President's Daughter's Bodyguard-Chapter 100: The Name No One Spoke…

Chapter 100: The Name No One Spoke

Theo knew the exact moment Danielle stopped pretending she was asleep.

Her breathing changed first.

The small, controlled rhythm she had kept while faking sleep melted into a softer moan. Her fingers, which she had tried to hold still, loosened and relaxed beside her. Her head grew heavier against his thigh and stopped fighting the comfort she clearly needed.

He watched her for a moment longer, making sure she was truly gone before he moved.

Slowly, carefully, he slid his hands under her shoulders and lifted her.

She fit against him too easily, her cheek brushed his collarbone before he placed her down on the bed.

Danielle stirred once, maybe sensing she was no longer on him, but Theo tucked the blanket around her and she settled again.

He stepped away, grabbed the nearest chair and pulled it beside the bed.

He was not going to sleep tonight.

Not while everything felt wrong.

Theo leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, trying to never leave her face. The villa was awkwardly silent, but he knew that calm was a lie.

Everything about this situation was wrong. The attack, the messages, the secrecy, the pressure from the president.

None of it aligned...

The president might have been ruthless, but he was not careless. He didn’t make mistakes with his daughter.

So why this?

Why here?

What did he want Danielle to see?

Theo rubbed his jaw. Something scratched at him, like the truth was close, just out of reach. He didn’t like mysteries that stared at him this boldly.

Footsteps tapped down the hallway and once again, Frank walked in...always walking in...barely leaving him alone with his pearl.

He entered with two cups of coffee. He handed one to Theo, then shot a tired look toward Danielle sleeping in the bed.

"The kid finally passed out," Frank whispered.

Theo nodded. "She needed it."

Frank took a slow sip from his own cup, keeping his eyes on Danielle. Then he sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Theo," he called him quietly, "do you know who her mother was?"

Theo lifted his head. "Of course. She was a simple woman the president married before he ran for office. Helena. She died in an accident."

Frank let out a breath that didn’t sound like relief. It sounded like regret.

"Simple woman," he repeated under his breath, shaking his head. "Is that the story they told you?"

"That is the story everyone knows," Theo replied.

Frank stared at his cup before lowering it again. Something in his eyes changed...like a weird light was leaving them. His face looked more serious now, sharper than Theo had seen in years.

"Come," Frank said. "Not here. Outside."

Theo stood up immediately.

They stepped out of the room, closing the door just enough so Danielle would not hear. Frank walked a little further down the hall before stopping and glancing around, checking the corners like someone could be listening.

He lowered his voice.

"Her mother was not his wife," Frank began. "And she was not simple."

Theo felt his shoulders tense. "What are you talking about?"

Frank looked him straight in the eye.

"Danielle is not the president’s blood."

The words hit like a silent explosion.

Theo didn’t speak, and just waited for Frank to continue.

"She was an illegitimate child. Her mother was already pregnant when she met him. He hid it because he wanted power, and scandals like that destroy men who want to rule countries."

Theo tried to process that. It felt wrong...it felt right. It felt like a puzzle piece sliding into place with a sound he did not want to hear.

"Her mother’s name was Helena," Frank went on. "But that name does not belong to her alone."

Theo narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Frank exhaled shakily.

"Helena was part of a cult. A very old one. A cruel one..."

Theo raised his eyebrow.

"She escaped and ran while pregnant. She knew what the cult did to babies born under their selection rituals. They wanted Danielle. She didn’t know why, or maybe she did but never shared it. But she ran anyway. She hid. She tried to keep that child alive."

Theo glanced back at Danielle’s door.

"And the president found her?"

Frank shook his head.

"No. Someone else did. My stepfather. He was working with the president at the time. They were partners, both hungry men but for different things. He found Helena and helped her hide. And he understood something no one else could. He understood that the woman was being hunted."

Theo felt heat rising in his throat. "Hunted for what reason?"

Frank looked away for a second, as if he needed courage.

"The cult performs sacrifices," he said. "Blood sacrifices."

Theo’s jaw clenched so tight that it ached.

"They wanted Danielle...And they found Helena a month after birth." He swallowed hard. "They would have taken the baby too. But my stepfather and the president got to them first."

Theo felt the room tilt like light dust from the ground.

’Danielle...That girl sleeping inside was a sacrifice.

A target from the moment she was born...?’

Frank continued.

"The president took Danielle and claimed her as his own daughter. He didn’t do it for love. He did it because admitting the truth would have ruined his career and destroyed the image he built. Helena survived that day...and was killed by Danielle’s father..."

Theo’s brows pulled together. "She died during the car accident?"

"No...She died defending her child."

Theo closed his eyes for half a second.

’Danielle...’

She was a child saved from a cult sacrifice, with a mother murdered because she would not let her daughter die.

The pieces kept sliding into place.

The attacks...

The secrecy...

The president’s sudden refusal to let Danielle leave the country...

Something had awakened... old... dangerous.

Frank looked at Theo one last time, his face lost colour and turned pale.

"There is one more thing," Frank’s lips started to smile unkindly.

Theo braced himself.

"Women in that cult..." Frank paused, then spoke the words slowly, letting each one fall heavily between them. "Women in that cult were all given one name. They were never allowed to use their birth names."

Theo stared.

Frank’s voice dropped until it was just a hush.

"Every woman who belonged to that cult was named Helena."