Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden Inside the Bracelet
My father stood frozen near the entrance of the ballroom.
His face was the same face I had known my entire life.
The same face that smiled at family dinners.
The same face that told me everything would be okay.
But now, standing under the crystal lights with hundreds of people watching, he looked like a man who had been caught hiding something.
"Simone..."
He said my name again.
But this time, it didn't sound like a father calling his daughter.
It sounded like someone begging me not to ask questions.
I looked at Alessandro.
Then at the phone in his hand.
Then back at my father.
"Why is my mother in that picture?"
Nobody answered.
The silence was worse than any confession.
My mother had disappeared twelve years ago.
That was the story my family told me.
A tragic accident.
A woman who left too early.
A memory we were supposed to bury.
But the photo on Alessandro's phone proved something I had never considered.
My mother had not been alone.
Someone had been with her.
And that someone was standing ten feet away from me.
My father.
"I can explain," he finally said.
Those four words made my stomach tighten.
Because people only said "I can explain" when there was something they had spent years hiding.
Amelia stepped forward.
"Father, don't do this here."
I turned toward her.
She looked nervous.
Not embarrassed.
Not angry.
Afraid.
That was the first time I saw it.
Amelia Bellamy was afraid.
And suddenly, the fall didn't feel like the worst thing that happened tonight.
Alessandro noticed it too.
He looked between my sister and my father.
"You both know something."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that made everyone else uncomfortable.
My father straightened his jacket.
"Mr. Romano, this is a family matter."
Alessandro looked at him.
"No."
He glanced at me.
"This became my matter the moment someone tried to destroy her in front of everyone."
The room became silent again.
Nobody challenged Alessandro Romano.
Not even my father.
I hated that part of me felt relieved.
Because for the first time in my life, someone had stood beside me.
Not because they felt sorry for me.
Not because they thought I was weak.
Because they believed I deserved respect.
Alessandro handed me the phone.
"Look carefully."
I took it.
My fingers shook slightly.
The picture was old.
The quality was poor.
But I knew my mother immediately.
She was standing outside a building I didn't recognize.
She looked younger.
Happy.
Alive.
Beside her was my father.
But there was something else.
A man standing behind them.
His face was partially hidden.
Only one detail was clear.
A silver ring on his hand.
A ring with a symbol carved into it.
I had seen that symbol before.
My eyes moved slowly.
To Alessandro's hand.
Because he was wearing the same symbol.
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
For the first time, Alessandro hesitated.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
"You shouldn't have found that."
His answer wasn't what I expected.
I frowned.
"Why?"
He looked at the bracelet.
The broken bracelet.
The one that had fallen beside me.
"The bracelet was not supposed to break tonight."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What are you talking about?"
Alessandro took the small piece of paper from inside the clasp.
He unfolded it carefully.
I expected to see a message.
A name.
A warning.
Something.
But when I looked closer, I realized it wasn't a note.
It was a code.
Numbers.
Letters.
A date.
My mother's birthday.
My breathing stopped.
"How did you get this?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Then my father walked toward us.
"Simone, give me that bracelet."
I stepped back.
"No."
The word came out before I even thought about it.
My father stopped.
I had never refused him before.
Not once.
He looked shocked.
"Simone, you don't understand."
"Then explain."
My voice became stronger.
"Explain why my mother's bracelet has a secret message inside it."
His eyes lowered.
That was enough.
That was the answer.
He knew.
My entire life, he knew.
A tear almost escaped my eye.
But I refused to let him see it.
"How long?"
My father looked at me.
"How long did you know?"
He didn't respond.
Amelia suddenly spoke.
"Since before you were born."
Everyone turned toward her.
I stared.
"What?"
She immediately realized what she said.
But it was too late.
Alessandro stepped closer.
"Continue."
Amelia looked at him.
"I didn't mean—"
"Continue."
His voice was sharper.
The confidence disappeared from her face.
She looked at my father.
Then at me.
"Your mother wasn't who you thought she was."
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I couldn't believe this was happening.
Everyone had a secret.
Everyone knew something about my life except me.
"My mother loved me."
Amelia looked away.
"Yes."
"Then what are you saying?"
She didn't answer.
My father grabbed her arm.
"Enough."
I saw it.
The fear.
The warning in his eyes.
He wasn't protecting Amelia.
He was stopping her from talking.
Alessandro noticed.
Of course he noticed.
He noticed everything.
He turned toward my father.
"Move your hand."
My father froze.
Slowly, he released Amelia.
Alessandro walked closer to me.
"You need to leave this wedding."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"This place isn't safe anymore."
A strange laugh escaped my lips.
"Safe?"
I looked around the ballroom.
At my family.
At the guests.
At the decorations.
"This was supposed to be my sister's wedding."
Alessandro's expression softened slightly.
"No."
He looked at Amelia.
"This was supposed to be a trap."
My heart stopped.
"What did you say?"
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then Alessandro showed me the inside of the bracelet again.
"The message wasn't hidden for you to find."
I stared at him.
"Then who was it for?"
He looked directly at my father.
"It was for me."
The room exploded with whispers.
My father went pale.
Amelia looked terrified.
And I felt like the floor beneath me was breaking again.
"Why would my mother leave a message for you?"
Alessandro didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small photograph.
An old photograph.
He handed it to me.
I looked down.
And my hands went cold.
It was my mother.
Holding a baby.
Me.
But there was something written on the back.
A sentence.
A sentence written in my mother's handwriting.
I read it slowly.
"If anything happens to me, don't let them give Simone to the Bellamys."
My heart stopped.
I looked up.
"Give me to who?"
Nobody answered.
Then my father whispered:
"Simone..."
I turned toward him.
His face was filled with fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Because he wasn't afraid of me finding out the truth.
He was afraid of who would find me next.
Alessandro suddenly looked toward the ballroom doors.
The guards near the entrance moved.
Someone had arrived.
Someone nobody expected.
The doors opened slowly.
May you like
And a woman stepped inside.
A woman holding a file with my mother's name written on it.
