Chapter 123: If she had a surgery
Hugo’s eyelashes fluttered, his face tightening with unease. The question had caught him off guard, his usual composure cracking.
Daniel’s gaze didn’t waver. There was no warmth in his expression now — only a cool, assessing stillness.
He had dealt with men like Hugo before who spoke of family while treating it like a business arrangement, who disguised control as protection. And from the way Hugo shifted under his scrutiny, Daniel knew he was hitting the right nerve.
"I-I only said that to protect her," Hugo stammered, his voice faltering under the weight of Daniel’s cold, unblinking stare. "You know Anna... she’s never really been out in public, not like Kathrine. Kathrine always knew how to present herself, how to... groom. I’m just—worried for her."
Daniel said nothing, his expression unreadable. The silence stretched, heavy and uncomfortable.
Hugo swallowed hard, taking Daniel’s stillness as disbelief and rushing to justify himself further.
"I know you don’t believe me, but that’s the truth. Anna... she’s different. She’s had a difficult past. There was—there was bullying, during her school years. It left a mark. That’s why we restricted her from social exposure. She gets... uncomfortable around people."
Daniel’s gaze sharpened.
Oh, so now he’s using her trauma as a shield, he thought, jaw tightening.
"Then why didn’t you help her?" he asked, his tone deceptively calm.
Hugo blinked, taken aback. "What?"
Daniel tilted his head slightly, his voice steady and cutting. "You said she was bullied, that she struggled. So tell me, Mr. Bennett—did you ever try to help her overcome it? Did you ever give her a reason to believe she could?"
Hugo froze, his words catching in his throat.
"Because as far as I know," Daniel continued, his tone softening just enough to sound dangerous, "she doesn’t seem like someone afraid of people. In fact, she blends in quite well. So forgive me if I don’t buy your version of concern."
Hugo’s jaw worked silently, his eyes flicking away. Daniel’s words hit their mark like a blow.
He had expected Daniel to be cold, detached, even arrogant — but not this. Not this level of perceptiveness.
"Mr. Bennett," Daniel said finally, straightening from where he stood, his voice now smooth but carrying unmistakable authority. "Rest assured, I know exactly what I’m doing. So there’s nothing you need to concern yourself with."
He paused, then let a faint smile ghost across his lips.
"Unless, of course..." Daniel’s tone dropped an octave, his gaze hardening as it fixed on Hugo. "...you have secrets of your own you’d rather keep buried."
The room went silent.
Hugo’s pulse spiked. He could feel the air thicken around him, Daniel’s words landing like a quiet threat that carried far more weight than a shout ever could.
"I—I don’t know what you mean," he said quickly, forcing an awkward laugh that didn’t reach his eyes.
Daniel didn’t bother to respond. He simply studied the man in front of him, expression unreadable, but his eyes—his eyes told a different story.
Hugo shifted uncomfortably, the silence pressing down on him until he finally muttered, "Well, I suppose there’s nothing left to discuss, then."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned toward the door. But before he could leave, Daniel spoke again.
"Do me a favor, Mr. Bennett."
Hugo froze.
"Next time you claim to worry about Anna," Daniel said softly, "make sure your concern doesn’t sound like control."
The older man clenched his jaw but didn’t turn around. He simply nodded stiffly and walked out, his shoulders tight.
Once the door clicked shut behind him, Daniel exhaled slowly, the faintest trace of a smirk tugging at his mouth.
He knew Hugo was hiding something and he had no intention of letting it stay hidden.
Grabbing the telephone, Daniel pressed a quick button.
"Henry, come to my office," he ordered curtly before setting the receiver down.
A few minutes later, the door opened and Henry stepped in, his usual easygoing expression faltering the moment he saw the serious look on Daniel’s face.
"Boss, you called for me?" he asked carefully.
Daniel didn’t waste time. "Henry," he began, his tone calm but firm, "I want you to find out if Anna ever met with an accident in her childhood. Or if she’s ever had surgery — anything that might have left a scar."
Henry blinked, clearly caught off guard by the odd request, but quickly nodded. "Understood, sir. I’ll look into it right away."
"Good." Daniel leaned back in his chair, his eyes distant. "I want details — every medical record, every school report, whatever you can find. And keep it discreet."
Henry hesitated for a second, curiosity flickering in his eyes, but one look at Daniel’s face told him not to ask questions. "Yes, sir."
When the door shut behind him, Daniel exhaled slowly, fingers drumming lightly on the desk.
The image of that scar flashed before his eyes again — faint but unmistakable, the kind of mark that didn’t come from an accident or childhood mischief. It was clean. Precise. Surgical.
At first, he’d thought perhaps it was something trivial — an old wound from her bullying days, maybe something she got trying to defend herself. But the more he pictured it, the more certain he became that it wasn’t that simple.
***
Meanwhile, Hugo stepped out of the building, his breath caught somewhere between panic and exhaustion.
Only when he reached his car did he finally exhale, gripping the door handle for support as though the air itself had turned heavy around him.
Daniel’s words echoed in his head like a threat he couldn’t shake. That calm voice. Those sharp, calculating eyes.
It wasn’t just what Daniel said — it was the way he said it. Controlled. Certain. Dangerous.
He had made himself perfectly clear.
Daniel had indeed given Anna the freedom to choose her path, but beneath that statement lay a warning, one Hugo would be a fool to ignore.
If he dared to interfere again, Daniel would not stay silent. And worse, he might start digging into the very secrets Hugo had buried long ago.
Hugo pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heartbeat pounding unevenly.
The subtle threat still vibrated through his mind. He had thought Daniel Clafford was like every other businessman — calculative, ambitious, but ultimately predictable.
He was wrong.
"For now," Hugo muttered to himself, trying to steady his breathing, "I mustn’t think about Anna. She’s promised not to reveal who she is. That should keep things under control."
He leaned back against the car, but his grip on the door didn’t ease.
"Still..." His jaw tightened. "I’d be a fool to underestimate Daniel Clafford. He’s not the kind of man to let anything slip past him."
A chill ran down his spine as he recalled the look in Daniel’s eyes — cold, deliberate, the kind of gaze that saw straight through facades.
He had believed that marrying Anna to Daniel would benefit him — that he could gain influence, access, and perhaps even security.
But the longer he dealt with him, the more he realized how wrong he’d been.
Daniel wasn’t a shield to hide behind. He was a storm — calm on the surface, lethal underneath.
Hugo’s lips pressed into a thin line as he finally got into the car, the engine purring to life.
He didn’t look back at the building. He couldn’t. Because for the first time, he truly understood something that unsettled him to his core:
He hadn’t tied Daniel Clafford to his family. He had invited a wolf into his den.