Chapter 64: Did something happened between you two
[Daniel’s Office]
The air inside the room was suffocatingly heavy, the temperature seemingly dropping as Daniel leaned back in his chair, his sharp gaze fixed on the trembling man before him.
"Are you sure it was the guard you gave the file to?" Daniel’s voice was calm, but laced with a quiet danger that made the hairs on the back of Stevan’s neck stand on end.
Stevan gulped hard, darting an anxious glance at Henry before nodding. "Y-Yes, Boss. I personally told him to hand the file to Ms. Mariam, just as per your orders."
Henry studied him carefully, but everything about Stevan’s demeanor screamed truth. He wasn’t lying—Stevan knew better than to risk his life by deceiving Daniel Clafford.
Daniel, however, fell silent. His expression hardened, sinking deeper into thought as he weighed the confirmation. The silence in the office grew deafening, pressing against the walls until Stevan’s breath came in shallow, uneven bursts.
Finally, Daniel flicked his wrist. "You may go."
Stevan exhaled shakily, bowed, and left as quickly as his legs allowed, leaving only Daniel and Henry in the chilled office.
Henry hesitated, shifting uneasily before speaking. "Boss... what happened? Did Stevan make a mistake?"
Daniel’s gaze lingered on the untouched file on his desk. His jaw tightened.
"No," he said at last, his tone flat yet sharp as a blade. "But Anna somehow found it."
Henry froze, his eyes widening. "D-did she..." He stopped halfway, afraid to voice the thought aloud.
Daniel’s piercing eyes flicked toward him, silencing the question before it could finish. "No. She didn’t read it."
Relief washed over Henry’s face instantly, his shoulders sagging with the release of tension. But before he could breathe out fully, Daniel’s low voice cut through the air again.
’She didn’t read it... but that doesn’t mean someone else didn’t put it in her hands deliberately.’
Daniel’s eyes flickered dangerously as the thought took root. Whoever dared to use Anna as a pawn would regret it. He would make sure of that.
Brushing the matter aside for now, he straightened in his chair. "Anyways, did you gather the information about Anna’s past?"
"Yes, Boss." Henry quickly produced a neatly prepared file, handing it over with both hands.
Daniel opened it, his expression unreadable as his eyes scanned the details.
Henry cleared his throat and began, "There’s no denying that Hugo Bennett was always skeptical about his daughter’s exposure to the world. But according to records and a few old teachers’ notes, Miss Anna was a very talented student. Good in academics, even praised by some for her creativity. However..." He paused, his tone shifting, "...because of her father’s control, she hardly had any social circle. It seems she grew up with very few friends."
Daniel’s gaze darkened slightly as he kept reading. That explained her hesitation with people—her tendency to guard herself.
"But," Henry continued, "there was one girl who supposedly stayed close to her. Fiona Stewart."
Daniel’s head snapped up, his brows furrowing.
Henry nodded, sensing his boss’s interest. "Yes, the same Fiona Stewart who happens to be Madam’s co-star now. And... there’s more. Ethan Helmsworth—another lead in the movie—was also their senior back in school."
Daniel leaned back in his chair, fingers tightening over the edge of the file. He had already gone through the official cast list forwarded by Wilsmith, but hearing Henry lay it out like this gave it new weight.
Two classmates from her past, both reappearing now, both tied to Anna’s current path.
Was it a mere coincidence?
"Hm. Anything else?" Daniel asked, his voice clipped, though there was a restless edge to it—an unspoken demand for more.
Henry hesitated, his throat bobbing before he spoke. That hesitation alone was enough for Daniel’s expression to harden.
"What is it, Henry?" His tone dropped, firm and commanding.
Henry flinched. "Uh... Boss, there’s also mention that Miss Anna was constantly bullied during her school years. Because of that, she refused to attend college. She chose instead to complete her exams from home."
Daniel froze, the words sinking into him like shards of glass. For a moment, silence filled the room. His jaw clenched as something sharp twisted in his chest—an unfamiliar ache that grew heavier the longer he thought about it.
Bullied?
The thought echoed in his mind, each repetition fueling a fury he didn’t fully understand. Who dared to touch her? Who thought they had the right to break her down like that?
His knuckles whitened against the edge of the file as his rage simmered, but then... clarity struck.
