Chapter 3 - The Shadow of the Past
Naomi stared at the glowing screen as all the blood drained rapidly from her face.
She sprinted out of the bedroom and nearly collided with Damon in the hallway.
She shoved the glowing phone directly into the billionaire's hands without saying a word.
Damon read the threatening message, and a dark, murderous rage filled his eyes.
"Who packed this bag for you?" Damon demanded while checking the corners of the corridor for hidden cameras.
"I packed it myself this morning, but I left it in the staff locker room during my shift," Naomi explained breathlessly.
Damon grabbed her arm gently and pulled her back into the heavily fortified master suite.
"Someone on my staff planted this to force your hand," he deduced quickly.
He walked over to his massive computer monitor and hacked directly into the estate's internal security feeds.
He scrubbed the video timeline back to the exact hour Naomi had been cleaning the downstairs library.
The grainy footage showed a tall man in a dark hoodie slipping silently into the staff locker room.
When the man turned slightly toward the camera, the hood slipped back just enough to reveal his face.
Naomi let out a horrifying gasp and backed away from the monitor in pure terror.
"You know him," Damon stated, watching her reaction closely.
"That is Trent, my ex-husband," Naomi whispered, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
"He went to prison for assault two years ago, and I changed my last name to hide from him."
Damon narrowed his eyes at the screen, processing the impossible sequence of events.
"Trent is a low-level criminal, Naomi," Damon said slowly.
"He doesn't have the resources to bypass my security grid or hire my chief of security."
A sudden realization struck Damon like a physical blow to the chest.
"Why does your ex-husband want my dead wife's wedding ring?" Damon asked sharply.
Naomi opened her mouth to speak, but the estate's emergency alarms suddenly began screaming at a deafening volume.
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A robotic voice echoed through the intercom system across the entire mansion.
"Perimeter breach detected in the east wing, multiple armed intruders approaching."
