Chapter 4 - The Brother Who Pulled the Strings
The door opened slowly.
And Jonathan walked inside.
For a few seconds, nobody spoke.
I just stared at him.
Because my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
My brother.
The person who had stood beside Gabriel and offered me as payment.
The person who watched me get taken away.
Was now standing there like he belonged.
Jonathan looked around the room.
His eyes moved from Gabriel.
To my father.
Then finally to me.
And the strange thing was...
He wasn’t surprised.
He already knew I was there.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” Richard said quietly.
Jonathan smiled.
“That’s what you always say when things stop going according to your plan.”
My father’s face changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
I noticed it immediately.
And so did Gabriel.
“You two are hiding something from each other,” Gabriel said.
Jonathan looked at him.
“You think you understand this situation?”
Gabriel didn’t move.
“I know enough.”
Jonathan laughed softly.
“No, you don’t.”
He walked further into the room.
The guards immediately became alert.
But Gabriel raised his hand.
Nobody moved.
Because everyone in that room understood something.
Gabriel Marino did not need anyone to protect him.
He was the danger.
Jonathan stopped a few feet away from me.
I looked at him.
“How long?”
He tilted his head.
“What?”
“How long were you planning this?”
For the first time, his expression changed.
Just slightly.
“You think I planned this?”
I stared at him.
“You forged my signature.”
Silence.
“You moved the money.”
Silence.
“You convinced Dad to give me to Gabriel.”
Jonathan looked at Richard.
Then back at me.
“You always make everything sound so dramatic.”
My hands clenched.
“Dramatic?”
I laughed quietly.
“My own brother sold me.”
Jonathan sighed.
“You still don’t understand.”
Those words.
That sentence.
It was the same thing everyone kept telling me.
You don’t understand.
But I did.
I understood too much.
I understood that the people closest to me had spent years using me.
Jonathan walked toward the table.
He picked up the documents Martin had brought.
“You found these?”
Martin stepped forward.
“Yes.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“You should have stayed quiet.”
Martin’s face hardened.
“I stayed quiet for twelve years.”
Jonathan smiled.
“And look where that got you.”
Gabriel watched him carefully.
“You’re not afraid.”
Jonathan looked at him.
“Should I be?”
Most people would have lowered their eyes when speaking to Gabriel Marino.
Jonathan didn’t.
That told me something.
He wasn’t just involved.
He thought he was in control.
Gabriel noticed too.
“You came here because you believe you have power.”
Jonathan smiled.
“I do.”
He placed the documents back on the table.
“Because everyone in this room needs something from me.”
Nobody answered.
Jonathan looked at my father.
“Dad needs me because he can’t fix what he started.”
Then he looked at Gabriel.
“You need me because I know where the rest of the money went.”
Finally, he looked at me.
“And Clara…”
He paused.
“You need me because I’m the only person who knows why you were chosen.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Chosen?”
Jonathan said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
Richard immediately spoke.
“Jonathan.”
But Jonathan ignored him.
“You spent your whole life thinking you were the forgotten daughter.”
My throat tightened.
“I am.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You were never forgotten.”
He looked at my father.
“You were protected.”
I looked at Richard.
“What?”
My father looked away.
And that scared me.
Because there were very few things Richard Marino avoided.
And my questions were one of them.
Jonathan continued.
“Dad didn’t keep you in the basement because he didn’t value you.”
He smiled.
“He kept you there because you were the only person who could access everything.”
I frowned.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jonathan laughed.
“Of course you don’t.”
He leaned closer.
“Because Dad made sure you didn’t remember.”
The room went silent.
My heartbeat became louder.
“What did you say?”
Richard suddenly stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Jonathan turned toward him.
“No.”
His voice became sharper.
“After everything you did, you don’t get to decide when this ends.”
I looked between them.
“What am I supposed to remember?”
Nobody answered.
That silence was the answer.
Something had happened.
Something they had hidden from me.
Gabriel looked at Richard.
“What happened to her?”
Richard didn’t speak.
Jonathan answered.
“Eight years ago.”
My body froze.
Eight years.
That was the year everything changed.
The year my mother died.
The year my father suddenly became colder.
The year Jonathan started controlling everything.
“What happened eight years ago?” I whispered.
Jonathan looked at me.
“You found something.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
He stepped closer.
“You found evidence that could destroy this family.”
My breathing became uneven.
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s because Dad made sure you didn’t.”
Richard’s face turned pale.
“Stop.”
Jonathan ignored him.
“He thought taking your memories would protect us.”
My eyes moved to my father.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked broken.
“I was trying to protect you.”
The same words.
Again.
But this time they sounded different.
Because I finally understood.
People always said they were protecting me.
But somehow...
I was always the one getting hurt.
Gabriel walked toward Richard.
“What did you erase?”
Richard looked at him.
“I didn’t erase anything.”
Jonathan smiled.
“Then explain why Clara spent six months in a hospital and doesn’t remember what happened.”
The room went completely still.
I felt dizzy.
Hospital.
Six months.
That wasn’t possible.
I would remember.
I had to remember.
But I didn’t.
I remembered working.
I remembered taking care of the company.
I remembered trying to make my father proud.
But before that?
There was nothing.
A blank space.
A missing piece of my life.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You really don’t remember?”
I shook my head slowly.
“No.”
Martin suddenly opened another folder.
“I found this yesterday.”
Everyone turned.
Inside was an old photograph.
A photograph of me.
Standing beside my mother.
And holding a small black notebook.
I recognized the notebook immediately.
Because I had seen it before.
In my dreams.
Nightmares I never understood.
I picked up the picture with shaking hands.
On the back were words written in my mother’s handwriting.
My breath stopped.
Because the message was not for my father.
Not for Jonathan.
It was for me.
"If they tell you that you forgot, they are lying."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then Gabriel looked at Richard.
“Where is the notebook?”
Richard’s face lost all color.
Because he knew.
He knew exactly what Gabriel was asking about.
Jonathan smiled.
“You see?”
He looked at me.
“She’s finally starting to remember.”
I looked at my father.
“Where is it?”
Richard didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
His eyes filled with regret.
And then he whispered:
“Clara... the notebook was never lost.”
I felt my heart stop.
“Where is it?”
Richard slowly turned toward the hidden wall behind the old bookshelf.
And pressed a button I had never seen before.
A small door began opening inside the wall.
May you like
Behind it was a secret room.
And inside that room was something that had been waiting for me for eight years...
