Rebirth Of The Heiress And The Tycoon's Lover (Alina) novel Chapter 285

Chapter 285

AUTHOR’S POV.

Damien smirked. “What? That you and our dear father share that same terrifying glare?”

“He’s your father,” Alina snapped, crossing her arms. “You’ve known him longer than I have.”

“Oh so he is my father now?Or,” Damien said, leaning against the wall, “it’s just because he’s pissing you off right now.”

Alina shot him a glare, but the corner of her mouth twitched despite herself.

“Tell me,” she said after a beat, “how did he even know we were there?”

Damien’s playful expression dimmed slightly. “He knows a lot of things,” he said simply shrugging as they went into her room. “Always has.”

She groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Great. So we have to come up with a new plan and fast.”

Damien gave her a skeptical look. “We?” he echoed, brow lifting.

“Yes, we,” she said pointedly.

Damien groaned. “Why do you keep saying ‘we‘? This was your crazy idea in the first place, it has nothing to do with me.”

“Well,” she said, folding her arms, “you wanted to bond, right? Congratulations. You’re stuck with me.”

Damien stared at her for a long moment, then let out a slow, exasperated laugh. “Unbelievable, I guess that’s how it works huh?”

“Yup.” She looked away, biting back a smile and he couldn’t help the faint grin tugging at his lips either.

For a moment the space between them was quiet, then Alina froze mid–stride, eyes widening as a thought sparked in her mind.

“Wait,” she breathed, almost too quietly for Damien to hear. Then her lips curled into a sudden, mischievous smile. “I have the perfect person to help us.”

Damien blinked. “Help us? With what exactly?”

“Our mission duhh, keep up would ya.” She said, her tone filled with mock gravity.

“Mission?” he repeated, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Oh, this should be good.”

“Oh, hush,” she said, waving him off as she reached for her phone on the nightstand. “You’ll see.”

He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall with that familiar smirk that meant he was only half–taking her seriously. “You’re scaring me already.”

“Good,” she said, tapping her phone screen with focused determination. Her thumb hovered over a familiar number, one she hadn’t dialed in weeks but knew by heart. Whoever answered, they were the last piece she needed.

As soon as she hit call, the phone began to ring softly. Alina lifted it to her ear, waiting.

But before the second ring could even fade, another ringtone, the same one, echoed from the hallway just outside her door.

Both siblings froze.

Alina’s brows knit together, confusion breaking across her face. She looked toward the sound, then slowly turned to Damien. “Did you… hear that?”

Damien’s smirk faltered. “Tell me that’s not who you are call-”

But she didn’t wait for him to finish. Her pulse quickened as she rose from the bed, her bare feet brushing the carpet. Each step toward the door felt heavier than the last.

Damien pushed off from the wall, suddenly alert. “Who are you calling, Alina?” He asked, suspicion in his

tone.

She hesitated for half a second confused before saying softly, “Wait a minute.”

She gripped the doorknob and pulled it open.

The world seemed to pause.

Her phone slipped from her hand and hit the floor with a dull thud. The sound barely registered, because her entire body went still…her breath caught in her throat.

Standing at the threshold was the last person she expected to see.

Her lips parted, but no sound came out. Shock flickered in her eyes…shock, confusion, disbelief, all tumbling together so fast that she didn’t even know what to feel first.

Behind her, Damien’s voice came low and careful. “Alina… who-?” He stopped mid–sentence when he saw the figure by the door. His posture straightened, his tense awareness now replaced by ease.

The hallway light cast a soft glow over the visitor’s face, half hidden by their hoodie but unmistakable. They weren’t supposed to be here. How are they here?

For a long heartbeat, no one moved.

The only sound was the faint ring still coming from the phone lying between Alina’s feet, her call still technically active, still trying to connect.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she finally found her voice, though it came out as a whisper. “What… are you doing here?”

Damien’s gaze

darted between the two of them, his confusion shifting into something more relaxed as he

recognized the person too. “I’m guessing this is the ‘perfect person, huh?”

Alina didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Her mind was spinning too fast, half of her thoughts colliding with the other half.

And for the first time that morning, the air in her room felt different. Charged in the best kind of way. Like something bigger than both of them had just stepped over the threshold.

“Hey beautiful, miss me?”

Alina threw herself into the person’s arms.