Don Decided to Hunt the Evidence Himself
The room stayed quiet after Madam Laurent left.
Not empty.
Not relaxed.
Quiet in the way a battlefield sometimes went quiet after the first strike landed.
Selena stood where she was, her pulse no longer racing but not calm either. Madam Laurent's final look still lingered in her mind.
This is not over.
No.
It wasn't.
Because now they knew she had not broken.
And she knew they were afraid of the letters.
That changed everything.
Across from her, Don had not sat down again.
He stood near the window, one hand in his pocket, expression unreadable.
Vera crossed her arms. "If they were nervous before, they'll be reckless now."
Rowan nodded. "Agreed. If the letters are real, their first move will be retrieval or destruction."
Selena looked at Don. "You said we take them first."
His gaze shifted to her immediately.
"Yes."
No hesitation.
No softening.
Just yes.
It did something strange to her chest.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
Vera stepped closer to the table. "That depends on where they are."
"Likely not in the main Laurent safe," Rowan said. "Too obvious."
"Too risky," Vera agreed. "Helena doesn't seem like the obvious type."
Selena's mind had already started moving.
"If I were her, I'd keep them close but deniable," she said. "Not in her own bedroom. Not in a family office. Somewhere controlled, private, and easy to move from if needed."
Don looked at her. "Examples."
Selena thought fast.
"A private attorney's archive. A secondary apartment. A private club locker. Or…" She paused.
"Or?" Vera asked.
Selena's expression sharpened.
"My stepmother's chapel room."
The room stilled.
Rowan blinked. "Chapel?"
Selena nodded once. "There's a prayer room attached to her private sitting suite. She uses it when guests are present and she wants to look devout. No one enters without permission. Staff clean around it, not inside it."
Vera's brows rose. "That's either ridiculous or brilliant."
"It's Helena's influence," Selena said. "Hide rot behind something untouchable."
Don's eyes darkened slightly.
He believed her.
She could tell.
"Layout," he said.
Selena moved to the side table, pulled a blank sheet from Rowan's folder, and took the pen he offered. She sketched quickly.
Main bedroom.
Private sitting room.
Dressing hall.
Inner chapel.
A locked cabinet built into the wall behind a carved wooden panel.
When she finished, Vera leaned in.
"That's too specific to be a guess."
"It isn't," Selena said. "I found my stepmother coming out of the chapel once with Helena. They stopped talking the moment they saw me. Later, the cabinet appeared."
Don stepped closer.
Not too close.
Close enough.
His shadow fell over the page.
"Key or code?" he asked.
"Physical key," Selena said. "Hidden on her person when guests are in the house. Otherwise likely inside the vanity drawer in the dressing hall."
Rowan made a note. "Guard rotation?"
"At the Laurent house?" Selena gave a humorless smile. "Security is selective. Strong at the front. Lazy inside. They never expected someone from the family to need protection from the family."
That landed.
Don's gaze stayed on the sketch. "How fast can they move the letters?"
"If Madam Laurent reports back immediately?" Selena looked up. "Hours."
Vera's expression hardened. "Then we move today."
Selena went still.
Today?
She had expected planning. Surveillance. Layers.
Not immediate action.
But Don did not look like a man interested in delay.
Good.
Because neither was she.
"Who goes in?" Rowan asked.
Vera answered first. "A team is cleaner."
Selena shook her head. "Not cleaner. Louder."
Vera looked at her sharply.
Selena met her gaze. "If they spot an outside team, the letters vanish and the family goes into defense mode. If someone goes in, it has to be me."
"No," Don said.
The answer came instantly.
Flat.
Absolute.
Selena turned to him.
Vera did too.
So did Rowan.
Interesting.
He hadn't even paused.
Selena folded her arms. "I know the layout."
"You're still recovering."
"I can walk."
"That isn't the standard."
His tone was calm, but something under it had changed.
More controlled.
More dangerous.
Selena noticed.
And so did Vera.
Vera looked between them once, then said carefully, "She has a point about visibility."
Don ignored that completely.
"No," he said again, eyes on Selena this time. "You are not walking back into a hostile house hours after they tried to drug you."
The room went still.
Not because of the words.
Because of the way he said them.
Too sharp for indifference.
Too immediate for pure strategy.
Selena felt it like a shift in pressure.
He was angry.
Not at her.
At the idea.
That was new.
Very new.
She kept her voice level. "If I don't go, your people won't know what they're looking at."
"They'll learn."
"Not fast enough."
Don stepped toward her.
One step.
It was enough.
"And if they lock the doors behind you?" he asked quietly. "If the letters are bait? If Helena wants you inside that house where she controls the walls, the staff, and the story?" His gaze did not leave her face. "Do you think I'll call that efficient?"
Selena's pulse jumped once.
Not fear.
Something more complicated.
Because he was right.
Because he knew he was right.
