Chapter 9 SHADOWS IN THE LIGHT

The morning after the vandalism, Damian stood alone inside the skeletal tech center, staring at the words written on the concrete wall.

STAY OUT, RICH SCUM NOT WELCOME.

They were still wet.

The site reeked of paint, gasoline, and something more bitter-resentment, maybe. Anger left too long to rot. Damian didn't call the police right away, He just stood there, his jaw tight, fists clenched.

Whoever did this just lay a notice on the wall, They'd ripped open something personal.

The site manager, a man named Harry, arrived minutes later. He screamed loudly when he saw the damage.

"We locked the gates last night," Akeem said. "Everything was secured. This wasn't random."

"No," Damian said. "It wasn't."

---

Back at the café, Maya was sweeping up when Damian walked in with the tension of someone who'd been in a fight with the air.

She looked up and caught it instantly. "What happened?"

He hesitated.

"Tell me."

He handed her a folded photo he'd taken, of the spray-painted notice.

She stared at it, her face blank at first, then darkening. "Is this... meant for you or for me?"

"Maybe both."

"Wonderful," she muttered. "As if my name hasn't been dragged through enough already."

"I'm so sorry, Maya."

She set the photo down on the counter. "You said you wanted something real, Damian. This is it, This is real. The suspicion, the judgment, the fear of being seen with someone people think doesn't belong."

He looked at her carefully. "You think I don't belong here?"

"I think there are people who will never let you forget you came from money, even if you gave it all up."

He nodded slowly, letting her words settle. "Then I guess I'll have to make them understand the kind of a man I am."

---

By noon, Ivy had reported to the local police. No media involvement, No noise.

They didn't want to draw more attention to the vandalism, Not yet, But they also couldn't ignore the message.

"We need cameras up, today," Ivy said, pacing. "Motion sensors, More lights, extra security."

"On it," Damian replied, already texting Harry.

"And you need to lie low," Ivy added. "This could get worse."

Maya crossed her arms. "If someone is trying to scare us, hiding won't help."

"Neither will standing in front of a broken window and daring them to throw the next stone," Ivy snapped. "We're not heroes, We're targets now."

Maya was about to respond, but Damian gently stepped between them.

"We'll do both," he said. "We protect the site, we keep building, and we don't let this shake us."

Ivy muttered something under her breath and walked out to take a call.

Maya turned to Damian. "Do you know who would do this?"

He hesitated. "I have a guess."

---

That evening, Damian drove alone to the edge of town, to a quiet, run-down house with an old fence and a front porch that looked like it hadn't been swept in years.

Marcus Bell lived here now.

Former VP of Strategy at DC Tech. Once Damian's closest advisor, Until he wasn't.

Damian knocked.

No answer.

He knocked again.

Finally, the door creaked open. Marcus stood there in a stained shirt, eyes bloodshot.

"Well," he muttered. "Look who decided to remember I exist."

"I didn't come to fight."

"No? That's new."

Damian took a breath. "Did you leak my location to the press?"

Marcus gave a humorless chuckle. "What difference does it make now?"

"Because someone vandalized the tech center, Someone wants me gone."

Marcus leaned against the doorframe, "And you think that was me?"

"I think it could've been someone you talked to. Someone angry enough to send a message."

Marcus didn't respond.

Damian pressed on. "Why are you doing this? You wanted the spotlight, You've got it. You helped push the board into replacing me. Why drag Maya into this?"

At that, Marcus's eyes flared. "You don't get it, do you? You vanished. Left your empire, your responsibilities, your people. You think that was brave? It was selfish. You abandoned everything, and now you want applause for showing up broke with a sad little love story?"

"This isn't about applause."

"No," Marcus snapped. "It's about legacy, And you trashed yours."

He slammed the door shut in Damian's face.

---

Back at the café, Maya sat with her notebook open-lists, goals, budget lines, but her thoughts were scattered.

One text had thrown her completely off balance.

It was from an anonymous number:

>"He's lying to you again. Ask him about Marcus, Ask him why he really left the company.

Not everything he lost was taken from him. Some of it... he gave away to protect himself."

She stared at it.

She didn't want to believe it.

But part of her knew, there was still more Damian hadn't said.

---

Later that night, Damian returned, shoulders heavy.

Maya met him outside before he could speak.

"I got a text," she said. "Anonymous."

His face changed.

"It said there's something you haven't told me. About Marcus, About why you really left DC Tech."

Damian rubbed the back of his neck. "I was going to tell you. I just-"

"Then tell me now."

He looked up at her, her eyes were dark with something deeper than guilt.

"Marcus didn't just betray me," he said. "He blackmailed me."

Maya froze. "What?"

"He found something. A bug in one of our early data platforms. It was an error, unintentional, but it exposed millions of user files for over a year before we caught it. We fixed it quietly, but... Marcus wanted leverage. He said if I didn't step down and stay silent, he'd go public and crash the entire company."

"And you didn't fight back?"

"I would've taken the hit. But if he went public, all our users-innocent people, would've had their data dragged through the mud. The fallout would've been massive. So I walked."

Maya stared at him, reeling. "You took the fall for his threat?"

"I couldn't let our users get hurt, Not for my pride."

Maya turned away, the weight of it all crashing in.

"So when you walked into my life, you weren't just looking for love, You were running from ruin."

"Yes," he said. "But I stayed because of you."

Before she could respond, Ivy burst in through the back door, breathless again.

"There's been another break-in," she said.

Damian stood up fast. "The center?"

Ivy shook her head.

"No, Your motel room."

She held up a charred hard drive, melted at the corners.

"They weren't just sending you a message this time," she said. "They were covering their tracks."