Chapter 371 - Three Hundred And Seventy

Chapter 371: Chapter Three Hundred And Seventy

Three long days had passed since Damon fully regained his consciousness.

Inside the master bedroom, the sun shone brightly through the tall windows. Damon was sitting up in his large bed. His back was resting comfortably against a stack of pillows. He was wearing a clean, loose white shirt, unbuttoned at the top to make room for the bandages wrapped securely around his chest. He held a ledger in his hands, his eyes scanning the written reports of the estate’s finances and guard rotations.

The quiet peace of the morning was suddenly broken by a firm, sharp knock on the door.

Damon did not look up from his open ledger. "Come in," he commanded, his deep voice echoing slightly in the large room.

The brass handle turned, and the door opened with a quiet creak. A tall, broad-shouldered guard stepped into the room. He wore the dark uniform of the Benson estate security force. His face was stern, his jaw tight, and his eyes were serious. He walked a few paces into the room, stopping at a respectful distance from the bed.

The guard immediately dropped down onto one knee against the floor. He placed his right fist over his heart and lowered his head.

"My lord," the guard reported, his voice low and steady.

Damon slowly closed the ledger and placed it on the mattress beside his leg. He looked directly at the kneeling man. "Speak."

The guard raised his head, keeping his posture perfectly rigid. "We have tightened security across the entire estate, exactly as per your instructions, my lord. Every entrance, every exit, and every blind spot along the stone walls is being watched day and night by our best men."

Damon nodded his head slowly. He was glad to hear his soldiers were following orders perfectly. But he noticed the tight lines around the guard’s eyes. He knew his men well. This guard did not come here just to report that things were going well.

"But?" Damon prompted gently.

The guard swallowed hard. "But there has been suspicious activity happening around the grounds since you woke up, my lord."

Damon’s expression did not change, but his dark brown eyes narrowed slightly. He raised a single dark eyebrow, his mind instantly switching to a cold, tactical focus.

"Continue," Damon said smoothly.

The guard took a deep breath. "Since yesterday morning, we have noticed a strange pattern. Several letters have been trying to leave the building. We caught a letter that was slipped out through the back gate, and we found another one hidden in the laundry cart heading for the river."

Damon leaned forward slightly, ignoring the dull ache at his back. "Did you read them?"

"We tried, my lord," the guard replied, frustration leaking into his voice. "We intercepted them safely, but when we opened the envelopes... they were blank. There was no ink, no words, no names. Just empty white paper."

The guard paused. He looked into Damon’s eyes, sharing a look of mutual understanding. The guard took a breath to state his conclusion. "And we suspect..."

Damon and the guard spoke the next two words at the exact same time, their voices overlapping perfectly in the quiet room.

"A spy."

The words hung heavily in the air. A spy meant someone inside their own walls was watching them. Someone who ate their food, walked their halls, and listened to their conversations was secretly reporting everything to the outside world. The blank letters were clearly written with invisible ink or a chemical solution, waiting to be revealed by whoever received them.

Damon leaned back against his pillows. He did not look panicked. He did not look angry. He simply looked deep in thought.

He thought to himself, "My uncle. It’s him. He is already making his moves. He already planted someone inside my home without my knowledge again."

Damon looked back down at the guard kneeling on the floor. His voice was calm, holding no trace of fear, only authority.

"Continue the good work," Damon ordered. "Do not make it obvious yet. Let them feel comfortable. But make absolutely sure to inspect anything leaving and anything coming in. Check the food carts, the laundry, the trash, and the mail. Nothing leaves this estate without my silent approval."

"Yes, my lord," the guard answered firmly. He stood up, bowed deeply from the waist, turned on his heel, and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Damon was left alone with his thoughts. He picked up his ledger again, but he did not read the numbers. His mind was busy calculating how to trap the rat hiding in his house.

Some hours passed. The sun moved higher into the sky, filling the bedroom with bright afternoon light.

Suddenly, two soft, polite knocks sounded against the bedroom door.

Damon’s heart gave a sudden, happy flutter. His eyes lit up with immediate excitement. He quickly looked up from his ledger, a warm, bright smile already forming on his lips. He thought it was Camilla. She had been gone since the morning, visiting Allen to check on the store’s progress, and he had been missing her presence terribly.

"Come in!" Damon called out, his voice full of eager warmth.

The door opened slowly. However, the person who stepped into the room was not his wife. It was a young housemaid named Dani.

The moment Damon saw the maid’s face, the bright, loving smile vanished from his eyes. His expression dropped instantly, returning to a look of seriousness. He sighed quietly through his nose, feeling a deep wave of disappointment wash over his chest.

He turned his attention straight back to his ledger, his face unreadable.

Dani stepped quietly into the room. She turned to close the door, but her movements were slightly slow. Her fingers lingered on the handle just a second too long. As she turned around to face the room, her eyes darted quickly toward the small desk beside Damon’s bed, looking at the stack of papers resting there, before quickly dropping her gaze to the floor.

Her hands came together in front of her white apron. Her fingers began to wriggle and twist around each other nervously. A thin layer of sweat shined slightly on her forehead.