Chapter 4 - The Voice From The Past
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody in the ballroom moved.
Nobody spoke.
Dominic stared at the screen as if the device in his hand was something dangerous.
And maybe it was.
Because whoever was calling him had been gone for eighteen years.
I watched his face.
I watched the man who never showed fear suddenly lose the ability to hide anything.
"Dominic."
My voice was quiet.
But he heard it.
His eyes lifted to mine.
For a moment, I thought he would ignore the call.
I thought he would put the phone away and return to being the man everyone expected him to be.
The untouchable man.
The powerful man.
The man who always knew what to do.
Instead, he answered.
Slowly.
"Hello?"
The ballroom was silent enough that I could hear his breathing.
Then his expression changed.
Not shock.
Not anger.
Pain.
"Who is this?"
A pause.
His fingers tightened around the phone.
"No."
Another pause.
Then Dominic whispered:
"That's impossible."
My heart sank.
Because I had heard those words before.
From him.
When Alessandro walked through those doors.
When he saw the photograph.
When he realized the past had returned.
The phone call ended after only a few seconds.
Dominic lowered the phone.
Everyone waited.
Even Alessandro.
Especially Alessandro.
"Who was it?"
Dominic didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Dominic."
His eyes met mine.
And I saw the answer before he spoke.
"It was your father."
Everything stopped.
The words didn't make sense.
Not immediately.
Because my father was dead.
Or at least, that was what I had been told.
My entire childhood was built around that fact.
The day he disappeared.
The police reports.
The funeral we never had because there was never a body.
My mother crying in the kitchen.
Me waiting by the window for a man who never came home.
"No."
The word left my mouth before I could stop it.
Dominic looked away.
And that hurt more than anything.
Because if he believed it was impossible too, then why did he look like he already knew?
"My father is dead."
Alessandro spoke quietly.
"That is what everyone was supposed to believe."
I turned toward him.
"You're lying."
He didn't look offended.
He looked tired.
"I wish I was."
The photograph was still in my hand.
My fingers moved over the image.
My mother.
Dominic's family.
The notebook.
The secret everyone had protected.
"Why would my father call you?"
Nobody answered.
Then Dominic finally spoke.
"Because he knows something."
I laughed softly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I didn't know what else to do.
"Something?"
I looked around the ballroom.
At the strangers watching my life fall apart.
"My entire life is changing in front of people I don't even know, and you're telling me he knows something?"
Dominic accepted the anger.
He didn't defend himself.
That almost made it worse.
"You should have told me."
The words came out before I could control them.
His face tightened.
"I know."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You don't."
The room remained silent.
"You don't know what it feels like to find out everyone has been protecting you from your own life."
Dominic looked down.
And for once, I saw regret.
Real regret.
"I was trying to keep you safe."
"By lying?"
"No."
His voice broke slightly.
"By carrying it alone."
That answer stopped me.
Because I knew Dominic.
I knew how he worked.
He believed pain was something he could absorb.
Danger was something he could stand in front of.
Problems were things he could eliminate.
But this wasn't a problem.
This was my life.
And he had made the decision without me.
Alessandro moved closer to the table.
"The phone call changes things."
Dominic looked at him.
"Why are you here?"
A cold smile appeared on Alessandro's face.
"Because he called me too."
The room became still.
Dominic's expression changed.
"When?"
"Three days ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Alessandro looked amused.
"Because I wanted to see if you would finally tell her the truth yourself."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"You used her."
"No."
Alessandro looked at me.
"You did."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Dominic immediately stepped forward.
"Careful."
But I stopped him.
"No."
I looked at Alessandro.
"Let him talk."
Dominic looked at me.
I saw the hesitation.
But he nodded.
Alessandro reached into his coat.
This time, he pulled out a small key.
An old metal key.
Worn.
Scratched.
Attached to a faded tag.
He placed it beside the photograph.
My breath caught.
Because I recognized the tag.
Not the key.
The handwriting.
My mother's handwriting.
"Where did you get that?"
Alessandro looked at me.
"Your mother gave it to me."
My heart stopped.
"My mother?"
"Before she disappeared."
The words made the entire room spin.
My mother didn't disappear.
She stayed.
She raised me.
She cared for me.
But suddenly I understood what he meant.
She disappeared from this world.
From this story.
From the people who knew her before.
"What's it for?"
Alessandro looked at Dominic.
And Dominic immediately understood.
"No."
The reaction was instant.
Too instant.
I turned to him.
"You know."
He didn't answer.
"Dominic."
His eyes closed briefly.
Like he was fighting himself.
"There was a storage facility."
My heartbeat increased.
"A place my father used."
Alessandro corrected him.
"Not your father."
Dominic looked at him.
"Our fathers."
The words were quiet.
But they changed everything.
I looked between them.
"What are you saying?"
Alessandro leaned against the table.
"The Russo family was built on a secret."
Dominic's expression hardened.
"Don't."
"The money."
Alessandro continued.
"The businesses."
"The alliances."
"The power."
He looked at me.
"None of it started the way you think."
The guests around us had become invisible.
I only heard him.
"Your father found evidence."
My hands tightened around the photograph.
"Evidence of what?"
Alessandro looked at Dominic.
And Dominic looked away.
That was my answer.
Something terrible.
Something connected to both families.
Something that had been hidden for decades.
"What happened to my father?"
Silence.
Then Dominic said:
"He tried to expose them."
The room felt colder.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Alessandro did.
"Someone inside the family."
My stomach turned.
Dominic's family.
My father's disappearance.
My mother's secret.
The contract marriage.
Everything was connected.
And I had been standing in the center without knowing.
Victoria suddenly spoke.
"Dominic."
Everyone turned.
She looked different.
The arrogance was gone.
"I didn't know about this."
Dominic stared at her.
"You knew enough."
She shook her head.
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"I only knew Clara was connected to the old case."
I looked at her.
"Old case?"
She swallowed.
"The night I left."
Dominic's expression changed.
Victoria continued.
"I didn't leave because I stopped loving you."
The ballroom became silent.
"I left because someone threatened me."
Dominic froze.
"Who?"
Victoria looked terrified.
"Someone who knew about Clara before you did."
A chill moved through me.
"Before me?"
Victoria nodded slowly.
"They knew you would find her."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Who threatened you?"
Victoria looked toward the entrance.
Toward the darkness outside the ballroom.
Then she whispered:
"The same person who just called you."
My blood ran cold.
Dominic immediately turned toward the doors.
The guards moved.
Too late.
Because the lights in the ballroom flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every screen in the room turned on.
A single image appeared.
A man.
Older.
Standing in front of a camera.
My father.
Alive.
The entire ballroom gasped.
Dominic stared at the screen.
And my father looked directly into the camera.
Then he spoke.
"Clara."
My knees almost gave out.
Because after eighteen years of silence...
My father said my name.
And then he added:
"If you are watching this, it means Dominic failed to keep you away from the truth..."
The screen went black.
Then one final message appeared.
A location.
A time.
May you like
And a warning:
"Come alone."
