11

At that moment her phone rang , she saw that it was her mother .

“ My mom is calling me . I need to answer . I will come later with the professor to discuss the result . “ said Daphne .

“ I already told you the result . “ said Damon .

“ My professor respects you very much so it is only right that you praise me in front of him . “ said Daphne with a light smile .

Damon nodded his head as she got up from the chair and left .

‘ Thanks for calling mom ! ‘ thought Daphne to herself .

She walked away from the office and leaned on the window .

“ Hi mom ! How have you all been ? “ said Daphne .

“ Daphne , sweetie ! We have been alright . What about you ? “ asked her mother .  

“ I am doing fine . I will come home at the end of the week . “ said Daphne .  

“ That's good to hear . “ said her mother .  

Even if she wasn’t telling Daphne , she could feel from her nervous tone that she was worried .  

“ Mother , is everything really alright ? “ asked Daphne .  

Her mother tried to keep a string front but she ended up breaking in tears .  

“ Daphne , they are taking the house . “ said her mother .  

“ What ?! Who is taking the house ?! “ asked Daphne worried .  

“ Your uncle took part in a risky investment and  lost everything . He had even added your father’s name on the list in the debtors . Now that the investment failed , we are losing our house . “ said her mother .  

“ Mom….What are you saying ? How can this happen ? “ asked Daphne .  

“ Daphne , you don’t have to worry about anything .  I will find a way . I didn’t think the investment would fail but…….Just rest calmly . “ said her father .  

“ Dad , how can you tell me to rest calmly after such a news ? I will be back at the end of the week and we will figure this out together . “ said Daphne .  

“ No Daphne ! You can’t come now . Not with this chaotic situation now . “ said her father .  

“ No ! I have to . “ said Daphne .  

“ I am your father Daphne and you will listen to me . Stay there ! “ said her father angrily closing the call .  

Daphne tried to call them again but the number wasn’t available . 

“ Why did you tell her ? “ asked her father , Bernard clenching the phone in his hand .  

“ I had no choice . they discovered our identity and now are after our family when we are at our lowest financially . “ said her mother , Catherine . 

“ She will be safe . The duke will protect her . “ said Bernard . 

“ How can you be certain that he will protect her ?….There’s still time until the golden moon ceremony to take place . Not to mention that we are not certain whether she is the one or not . “ said Catherine . 

“ …She is . “ said Bernard trying to shake all the doubt in him . 

“ Whatever the outcome , she is my sweet daughter and I will never allow anyone to hurt her . If we stay together we can still make it……but she is there on her own . They will definitely want to check on her as well . “ said Catherine .  

Bernard could understand where her worries were coming from . He hug her tightly caressing her head , placing a kiss on her forehead . 

“ Don’t worry . Our daughter is strong . “ said Bernard .  

When Daphne came back inside , Damon could tell right away that there was something wrong from her sad expression .  Her professor had come as well .  

“ Daphne , I heard from the duke that you finished all the research in a single night . I am so proud of you as your teacher . I am also quite grateful to you for being my student . How were you able to do deal with all that information on your own ?! That is quite the mystery . You are simply great . “ said the professor .  

hearing his voice , Daphne was able to compose her self a little .  

“ Indeed professor . She is so great in many mysterious ways . I have seen so much to the point that nothing amazes me anymore yet I was left speechless by her .“ said Damon looking straight at her brown eyes as if trying to figure out what was weighing on her shoulders that made her confident smile shatter .  

“ i will do what I promised and award the lady for her hard work . you must keep your word too professor . “ said Damon .  

“ Certainly your highness .  Daphne , no more homework for you for an entire year . You don’t have to study that hard anymore .  Just come for the tests as a formality , you don’t need to study either . “ said the professor with a bright smile .  

‘ I would have never believe that someone as strict as him would say something like this if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears . ‘ thought Daphne to herself as she held her forehead .

Her troubled expression kept bothering Damon even more .  The door suddenly opened and Daria came in , handing a report to Damon .  

“ We have a problem . “ said Daria .  

“ I told you to knock before you enter my office .  “ said Damon .  

Daria smirked as she looked at Daphne .  

“ You are with my friend . Formalities can be skipped . “ said Daria with a smile as she saw Daphne smiling back .  

Damon sighed as he read the report she gave him .  

“ Are you serious ? “ asked Damon in disbelief .  

“ Why would I be lying over something like this ? “ asked Daria .  

“ Is there any problem ? “ asked the professor .  

Daria noticed that Daphne was curious about it as well .  

“ It seems like someone had entered our database in country X and is stealing important financial files from the computers . I have alerted our tech men to take action immediately but….the hacker is proving to be stronger than we thought . “ said Daria .  

“ Are you telling me all the members of the tech departments that we have hired , up to fifty people , are useless against this one single hacker ?! “ said Damon angry .  

“ …Apparently ! “ said Daria .  

“ On what stage are there ? “ asked Damon .  

“ They have already stolen the financial file and datas of the previous branch project that we opened last year . “ said Daria .  

Damon clenched his fists angrily .  Even though he was a powerful vampire , he had to maintain his temper and powers in check for the peace agreement that they had signed with the humans . Furthermore , magic couldn’t do much in this situation where actual knowledge was needed . Daphne looked at Daria’s worried face and was able to tell right away that the situation was quite serious . She was clearly the type that rarely showed a real concerned expression . 

“ I think I can help but I need to use your computer and your seat , your highness . “ said Daphne . 

The professor froze along with Daria . Daria looked at her with a dumbfounded expression , having the phrase ‘ are you crazy ? ‘ written all over her forehead .  

“ My seat ? “ said Damon surprised that she had the guts to say that .  

“ You don’t expect me to type on the computer standing up , do you ? “ said Daphne with a non caring expression .

She was so pissed by the situation at home and how her uncle had dragged her father into a huge debt that she needed to vent her anger somewhere .