Chapter 6 - The Man Who Knew Damian's Secret
"Victor..."
The name left Damian's mouth like a warning.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Warning.
Hazel looked between them.
The man standing on the balcony smiled.
A calm smile.
The kind of smile that belonged to someone who believed he had already won.
"Still remember me, Damian."
Damian stepped forward.
"How are you alive?"
Victor slowly walked down the stairs.
Every step echoed through the empty hall.
"That's the first question you ask?"
Damian's expression remained cold.
"It should be."
Victor laughed quietly.
"No. The first question should be why your father erased me."
Hazel looked at Damian.
"What is he talking about?"
Damian didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
And Hazel saw it.
For the first time since she met him, Damian Romano looked completely lost.
Victor stopped in the middle of the room.
His eyes moved toward Hazel.
"So this is her."
Hazel felt uncomfortable.
"What do you mean?"
Victor smiled.
"The girl everyone spent years protecting."
Damian moved immediately.
"Don't look at her like that."
Victor looked amused.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The same weakness your father had."
Silence.
The word hit Damian harder than Hazel expected.
Because it wasn't an insult.
It sounded like a memory.
Victor looked at the document in Hazel's hand.
"You finally found the truth."
Hazel tightened her grip.
"Is it true?"
Nobody answered.
Her voice became louder.
"Is that my father's name?"
Damian looked at the birth certificate.
Then at Hazel.
"I don't know."
That answer shocked her.
"You don't know?"
"I knew your mother."
Hazel waited.
"But I didn't know about this."
Victor laughed.
"Of course you didn't."
He looked at Damian.
"Your father made sure you knew only what benefited him."
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Where is my father?"
Victor smiled.
"Still asking about him?"
A pause.
"You really never found out."
Hazel looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Victor walked toward the table.
He placed a small device beside the folder.
A recording device.
"I came here because you deserve the truth."
Damian stared.
"Why should we believe you?"
"You shouldn't."
Victor smiled.
"But you should listen."
He pressed the button.
A voice filled the room.
An older man's voice.
Damian froze.
Hazel looked at him.
"You know that voice."
Damian didn't answer.
Because he did.
It was his father's voice.
The recording continued.
"If you are hearing this, then Victor has returned."
Damian's expression changed.
The voice continued.
"I know you will hate me for what I did."
A pause.
"But I did it because I had no choice."
Hazel looked at Damian.
His hands slowly tightened.
The recording continued.
"Damian, there is something you must understand."
The room became silent.
"Your entire life was built around a lie."
Nobody moved.
Then the recording stopped.
Victor looked satisfied.
"That's all?"
Hazel asked.
Victor nodded.
"For now."
Damian stepped forward.
"You came here just to play a recording?"
"No."
Victor looked toward Hazel.
"I came here because the second part belongs to her."
Hazel froze.
"What second part?"
Victor reached into his coat.
He removed an old envelope.
Damian immediately recognized it.
His expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Victor smiled.
"Your father gave it to me."
Damian moved closer.
"Impossible."
"Is it?"
Victor placed the envelope on the table.
Hazel looked at it.
Her name was written on the front.
Not Damian's.
Not her mother's.
Hers.
Hazel Brooks.
She reached for it.
But Damian stopped her.
"Wait."
She looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because once you open that, there is no going back."
Hazel stared.
"I already found out my mother is alive."
She looked around the room.
"I found out everyone lied to me."
Her eyes met Damian's.
"I think I'm already past that point."
Slowly, she opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter.
Handwritten.
The first line made her stop.
My daughter Hazel,
Her hands started shaking.
She read silently.
Then her face changed.
Damian noticed.
"What does it say?"
Hazel didn't answer.
"Read it."
She looked up.
Her eyes were filled with confusion.
"My mother wrote that she never abandoned me."
Everyone became silent.
"She said she disappeared because someone threatened my life."
Damian looked at her mother.
The woman lowered her eyes.
Hazel continued reading.
"She said the person who threatened her was someone inside the Romano family."
Damian looked at Victor.
Victor didn't react.
But his silence was enough.
Hazel looked at Damian.
"Who?"
Damian didn't answer.
Because he was thinking.
Because he was realizing something.
The enemy wasn't outside his family.
It was inside.
Adrian suddenly entered the hall.
"Damian."
Everyone turned.
Adrian looked serious.
"We found something."
Damian nodded.
"What?"
Adrian held a tablet.
"The person who accessed the archive wasn't one of the intruders."
Damian frowned.
"Then who?"
Adrian looked at Hazel.
"The access code belonged to someone who has been here for years."
A terrible silence followed.
Damian took the tablet.
His face changed.
Hazel noticed.
"Who?"
Damian didn't respond.
"Damian."
Slowly, he turned the screen toward everyone.
The name appeared.
AUTHORIZED USER:
ELIZABETH ROMANO.
Hazel looked confused.
"Who is Elizabeth?"
Nobody answered.
Victor did.
"Your father's wife."
Damian stared.
"My mother."
The room went silent.
Hazel looked at him.
"Your mother did this?"
Damian shook his head.
"No."
But there was uncertainty.
And Hazel saw it.
Victor stepped closer.
"That is why I came back."
Damian looked at him.
"Explain."
Victor pointed at the letter.
"Because your mother wasn't trying to hide Hazel."
A pause.
"She was trying to hide the truth about herself."
Hazel felt a chill.
"What truth?"
Victor looked toward the second floor.
"The reason she spent twenty years pretending to love your father."
Damian's expression changed.
"What are you saying?"
Victor didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the old family portrait hanging on the wall.
He touched the frame.
Then pressed something hidden behind it.
A small compartment opened.
Inside was a photograph.
Old.
Damian took it.
His face slowly lost color.
Hazel stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Damian stared at the photo.
Because standing beside his father and mother...
Was Hazel's mother.
But that wasn't the shocking part.
The shocking part was the baby in her arms.
A baby wearing a small bracelet.
A bracelet Hazel had worn her entire life.
Victor whispered:
"Your mother wasn't protecting you from the Romano family."
He looked at Damian.
"She was protecting you from the fact that Hazel was never a stranger."
Damian turned the photograph over.
There was a message written on the back.
Three words.
May you like
And the moment he read them, his entire expression changed.
"She is your..."
