Chapter 6 - The Daughter Hidden From Everyone
"Look behind you."
The voice from the phone disappeared.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
The entire ballroom became frozen.
I held my phone tightly against my ear, even though the call had already ended.
Those three words stayed in my mind.
Look behind you.
Slowly, I turned.
My eyes moved across the room.
The guests.
The tables.
The empty hallway.
Nothing.
Then I saw it.
A small piece of paper on the floor behind me.
My heart sank.
Because I knew it wasn't there before.
I walked toward it.
"Simone, wait."
Alessandro's voice stopped me.
I looked at him.
His expression was serious.
"Don't touch anything."
Normally, I would have listened.
Normally, I would have stepped back.
But I was tired of waiting for other people to decide what I was allowed to know.
I picked up the paper.
Everyone watched.
There was only one sentence written on it.
Four words.
The same handwriting.
The same handwriting from my mother's note.
"She was never yours."
I stared at the words.
My fingers went cold.
"What does this mean?"
Nobody answered.
But my mother did something that terrified me.
She started crying.
Not because she was scared.
Because she knew exactly what it meant.
"Mom?"
The word escaped my mouth.
The first time I had called her that in twelve years.
Her face changed.
She looked at me like she had been waiting forever to hear it.
Then she looked away.
"I wanted to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
She didn't answer.
Alessandro stepped between us.
"Clara."
My mother looked at him.
"She deserves the truth."
He nodded.
"I know."
"Then stop protecting her from it."
Those words surprised me.
Because everyone kept saying they were protecting me.
My father.
My sister.
Alessandro.
My mother.
But every secret they hid had only hurt me more.
I looked at all of them.
"I am standing right here."
Nobody spoke.
"So stop talking like I'm a child."
My voice shook.
"But I am not a child anymore."
The silence that followed felt different.
Because this time, nobody could ignore me.
My mother took a slow breath.
Then she sat down.
"I didn't leave because I wanted to."
I stood still.
"I left because someone was trying to take you from me."
"Who?"
Her eyes moved toward my father.
Then toward Amelia.
Then finally back to me.
"Your grandfather."
I froze.
"My grandfather?"
My mother nodded.
"Your father's father."
I felt confused.
"My grandfather died before I was born."
My mother looked at Alessandro.
And he answered.
"No."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
Alessandro's voice became lower.
"He disappeared."
The room went silent.
My entire life had another missing person.
Another lie.
Another secret.
I laughed softly.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
"My family has been disappearing for years?"
Nobody smiled.
Because they knew it was true.
My mother opened the folder Elena had brought.
Except the folder wasn't missing anymore.
It was in her hands.
Everyone looked shocked.
"I took it before they could."
She placed it on the table.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Photos.
Reports.
Letters.
She pulled out one photo.
Then handed it to me.
I looked down.
It was a picture of my family.
A picture I had never seen.
My father.
My mother.
Amelia.
And me.
But I was a baby.
Only a few months old.
On the back of the photo was a date.
The date my family always said my mother disappeared.
I turned the picture around.
"Why was this taken that night?"
My mother looked at me.
"Because that was the night everything changed."
"What happened?"
She looked at my father.
And this time, he didn't look away.
"I found out my father was involved with people who wanted control."
My father spoke quietly.
"People who didn't care who they destroyed."
I stared at him.
"You knew?"
He nodded.
"I knew something was wrong."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
His eyes filled with regret.
"Because I thought I could fix it."
I shook my head.
"You couldn't."
"No."
He accepted it.
"I couldn't."
That honesty hurt more than another lie.
My mother continued.
"Your grandfather wanted something from me."
"What?"
She looked at the bracelet on my wrist.
"That."
I touched it.
"The bracelet?"
She nodded.
"It wasn't just jewelry."
Alessandro walked closer.
"It contained information."
"About what?"
My mother looked at him.
"About the organization your grandfather worked for."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Why would he hide something in my bracelet?"
My mother looked at me.
"Because he trusted you."
I frowned.
"I was a baby."
"Exactly."
She touched my hand.
"Nobody would search a baby for evidence."
I looked at the bracelet.
All this time.
I thought it was just a memory.
A gift.
A piece of my mother.
But it had been a secret.
A warning.
A reason people were watching me.
Suddenly, Amelia spoke.
"Simone."
I looked at her.
She looked broken.
"I need to tell you something."
I waited.
"That night your mother disappeared..."
She swallowed.
"I saw someone."
My heart started beating faster.
"Who?"
Amelia looked at my father.
Then at my mother.
"I saw Grandpa."
The room went silent.
My mother closed her eyes.
Because she knew.
"That's impossible," my father whispered.
Amelia shook her head.
"No."
Her voice trembled.
"He was there."
Everyone looked at her.
"He came into the house."
I couldn't breathe.
"My grandfather was alive?"
Amelia nodded.
"And he wasn't alone."
A horrible feeling entered my stomach.
"Who was with him?"
Amelia looked at me.
And I knew before she said it.
Because her eyes already answered.
"It was someone who loved you."
The room became silent.
Then Amelia whispered:
"It was someone you still trust."
Nobody moved.
Alessandro immediately reached for his phone.
"What is it?"
I asked.
His face changed while reading something.
A message.
A new message.
He turned the screen toward me.
My name was written at the top.
The sender was unknown.
But the message contained only one line.
My hands started shaking.
May you like
Because it said:
"Ask Alessandro why he really saved you tonight."
