Chapter 5 - The Man Who Knew My Mother's Last Secret
The woman standing at the ballroom entrance was not a stranger.
She was a memory.
A memory I had spent twelve years trying to forget.
My mother's face.
Her voice.
The way she looked at me like I was still the little girl who used to fall asleep holding her hand.
But this time, there was something different.
She wasn't coming home.
She was coming back because something had gone wrong.
Everyone in that room knew it.
Especially Alessandro.
My mother looked at him first.
Not me.
And that hurt more than I expected.
Because after twelve years, after all the pain, after all the nights I cried for someone who was supposedly gone...
I wanted to believe I was the first person she came back for.
But I wasn't.
There was a secret between them.
Something older than me.
Something bigger than my family.
"Clara."
Alessandro said her name quietly.
My mother's expression changed.
A mixture of sadness and regret crossed her face.
"You promised me."
His jaw tightened.
"I promised I would keep her alive."
My heart stopped.
Her.
Me.
Keep me alive.
Not safe.
Not happy.
Alive.
"What are you talking about?"
My voice cut through the silence.
Both of them looked at me.
And for once, nobody had an answer ready.
I stepped forward.
"No more."
My eyes moved from Alessandro to my mother.
"No more secrets."
I looked at my father.
"No more lies."
Then Amelia.
"No more pretending I don't deserve to know what is happening."
Nobody argued.
Because they knew I was right.
My entire life had been built around a story that wasn't true.
My mother was dead.
My mother was gone.
My mother abandoned me.
All lies.
I turned toward my mother.
"Tell me everything."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I wanted to."
"Then why didn't you?"
She looked down.
"Because I was afraid."
I almost laughed.
My mother.
The woman who disappeared.
The woman who survived for twelve years.
Was afraid.
"Afraid of what?"
She looked toward the doors.
Toward the guards.
Toward the people standing around us.
Then she whispered:
"Afraid that the person who took everything from me would take you too."
A chill ran through me.
"Who?"
My mother didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at Alessandro.
And that was when I understood.
She was waiting for him.
I turned toward him.
"Tell me."
Alessandro stayed silent.
"Alessandro."
The way I said his name surprised even me.
Because it wasn't anger anymore.
It was disappointment.
"I trusted you."
Something in his expression broke.
"I know."
"Then prove it."
The ballroom was silent.
Finally, he spoke.
"Your mother wasn't killed."
My breath caught.
"I know that."
"No."
He looked at me.
"You don't understand."
His voice became lower.
"The night everyone thought Clara Bellamy died, she disappeared because she discovered something."
"What?"
He looked at my father.
"The Bellamy family wasn't being threatened."
Everyone froze.
"They were involved."
My father looked away.
My stomach turned.
"No."
I shook my head.
"My father would never—"
But even as I said it, I remembered.
The silence.
The secrets.
The way he looked at my mother.
The way he avoided every question.
Alessandro continued.
"Your mother discovered that someone inside her own family was selling information."
"Information about what?"
He looked at me.
"About people who were supposed to be protected."
The room became colder.
My mother stepped closer.
"I found out too late."
Her voice trembled.
"Your father wasn't the person who betrayed me."
Everyone looked at her.
I felt my heartbeat slow.
"Then who was?"
My mother looked toward Amelia.
My sister immediately stepped back.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
But everyone heard it.
Amelia's eyes filled with fear.
"Don't."
My mother looked at her.
"I don't want to hurt you."
My eyebrows pulled together.
"What does that mean?"
Amelia looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I never thought I would see.
Guilt.
Real guilt.
"Simone..."
She swallowed.
"I was a child."
I stared at her.
"What?"
"I didn't understand."
The room became silent.
My mother closed her eyes.
"Amelia was only sixteen."
My sister started crying.
"I thought I was helping."
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"Helping who?"
She looked at the floor.
"The wrong people."
My mind went back to the wedding.
The chair.
The fall.
The humiliation.
The hatred.
Was that all because she hated me?
Or because she was afraid of something else?
"Why did you invite me tonight?"
I asked.
Amelia looked at me.
"I didn't."
My blood ran cold.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"I wanted you away from this."
A strange silence followed.
"Then who invited me?"
Nobody answered.
And that was when I realized something.
The wedding invitation.
The phone call from my father.
The request to attend.
Everything.
Someone had planned this.
Someone wanted me here.
Alessandro suddenly looked at Elena.
"Where is the original file?"
Elena's face changed.
"I brought it."
"Where?"
She looked toward the folder.
Then froze.
The folder was gone.
Everyone noticed at the same time.
A second ago, it had been on the table.
Now it wasn't.
My mother immediately turned pale.
"No."
Alessandro looked around the room.
"Everyone stay where you are."
But it was too late.
Someone had already left.
My father moved toward the exit.
Alessandro stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
My father looked angry.
"For once, trust me."
Alessandro's expression hardened.
"I did."
A pause.
"That's how we got here."
The words hit harder than a slap.
My father looked away.
Then my mother suddenly grabbed my arm.
Her fingers were shaking.
"Simone."
I looked at her.
"What?"
Her face had lost all color.
"The person who stole that file..."
She looked toward the empty hallway.
"...wasn't trying to hide the past."
I waited.
My heart pounding.
"They were trying to stop you from seeing what happened tomorrow."
I frowned.
"What happens tomorrow?"
My mother didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at Alessandro.
And whispered:
"They found us."
A sound came from the hallway.
A phone vibrating.
Everyone turned.
It wasn't Elena's phone.
It wasn't Alessandro's.
It was mine.
I slowly reached into my purse.
I didn't recognize the number.
But I answered.
Nobody spoke.
Only silence.
Then a voice came through.
A voice I had never heard before.
"Simone Bellamy."
I froze.
"Who is this?"
The person on the other end breathed softly.
Then said:
"You should ask your mother why she left one daughter behind to save another."
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Because before I could respond, the voice whispered one final sentence.
"Look behind you."
