Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden In The Photograph
The phone rang again.
Mara stared at the screen.
She didn’t answer.
Not immediately.
Because the name appearing on it made no sense.
Elena Vale.
Dante Vale’s wife.
Or at least, the woman everyone believed had disappeared two years ago.
Mara had heard rumors.
Everyone in Bellador had.
Elena Vale had vanished shortly after Dante’s accident.
Some said she left because she couldn’t handle his condition.
Some said she ran because she knew too much.
Some said Dante himself had erased her from his life.
But nobody had ever seen her again.
Mara looked at the photograph in her hand.
Dante standing beside Elena.
Both of them smiling.
Before everything fell apart.
The phone continued vibrating.
Finally, Mara answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Only breathing.
Then a woman whispered.
"Are you working for Dante?"
Mara stood up slowly.
"Who is this?"
"You know who this is."
Mara looked at the photograph again.
"Elena?"
The line went quiet.
For several seconds.
Then the woman spoke.
"You need to leave that house."
Mara frowned.
"Why?"
"Because Dante Vale is not the only person hiding the truth."
The call ended.
Mara stood frozen in the middle of the room.
She hated mysteries.
She hated secrets.
And most of all, she hated being dragged into someone else’s war.
But something bothered her.
The medication.
The changed label.
The photograph.
The message.
None of it felt random.
Someone wanted her to find something.
The question was why.
A knock suddenly came from the door.
Mara quickly hid the photograph.
"Come in."
The door opened.
It was Dante.
He entered using his wheelchair, his expression unreadable.
"You received a call."
Mara’s heart tightened.
"How do you know?"
"I have cameras throughout the house."
"Of course you do."
Dante ignored the comment.
"Who called?"
Mara looked at him.
For a moment, she considered lying.
But she remembered what he said.
He didn’t know who he could trust.
And she understood something.
If she lied now, she became another person hiding information from him.
"Elena."
The name changed everything.
Dante’s hands stopped moving.
The room became completely silent.
His face didn’t show anger.
It showed pain.
Real pain.
Mara had seen powerful men before.
Men who pretended nothing could hurt them.
But Dante Vale was different.
He looked like someone who had been carrying the same wound for years.
"She’s alive?"
Mara slowly nodded.
"I think so."
Dante looked away.
"She shouldn’t be."
The words were quiet.
Almost broken.
Mara studied him.
"You thought she was dead?"
"No."
He paused.
"I thought she was gone because she wanted to be."
Mara didn’t know what to say.
Dante turned toward her.
"Show me the picture."
She hesitated.
Then handed it over.
His eyes immediately focused on the image.
Not Elena.
Not himself.
Something behind them.
A building.
A small sign.
Mara noticed his expression change.
"What is it?"
Dante didn’t answer.
He turned the photo around.
On the back was the same sentence.
Ask Dante who pushed him.
But now Mara saw something else.
A tiny symbol drawn beneath the words.
A circle.
With a line through it.
Dante’s face became pale.
"You know that symbol."
Mara’s voice was soft.
Dante gripped the photograph.
"Where did you get this?"
"Someone put it under my door."
"When?"
"Tonight."
Dante looked toward the security cameras.
His expression became dangerous.
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"Because nobody entered this hallway."
Mara felt a chill.
"Then someone inside your house left it."
Dante didn’t respond.
Because he knew she was right.
For years, Dante had controlled every corner of his mansion.
Every entrance.
Every employee.
Every visitor.
Nothing happened without him knowing.
But someone had entered Mara’s room.
Someone had left a warning.
Someone had bypassed his security.
And that meant one thing.
The enemy wasn’t outside.
It was inside.
Dante moved toward the door.
"Mara, pack your things."
She blinked.
"What?"
"You’re leaving."
"Because someone threatened me?"
"Because someone threatened you in my home."
She crossed her arms.
"You hired me to take care of you."
"I hired you because I thought you were safe here."
"And now?"
Dante looked at her.
"Now I think you’re in danger because of me."
For some reason, those words affected her more than she expected.
Because Dante Vale wasn’t afraid for himself.
He was afraid for her.
Before she could answer, an alarm suddenly sounded.
A sharp electronic noise filled the mansion.
Dante immediately turned.
One of the bodyguards rushed inside.
"Boss."
Dante looked at him.
"What happened?"
The guard’s face was tense.
"The east security system was disabled."
"When?"
"Three minutes ago."
Dante’s eyes narrowed.
"Who accessed it?"
The guard hesitated.
Nobody wanted to say the answer.
Dante’s voice became colder.
"Tell me."
The guard swallowed.
"It was your personal access code."
The room went silent.
Mara looked at Dante.
His own code.
The code only he knew.
The code nobody else should have.
Dante stared at the guard.
"Impossible."
"I checked twice."
"Who used it?"
The guard looked down.
Then handed him a tablet.
Dante looked at the screen.
Mara watched his expression change.
"What is it?"
Dante didn’t answer.
She stepped closer.
On the screen was a security image.
A person walking through the east hallway.
The camera angle was unclear.
The figure wore a black coat.
Their face was hidden.
But there was one detail visible.
A small scar on their left hand.
Dante froze.
Because he knew that scar.
Mara noticed.
"You know them."
Dante slowly lowered the tablet.
"No."
But his voice said otherwise.
The bodyguard looked confused.
"Boss?"
Dante stared at the screen.
Then whispered a name.
A name Mara had never heard before.
A name that made every guard in the room go silent.
"Marcus."
Mara looked at Dante.
"Who is Marcus?"
Dante didn’t answer.
Because three years ago, Marcus was the man who had saved Dante’s life.
The man who had been standing beside him the night of the accident.
The man who disappeared afterward.
The man Dante believed was dead.
A loud sound suddenly came from the hallway.
A door opening.
Slowly.
Everyone turned.
The bodyguards reached for their weapons.
Dante moved his wheelchair forward.
Mara stood beside him.
The person outside stepped closer.
One shadow.
One figure.
One familiar voice.
"Dante..."
May you like
Dante stopped breathing.
Because the person standing outside the door was the one person he never expected to see again.
