A Little Girl Pointed Toward My Upstairs Office—Then the Door Opened and My Fiancée Went Pale.

Damien hung up the phone, his blood turning to pure molten fury.

He didn't waste another second on Klaus. "Put him on a private transport to our subterranean holding cells in Milan," Damien told Marco. "If he breathes a word to anyone, finish him."

"Right away, Boss," Marco replied, already dialing their transport team.

Within three hours, Damien’s private helicopter touched down on the reinforced helipad of the secluded Lake Como sanctuary. The fortress was built directly into the granite cliffside, accessible only by air or a heavily guarded tunnel.

Damien stormed through the subterranean blast doors, discarding his heavy wool coat.

Eva met him in the corridor, her face pale, wringing a lace handkerchief between her trembling fingers. "She fell back asleep an hour ago, Damien. Look inside."

Damien stepped quietly into Lily's bedroom.

Across the pristine white plaster wall of the safe room, drawn in crude but astonishingly precise charcoal strokes, was the exact crest of the Sovereign Council: the twin serpents, the broken crown, and the Black Sun. Beneath the sigil were five names written in archaic script—the five founding families of the Council, including Vance and Klaus.

Lily lay in her bed, her tiny chest rising and falling softly, clutching the silver locket.

Damien sat beside his daughter on the edge of the mattress, gently brushing a dark curl away from her forehead. She looked so much like Clara—the same delicate nose, the same stubborn chin.

"Daddy?" a tiny, sleepy voice murmured.

Lily’s hazel eyes fluttered open. She blinked against the dim light, and a sweet, sleepy smile spread across her face. "You came back."

"I told you I always would, sweetheart," Damien said softly, kissing her temple. "Lily... who told you to draw the picture on the wall?"

Lily rubbed her eyes with her small fists. "The lady in the garden. She visited me in my dreams, but she was real, Daddy. She had Mommy's perfume. Lily of the valley."

Damien’s jaw tightened. Clara’s favorite scent.

"She said her name is Vivienne," Lily whispered innocently. "She said she’s Mommy’s twin sister. She told me she has to take me to the big castle across the mountains so I can sit on Mommy's chair."

Damien felt an icy chill wash through his veins. Clara had never mentioned a twin sister. Was this another layer of deception spun by the Vance dynasty?

Before Damien could speak, the sanctuary’s internal alarm system let out a low, repeating tone.

The monitors in the hallway flickered. Marco rushed to the doorway, his weapon unholstered.

"Damien, we have a breach in the upper observation terrace," Marco reported urgently. "No alarms were tripped. The outer lasers were bypassed using master override credentials."