Because the anger in his voice was not the detached irritation of a man discussing an asset.
It was personal.
Dangerously so.
Vera broke the silence first.
"There's a middle option."
Both of them looked at her.
"Not a team," Vera said. "A social entry."
Rowan caught on immediately. "Someone who belongs in the house."
Vera nodded. "Someone invited in. Someone elegant. Someone impossible to block without making the family look suspicious."
Selena looked at her.
Then at Don.
And understood.
"No," she said.
Vera almost smiled. "Oh, I think yes."
Rowan shut his folder. "A formal visit."
Selena stared. "You want to walk into the Laurent house openly?"
Don's expression had gone calm again.
Which, Selena was quickly learning, was never a reason to relax.
"If we arrive through the front entrance," he said, "they can't panic too early. If we're welcomed in public view, they're limited in how aggressively they can react."
Vera added, "And while everyone's busy surviving your presence, we observe the interior."
Selena looked at Don. "You're serious."
"Yes."
She let out a short breath.
Of course he was.
A man like Don Dawn did not sneak when a front-door attack would do more damage.
The problem was that this was not just smart.
It was insane.
And it might actually work.
Selena narrowed her eyes. "On what pretext?"
Don answered without hesitation. "Concern."
Vera's lips twitched. Rowan looked respectfully blank.
Selena almost laughed.
Concern?
Don Dawn paying a social concern visit to the Laurent house would cause more panic than scandal.
Exactly.
That was the point.
"They'll hate it," Selena said.
"Good," Don replied.
That should not have been attractive.
It was.
A little.
Which was deeply irritating.
The system flashed.
Male Lead Protective Response Detected.
Emotional entanglement increasing.
Host warning: maintain mission focus.
Selena ignored it.
Barely.
Vera moved to the table. "If we do this, we need objectives."
Don nodded once. "Primary objective: confirm whether the letters are still on-site."
"Secondary?" Rowan asked.
"Pressure them."
Vera's smile turned sharp. "Now we're talking."
Selena looked at the sketch again.
Then up.
"If we go in openly, Helena will stay close to me."
"Good," Don said.
"My stepmother will perform."
"Expected."
"Ethan may appear."
Don's face did not change.
But something did.
Small.
Cold.
"Then he appears," he said.
Selena held his gaze for a second too long.
There was something in that answer.
Not jealousy.
Not exactly.
But definitely not neutrality.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Rowan checked his watch. "If we leave within the hour, we arrive before they fully regroup."
Vera nodded. "That gives them enough time to be rattled, not enough time to be ready."
Don looked at Selena. "Can you do it?"
It was the first time he had asked like that.
Not Can you be useful.
Not Can you perform under pressure.
Can you do it.
Like the answer mattered beyond efficiency.
Selena straightened.
"Yes."
His eyes held hers for one beat.
Then he said, "Good. You'll stay beside me unless I say otherwise."
Vera looked down, hiding her expression.
Rowan suddenly found his notes fascinating.
Selena, however, heard every word in full.
You'll stay beside me.
Not behind.
Not managed from a distance.
Beside.
The line settled into her chest in a way she did not want to examine too closely.
She lifted her chin. "And if Helena tries to separate us?"
Don's reply was immediate.
"She won't."
Simple.
Calm.
Certain.
And somehow that was worse than if he had made a speech.
Because Selena believed him.
Completely.
Vera clapped her hands once, all business again. "Fine. Then we move. Miss Laurent, wardrobe change. Nothing soft. Nothing fragile. If they're going to see you survive, make it expensive."
That almost made Selena smile.
"Gladly."
As Mae was called and plans began moving around her, Selena stepped back toward the window for one brief second.
The Laurent house.
She was going back.
Not dragged.
Not cornered.
Not alone.
She looked at the reflection in the glass.
Seraphina Laurent's face stared back.
But the eyes were all Selena Vale now.
Cold.
Awake.
Ready.
Behind her, she heard Don giving clipped instructions.
Entry route.
Security adjustment.
Vehicle timing.
No advance notice.
He was doing it.
He was really doing it.
Not waiting.
Not observing from a distance.
Not protecting her only after damage was done.
He was stepping into the war before the contract had even been signed.
That thought followed her all the way to the door.
And just before she left the room, Don said, "Selena."
She turned.
It was the first time he had used her name like that.
Without title.
Without distance.
Without Miss Laurent placed between them as a shield.
Her pulse misfired once.
His gaze rested on her, dark and unreadable.
"When we enter that house," he said, "watch everyone."
Selena nodded slowly.
"I always do."
A pause.
Then his voice lowered by a fraction.
"No. Watch who watches you."
The line hit harder than it should have.
Because it was strategy.
Because it was warning.
Because somehow it also felt like care.
And when Selena left to change, she understood one thing with absolute clarity:
This visit would not just shake the Laurent family.
It would expose exactly how much Don Dawn had started to care what happened to her.