Chapter 85: "Don’t push yourself too deep into this mess."

"Young Master, it’s really good to meet you."

Damon gave the man a brief nod and motioned toward the chair across from him. "Sit down. Thomas tells me you’ve been handling the family’s affairs overseas."

"Yes. I’ve been away for some time, but I’ve served the Thorne family for many years."

Adrian Vale settled into the chair and placed his briefcase beside him.

"I don’t know much about the family’s affairs," Damon admitted.

"My parents disappeared four years ago, and since then, I’ve had very little to go on. Thomas has been helping me sort things out, but there are still a lot of gaps."

Adrian’s expression changed at the mention of Damon’s parents. "I see. Then the family hasn’t told you much about what happened before they disappeared."

"Not enough to make sense of anything." Damon leaned back in his chair.

"I was hoping someone who had actually been around them at the time might know something useful."

Adrian remained silent for a moment, his gaze lowered toward the briefcase beside him. "Your parents were meeting with a number of people during the months before they disappeared," he eventually said.

"I wasn’t involved in those discussions myself, but I knew about the meetings. There were sixty-four people connected to them, and your parents seemed to consider those meetings important."

"Sixty-four?" Damon frowned. "That’s quite a group. Were they all from the same organization?"

"No. They came from different backgrounds. Some had their own businesses and influence, while others had connections that weren’t openly discussed. I never knew the full purpose of the meetings, and I didn’t think it was my place to ask your parents about matters they chose to keep private."

Damon nodded slowly. That wasn’t particularly surprising. Powerful families rarely shared everything with their employees, even senior ones. Still, sixty-four people meeting his parents shortly before their disappearance was a substantial lead.

"What happened to those people afterward?"

Adrian’s fingers tightened around the armrest. "Most of them are dead."

Damon looked at him, initially thinking he had misunderstood. "Dead?"

"Of the sixty-four, only five are confirmed to be alive today."

For the first time since the meeting began, Damon sat forward.

"Sixty-four people? And most of them are dead now?" Damon stared at him.

"What happened? How could so many people end up like that?"

"People noticed, Young Master. Some deaths were reported, others weren’t publicly explained, and several people simply vanished. The circumstances differed, but the result was much the same. Their lives were destroyed after those meetings."

Adrian spoke quietly, without the air of someone trying to frighten him. If anything, he seemed reluctant to discuss the subject at all.

"And the five who survived?"

"They’re still being hunted."

Damon’s eyebrows drew together. "By the same people who killed the others?"

"I can’t say for certain. I never had access to enough information to establish that. I only know that those who remain haven’t been left alone. They’ve spent years trying to protect themselves, and some have changed their identities or abandoned the lives they once had."

Damon fell silent.

He had expected complications surrounding his parents’ disappearance. But this was different. Nearly everyone associated with those meetings had either died or vanished, and the survivors were still in danger four years later.

Adrian glanced at him before continuing. "I don’t know what your parents were trying to accomplish, Young Master. I wish I did. Whatever they were involved in, it reached far beyond the matters I handled for the family."

Damon rubbed his chin, thinking over the information. "So there’s a group of people who met with my parents, and almost all of them are gone. The ones still alive are being hunted, and nobody seems willing to explain why."

"When you put it that way, it does sound grim," Adrian said. "But that’s the situation as I understand it."

"Do you at least have their names?"

"I kept a record. I thought it might be useful someday, even if I never expected to hand it over under these circumstances."

Adrian opened his briefcase and removed a folder. He placed it on the table, then opened it to reveal several pages of names and the information he had managed to preserve over the years.

Damon drew the folder closer and skimmed through the records. Some entries contained details about the individuals’ occupations and connections, while others had little more than a name and a note about their last known status.

He counted the confirmed survivors. Five.

The number looked even smaller on paper.

Damon closed the folder and turned toward Thomas, who had been listening quietly from the side of the room.

"Take this. Find out where those five are now. I want to know what happened to them and whether anyone is still following them. Don’t approach them blindly. If they’ve been hiding for years, we shouldn’t ruin that before we understand what we’re dealing with."

"Understood, Master."

Thomas accepted the folder.

Damon looked back at Adrian. "You’ve already given me more information than I had before you arrived. I appreciate that."

"You’re welcome, Young Master."

The conversation might have ended there, but Damon found himself looking at the older man’s face again.

Adrian had served the family for years and clearly knew more about its past than Damon did. Having someone like him around would make the next stage of the investigation considerably easier.

"Now that you’re back, why don’t you stay?" Damon asked.

"I could use your experience. There’s a lot about this family I still need to understand, and I’d rather not learn everything the hard way."

Adrian’s expression stiffened. "I appreciate the offer, but I can’t accept."

Damon hadn’t expected an immediate yes, but the refusal was so firm that he couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. "You haven’t even heard what I’d pay you."

"I’m afraid the salary wouldn’t make a difference."

Damon studied him for a moment, then decided to make the offer anyway. "A million dollars."

Adrian didn’t even blink. "No, Young Master."

Damon let out a short breath, half amused and half puzzled. "A million dollars, and you won’t even consider it? You’ve spent years working for the Thorne family. I’m offering you a comfortable position and enough money to make the rest of your life easier. What exactly are you so afraid of?"

Adrian looked down at his hands. "It’s not the position I’m afraid of."

That answer wiped the faint smile from Damon’s face. "Then what is it?"

For several seconds, Adrian seemed to debate whether he should answer. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before. "I want to live."

Damon stared at him.

The words sounded almost absurd. "What do you mean?"

Adrian shook his head, as though he regretted saying it aloud. "Nothing, Young Master. Forget I said that."

"How am I supposed to forget it? You’re telling me that you won’t return to the family even for a million dollars because you want to live. What happened that made you so afraid?"

Adrian rose from his chair, ending the discussion without answering. "I’ve already said more than I intended to. Please don’t take my refusal as disrespect. I’ve simply reached a point in my life where I no longer want to be involved in these matters."

Damon remained seated, watching him. He could have pressed further, but Adrian’s expression told him that doing so wouldn’t produce an honest answer.

At the door, the older man paused. "Young Master, there’s something I hope you’ll remember. This world and its people aren’t as simple as they appear. There are things that even a powerful family can’t resolve just by throwing money or influence at them."

He turned slightly, meeting Damon’s eyes. "Don’t push yourself too deep into this mess. Once you get dragged too far into the mud, you might never get out again."

Before Damon could respond, Adrian gave him a respectful nod and left the room.