Chapter 1 - THE SECOND SECRET INSIDE THE WALL
Damon did not hear Naomi gasp.
He barely heard Zuri repeat the words.
“Mama was looking for you.”
His attention had locked onto the wedding ring trembling between his fingers.
“What does she mean?” he asked.
Naomi’s face had lost every trace of color.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t.”
Damon’s voice stayed quiet, which somehow made it more dangerous.
“Don’t lie to me in this room.”
Naomi pulled Zuri closer.
“I’m not lying.”
Zuri pointed at the velvet box.
“Mama cried about it.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
That tiny movement was enough.
Damon knew.
“You knew the ring existed.”
Naomi looked toward the open study door.
For the first time, she looked less like an employee afraid of being fired and more like someone calculating whether she could escape.
Damon stepped between her and the hallway.
“I’m not keeping you here. But if you know something about Elena, you’re going to tell me.”
Naomi’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t know what happened to people who tried telling you things three years ago.”
The sentence struck harder than an accusation.
“What people?”
Naomi hesitated.
Zuri twisted in her arms.
“The singing lady.”
Damon looked at the child.
“Where did you hear her sing?”
Zuri pointed at Naomi’s uniform pocket.
Naomi immediately covered it with her hand.
Damon noticed.
“What’s in there?”
“Nothing.”
“Naomi.”
Slowly, she removed an old phone.
Not her regular phone.
This one had a cracked screen and no SIM card.
Zuri reached for it.
“Lady phone.”
Naomi’s composure finally broke.
“She likes one recording,” she whispered. “That’s all.”
Damon held out his hand.
Naomi did not give it to him.
Instead, she backed away.
“Elena made me promise.”
Hearing his dead wife’s name spoken like that stopped him cold.
“You knew Elena?”
Naomi’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“How?”
Before she could answer, Zuri squirmed free and climbed back toward Damon’s desk.
She picked up the gold lion.
Then she pushed it across the wood.
Something clicked inside its base.
Damon stared.
He had owned that figurine for twelve years.
He had never known it opened.
A tiny compartment slid out beneath the lion.
Inside was a folded photograph.
Damon unfolded it.
Elena stood beneath a flowering tree, laughing into the camera.
Beside her was Naomi.
Three years younger.
Very pregnant.
And Elena’s hand was resting protectively over Naomi’s stomach.
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On the back, in Elena’s handwriting, were six words:
FOR ZURI, WHEN DAMON KNOWS EVERYTHING.
