Rebirth Of The Heiress And The Tycoon's Lover (Alina) novel Chapter 283

Chapter 283

AUTHOR’S POV.

The faint shuffle of papers and the low buzz of the chandelier were the only sounds in the room, steady and quiet. Alina stood at the far end of the room,her fingers grazing along the spines of old ledgers stacked neatly on a towering shelf.

There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere and every surface was clean and lightly shining under the dim light.

Behind her, Damien lounged against the edge of their father’s massive oak desk, idly flipping a coin between his fingers. The metallic clink echoed in the silence, his casual demeanor was a sharp contrast to Alina’s concentrated intensity.

For a while, neither spoke. The only sound was paper ruffling, drawers opening and closing and the soft rhythm of Alina’s searching hands.

Damien finally broke the quiet.

“Mind telling me what exactly we’re looking for?” His tone carried a teasing edge, but his eyes were curious… and a little concerned.

Alina didn’t glance back. “I have a feeling Father knows more than he lets on,” she murmured, her voice low, deliberate. “About the man Elena and Silas worked for. Every time I try to bring it up, he dodges the question. So if he won’t tell me the truth, I’ll find it myself.”

Damien’s coin stilled midair before he caught it deftly. “That’s bold of you,” he said, half–impressed. “And a little suicidal.”

Darius wasn’t a man to mess with, Damien knew that much.

She gave him a look over her shoulder, the corners of her mouth tightening. “You didn’t have to come, you know.”

“True,” he said, pushing off the desk and sauntering toward her. “But I also didn’t have anything better to do.”

Alina huffed softly, turning back to the shelves. Her eyes darted over the labels…. Ledgers. Correspondence. Archives A–D.

She ran her fingers over the edge of a stack marked Stormvale. The name made something twist in her chest.

Stormvale.

Again, where had she heard it before?

Her brow furrowed. The name tugged at the edge of memory… distant, familiar, unreachable.

She pulled out the file and flipped through its yellowed pages. Lists, Land deeds. Names she didn’t recognize. But the name Stormvale echoed louder in her mind the longer she stared at it.

She turned slightly toward Damien. “Hey… is the name Stormvale well known in Elaris?”

He looked up from where he had started idly rearranging pens on the desk. “Not really,” he said thoughtfully. “After the family was wiped out, only the old folks in Ravienne still remembered. The new generation’s on the other hand barely heard the name…just whispers, nothing solid.” He tilted his head. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” She stared at the document again, brow creased. “It just feels familiar. Like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

“Of course you have. Father rambles about it all the time,” Damien said with a half–smile. “He’s obsessed with the blood merger. Ever since you showed up, that’s all he talks about….the Stormvales this, the Stormvales that. Drives everyone a little insane.”

But Alina shook her head slowly. “No. It’s not that. I’ve seen the name somewhere else… a long time ago.”

She trailed off, lost in thought. What she couldn’t remember was that she had seen it once, on the corner of a document in Lucian’s office. His passport photograph but under the name of Lucius Stormvale.

Her silence stretched. Damien studied her, his smirk fading into quiet curiosity.

Then suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm.

Alina nearly yelped. “What the hell, Damien—”

He pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh.” His expression was different now… alert, eyes sharp. He tilted his head toward the door. “Someone’s coming.”

Her blood ran cold.

“Are you sure?” She whispered.

He nodded once, then moved quickly, grabbing the scattered papers they’d been reading and shoving them back into their shelves. His movements were precise, practiced like it was something he did all the time. Within seconds, the room looked untouched. He caught Alina’s hand and tugged her behind the nearest bookshelf.

They crouched in the narrow shadow between the shelves just as the door creaked open.

Alina froze. Her heart slammed against her ribs so hard it hurt.

The heavy footfalls that followed were unmistakable, it was deliberate and confident.

Darius.

He entered with the quiet authority of a man who owned the room because he really did. His coat brushed against the desk as he moved, his voice low as he spoke into his phone.

66

“… Yes. The shipment arrived this morning. No, don’t bring it through the main route. Too risky. Use the Ravienne path…yes the same one we used before.”

The words were like smoke… indistinct but heavy with implication.

Chapter 283

Damien’s jaw tightened beside her. Alina dared a glance through the narrow gap between books and caught sight of Darius moving toward the very shelf they had just been searching.

Her fingers dug into Damien’s sleeve. He winced but didn’t flinch.

Darius pulled a file out…. not Stormvale, something else, and flipped through it briefly before tucking it under his arm. He turned as if to leave, but then paused.

His gaze slid toward Section D.

Right where they’d been moments ago.

Alina’s stomach dropped.

He took a step closer, suspicion darkening his eyes. “Has anyone been in here?” He asked, his tone like a knife against glass.

From the hallway, a guard’s voice answered immediately, firm but nervous. “No, sir. I’ve been outside the door all night. No one’s entered.”

Darius didn’t respond right away. He lingered, staring at the shelf, then his eyes drifted to the wall that had the hidden door, as if something unseen was telling him something.

Alina stopped breathing. Every muscle in her body locked. She could feel Damien’s arm tense beneath her grip.

Finally, Darius turned away.

He exhaled slowly, muttering something under his breath. “Good.”

And then he left.

The door shut with a muted click.

Silence descended again, heavy and electric.

Alina stayed still for a few seconds longer, her ears straining for any hint of footsteps outside. When none came, she finally let out the breath she’d been holding.

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