Chapter 3 - The Letter Hidden Beside The Ruby
The lights went out.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The security room that had been filled with the sound of cameras and computer fans suddenly became completely silent.
Then came the whisper.
"Serena..."
My entire body froze.
Not because someone had called my name.
But because I knew that voice.
I had spent years trying to forget it.
Years convincing myself that I would never hear it again.
Damiano immediately stepped in front of me.
A protective movement.
Automatic.
Almost like he didn't even realize he had done it.
"Who is there?"
His voice was calm.
But I noticed something.
His hand had moved toward his jacket.
The same way someone moves when they are prepared for danger.
The security guards turned on their flashlights.
The beams moved across the dark room.
Nothing.
No person.
No movement.
Only the sound of my own heartbeat.
"Check the hallway," Damiano ordered.
The guards rushed outside.
I remained standing there.
Unable to look away from the frozen security monitor.
The envelope was still on the screen.
My name.
My handwriting.
My past.
All sitting beside the missing ruby.
Mia stepped closer.
"Serena..."
I looked at her.
She looked frightened.
Not confused.
Frightened.
"You know something."
She didn't answer.
That silence told me more than words could.
Damiano noticed it too.
His eyes moved between us.
"Mia."
She looked at him.
"What aren't you telling us?"
The bride's face turned pale.
"I don't know everything."
"Then tell us what you do know."
She looked down.
For a moment, she looked less like the future wife of Damiano Vercelli.
She looked like a scared woman caught between two impossible choices.
"When I invited Serena to make the cake..."
She stopped.
I waited.
"When I invited her, I didn't know it would happen."
"What would happen?" I asked.
Mia swallowed.
"The envelope."
The room became colder.
"You knew about the envelope?"
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"But I knew someone might come looking for you."
My eyes narrowed.
"Looking for me?"
Mia nodded slowly.
"Serena, there are things about your past you never told me."
I almost laughed.
"My past?"
I looked around the room.
"My past is owning a bakery and waking up at four in the morning to make wedding cakes."
"That's not all."
The words hit harder than I expected.
Because Mia wasn't accusing me.
She was warning me.
Before I could ask another question, the lights returned.
Everyone blinked.
The monitors restarted.
And the security manager suddenly gasped.
"Wait."
Damiano turned.
"What?"
The man looked at the screen.
"The footage changed."
My stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
He pointed.
"The footage from the bridal suite."
We moved closer.
The security camera timeline showed the woman entering the room.
Showing the envelope.
Showing the ruby.
But then...
The time stamp changed.
Damiano's expression darkened.
"Someone edited it."
The security manager nodded.
"Yes."
"Can you recover the original?"
The man hesitated.
"I can try."
"Try faster."
Damiano's voice became colder.
The security manager immediately returned to work.
I looked at Damiano.
"You really didn't know?"
He looked at me.
"Know what?"
"That someone was manipulating your security system."
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he answered.
"No."
I believed him.
That surprised me.
Because hours earlier, I had only seen him as the man who humiliated me.
The man who believed a rumor before believing me.
But now I saw something else.
He wasn't controlling this situation.
Someone else was.
And that scared him.
A guard returned.
"Mr. Vercelli."
Damiano turned.
"We found something."
"What?"
The guard held a small object.
A piece of black fabric.
"It was caught on the door handle outside the security room."
Damiano took it.
His expression changed.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer immediately.
He looked at me.
Then at the fabric.
"Someone was inside this room."
A chill moved through me.
"While we were here?"
Damiano nodded.
The guard continued.
"There is more."
He handed Damiano a small card.
Damiano read it.
Then his face became completely still.
"What does it say?"
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
"Damiano."
Slowly, he handed me the card.
Three words were written.
"Ask Serena."
My heart dropped.
"Ask me what?"
Nobody answered.
Because suddenly the security manager shouted.
"I found the original footage!"
Everyone turned.
The screen changed.
The deleted video appeared.
The woman with the yellow handbag walked into the bridal suite.
She placed the envelope beside the ruby.
Then she turned toward the camera.
For the first time.
Her face was visible.
I stopped breathing.
Because I knew her.
Not from television.
Not from rumors.
From my own life.
"No..."
The word escaped my mouth.
Damiano looked at me.
"Who is she?"
I couldn't answer.
Because the woman on the screen was someone I had buried in my memory.
Someone who had disappeared twelve years ago.
Someone who should never have been able to send me anything.
The woman looked directly into the camera.
Then she said something.
The audio was damaged.
The security manager increased the volume.
Static filled the room.
Then one sentence became clear.
"Serena..."
My hands started shaking.
The woman continued.
"You need to know why I left."
Mia covered her mouth.
Damiano stared at the screen.
And I felt the world I had built around myself begin to crack.
Because the woman on the video wasn't just connected to the ruby.
She was connected to the reason I had spent half my life pretending my past didn't exist.
The footage continued.
The woman placed one final item beside the envelope.
A small photograph.
Then she walked away.
The security manager paused the video.
"Should I zoom in?"
Nobody answered.
Damiano looked at me.
I nodded.
The image enlarged.
The photograph became clearer.
A younger version of me.
Standing beside a woman.
Holding her hand.
On the back of the photograph, there was writing.
The security manager turned the image.
And read it aloud.
"Serena, if you are seeing this, it means they finally found you."
My blood ran cold.
Damiano looked at me.
"Who are they?"
I stared at the screen.
Because I knew the answer.
I just didn't want to say it.
Then my phone vibrated.
A new message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
"Don't trust Damiano Vercelli."
I looked up.
Damiano was watching me.
Before I could hide the screen, he saw the message.
His expression changed.
And behind him, the security room door slowly opened by itself.
A woman's voice came from the darkness.
May you like
"He's not the one you should be afraid of."
And standing in the doorway was the woman from the video...
