
She wanted to lock the door, hide upstairs, and pretend nothing was happening.
However, she grew too close to the Laurent family.
They were waiting to see if they had slain this person. "No," she replied gently. "I must find out what they desire."
Adrian clenched his jaw. "I won't leave you by yourself with him."
"You don't need to."
10 minutes later, Adrian stood by the fireplace, hands in his pockets, while Eva sat in the living room. Every muscle in his body appeared stretched.
Eva lost her breath when the elevator doors finally opened.
The individual who arrived looked to have simply walked off the cover of a magazine.
He was tall and beautiful, clothed in a neatly made black suit. His blue eyes located Eva at once, and his black hair was carefully brushed back.
He then grinned. "Eva"
The way he uttered her name, as if he already owned it, had a disturbing aspect.
She gently stood up. "You recognize me?" "Obviously."
Damien Sinclair approached her calmly. "You're Laurent Eva. The vanished heiress of the Laurent empire.
Adrian moved forward before Damien could get close. "And you are invading my house."
Damien turned to face Adrian.
The two guys looked straight into their eyes for a short period.
Eva could feel their loathing. "Adrian Cole," Damien finally mumbled. "I ought to have anticipated her presence with you."
"Do you know him?" Eva inquired.
Damien laughed a bit.
The Sinclairs and the Cole group have long been business partners. However, I consider that the word "allies" is quite broad. Rival families are better at talking with one another.
Adrian's tone got colder. "Cut to the chase."
Damien turned to face Eva. "Your grandfather sent me, so I came."
Eva's body went motionless.
Her grandfather.
The Laurentian dynasty's leader.
the guy who murdered her father.
It's time for you to come home, he adds. "I don't own a house."
"You do," Damien responded gently. "Your family is where you belong."
"My father was killed by my family."
Damien's face transformed for the first time.
"The Laurent lineage was betrayed by your father."
Eva cried, "No." "He kept me safe from it."
The room got uncomfortably silent.
Damien shot a long gaze at her.
Eva was shocked when he softened his glare and stated, "He sounds just like you."
She was unprepared for the words. "Did you know my dad?"
"Everyone knows your father in our world." Damien unbuckled his sleeve cuff.
He was at a point to become the Laurent empire's next monarch.
But he opted to give up all for you instead. "And you think he's weak because of that?"
Damien's tone softened: "No." "I believe it makes him dangerous."
Eva gazed at him.
His look had gotten odd. Not bigotry. Not wrath.
Almost devotion.
Before she could say anything more, Damien withdrew a tiny black package from his jacket's inner pocket.
He laid it down in front of her on the table. "Your engagement was arranged by the Laurent family."
Eva gazed at the envelope as if it were ready to explode up.
She knew there would be paperwork and an agreement. One date.
She refused to marry, despite their expectations of her future. "You have no other option."
Adrian suddenly walked away. "You ought to go," he stated icily.
Damien ignored him. "The marriage will connect the Sinclair family with the Laurent company. Both lineages will become impermeable as a consequence.
Eva laughed maliciously. "So that is my identity? A business deal? "You are a lot more than that."
"So why do people always want to own me?"
Damien couldn't react.
He felt worried for the first time since arriving.
Eva opened the envelope gently.
There was a picture inside.
Her hands trembled.
It was a snapshot of her father.
Standing in front of the Laurent home with another guy, he appeared younger.
Damien was the other person.
Or, more accurately, a younger version of him.
Eva glanced up severely and stated, "You had met him."
Damien once nodded. "When your father saved my life, I was sixteen."
Eva and Adrian stayed quiet.
Damien averted his eyes quickly, as if remembering something he had been trying to forget for years. "My dad was cruel," he remarked gently.
He thought that men were stronger under hardship. He nearly murdered me one evening because I defied him. Your father put an end to him.
Eva's chest tightened.
"He protected you?" Damien sounded venomous, "Yeah." "And then he fled and neglected me in that world years later."
"You too could have left."
"I tried."
His eyes met hers. "But individuals like us are never permitted to flee."
Eva recognized something about him for a short period.
loneliness.
A scar.
Then it went. "You still came here to make me leave."
Damien's face grew serious once more. "The Laurent family will drag you back if you don't return voluntarily."
Adrian comes close to her.
"I'll have to go through them first."
Damien stares at him. "You think you can keep her safe?"
"Definitely I can."
"And what happens when she causes your empire to fall apart?"
Adrian stayed immobile.
Eva replied, "What are you talking about?"
Damien softly turned to face her.
"Adrian's company has already been attacked by your grandfather."
Adrian's expression got intensely sad.
Did you know? Eva whispered. "It's not important."
"It's important!"
Adrian turned away.
This morning, the Laurent board of directors purchased three of my enterprises.
They threatened all of my associate investors and froze two of my accounts.
Eva felt unwell. "I'm the reason they're doing this."
Adrian stated, "They're doing it because they want control."
Damien delved into his pockets for his hands. "And they won't quit."
The subsequent calm was horrible.
Damien eventually gave Eva one more glance.
"You've got forty-eight hours." "What for?" "To choose." "Choose what?"
"Whether the Laurent family will come for you themselves or whether you will voluntarily return to them."
Then he turned and rushed for the elevator.
He pivoted around just before the doors shut.
"One more thing you should be aware of."
Eva caught her breath.
"Your father left more than just to keep you safe."
"What are you saying?"
Damien's blue eyes turn gloomy.
He went to find anything about the Laurent kingdom.
They were willing to murder him in order to hide something so awful.
The elevator doors shut and he was no more.
Eva and Adrian stayed motionless for long seconds.
Eva then settled comfortably into the couch.
She had wobbly hands. "What did he mean to say?"
Adrian stepped to the window and stared down at the city lights.
"I don't know." "You're lying."
He threw a quick look at her.
Her heart halted at the fire in his gaze.
"Even I haven't discovered all of the Laurent empire's secrets," he replied.
"But if one of them caused your father to pass away," he didn't continue.
Eva looks down at the snapshot that remained on her lap.
He is Eva's father beaming.
As Eva stood next to her fiancé, she had an unaware discovery.
Her father had never left the Laurent mansion.
He was running from something considerably worse.
Furthermore, perhaps it was, finally reaching her.