It explained her walls. Her defiance. Her constant suspicion toward him.
She wasn’t rebelling without cause. She was protecting herself.
The realization unsettled him more than he cared to admit. And beneath the storm of anger, another feeling tugged at him—one he had long refused to acknowledge.
A strange, consuming urge to shield her. To be the wall between her and anyone who dared hurt her again.
"What about her parents? Did they do nothing about it?" Daniel’s voice was low, controlled, but his grip on the file tightened as if bracing for the answer.
Henry hesitated before speaking. "No. In fact, they blamed her... for being meek."
Daniel’s brows furrowed deeply. Perplexity churned into something darker. Blamed her?
’How can parents treat both their daughters so differently?’
He had already seen with his own eyes how Hugo worshipped Kathrine, pampering her like she was royalty. But to treat Anna with such indifference—no, contempt—was something he couldn’t fathom.
"Who were the ones who bullied her?" Daniel pressed, his tone sharp enough to slice through the silence.
"Boss, I couldn’t gather much. But..." Henry paused, then added carefully, "it’s said Ethan Helmsworth once saved her from bullying."
The name struck Daniel like a jolt. His eyes narrowed, unease prickling through his veins. Ethan again. That same man who stood too close to Anna, who looked at her like he knew something Daniel didn’t.
He clenched his jaw but quickly brushed off the thought, forcing his emotions into check.
"However," Henry continued, "after that incident, there was no contact between them. Nor with Miss Fiona. Their reunion only happened during the auditions."
Daniel leaned back, his expression unreadable, but his mind was far from still. Each detail Henry shared etched itself into his memory.
"Fine. Continue to watch Hugo. And if possible, his wife as well." His tone dropped, heavier, calculated. "That woman may appear less cunning than her husband, but something tells me she knows more than she shows."
"Yes, Boss." Henry bowed before quietly retreating, leaving Daniel alone with his thoughts.
The office fell into silence. Daniel’s gaze lingered on the faint reflection of himself in the glass window.
His chest tightened with a strange ache he couldn’t shake off. "What in the world did you go through, Anna..."
For once, his fury wasn’t directed at her defiance. It wasn’t about her resistance or her sharp tongue.
This time, it was a storm raging against the shadows of her past—and the unbearable uneasiness that came with realizing she had faced it all alone.
***
"Here you go." Anna pulled the autograph from her bag and passed it across the table.
For a moment, Betty froze. Then—
"OH. MY. GOD!" she shrieked, loud enough for the entire café to turn their heads.
Customers frowned.
"What’s wrong with her? Why is she shouting like that?"
"Goodness, girls these days lose their minds the second they sit next to a man," another whispered, shaking her head.
Anna’s lips twitched. She was about to shush Betty when Shawn leaned back in his chair, exhaling sharply.
"And that’s why I told you we should’ve met at my apartment. Less noise, less attention."
Anna blinked at him, speechless. "...."
Meanwhile, Betty clutched the autograph to her chest like it was the Holy Grail, her eyes sparkling brighter than the sunlight filtering through the café windows. "Big Sis, I just— I can’t believe it! Ethan Helmsworth actually gave me his autograph!"
Shawn snorted, folding his arms. "What’s so good about it? It’s just a scribble on paper."
Anna tilted her head at him, confused. Betty’s smile faltered instantly, her brows furrowing.
"Brother Shawn, can you not be so rude about my crush?" she snapped.
"Crush?" Shawn scoffed, his jaw tightening.
Anna frowned. Wait... crush?
Betty’s cheeks turned pink, but before Anna could probe, Shawn muttered under his breath, his tone edged with irritation. "So now you’ve got a crush on someone else? Other than me?"
Anna’s jaw dropped. Betty went stiff, her soul practically leaving her body as crimson spread across her face.
"W-who said I have a crush on you?!" She stammered, her voice jumping an octave.
Shawn only leaned closer, his lips curling into a knowing smirk. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with a stare so pointed it screamed, ’You can deny it all you want.’
Anna, caught in the crossfire, blinked between the two of them like a referee who’d wandered into the wrong sport. "Uh... did something happen between you two?"
"No!"
"No!"
Both answered at the exact same time, making Anna jolt.
She stared at them wide-eyed. "...Okay. That was convincing.