Chapter 4 - The Enemy Behind The Missing Bride
The whisper came from the hallway.
“Rafael.”
The voice was low.
Familiar.
Dangerously calm.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
The darkness around us felt heavier than before.
Rafael immediately stepped in front of me.
Not because he thought I was weak.
Because he knew someone was coming for me.
The office door remained closed.
But someone was standing outside.
Waiting.
“Who is it?” I whispered.
Rafael didn’t answer.
His hand moved toward the weapon hidden beneath his jacket.
That single movement told me everything.
He knew exactly how dangerous this person could be.
The lights suddenly returned.
The hallway outside was empty.
No footsteps.
No shadow.
Nothing.
But on the floor in front of the office door was a small white envelope.
Nobody had seen it arrive.
Rafael walked toward it slowly.
“Don’t touch it.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever left it wanted us to find it.”
He picked up a pair of gloves from the desk.
Then carefully opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My heart dropped.
It was Serena.
But not the Serena I remembered.
This picture was taken inside the Moretti mansion.
She was standing in the same office.
Holding the same flash drive.
But beside her was someone else.
Someone I knew.
Someone I never expected.
My fingers became cold.
“No.”
Rafael looked at me.
“You know him?”
I couldn’t answer immediately.
Because the man standing beside Serena in the photograph was my father.
Edward Bennett.
My father.
The man who told me Serena had abandoned her wedding.
The man who forced me to replace her.
The man who claimed he was protecting our family.
“He was here.”
Rafael’s expression hardened.
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
I looked closer at the image.
My father and Serena weren’t arguing.
They weren’t fighting.
They looked like they were working together.
Like they shared a secret.
Rafael took the photograph from my hand.
“Your father lied.”
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I was exhausted.
“Apparently everyone has.”
He looked at me.
For a second, the cold mafia boss disappeared.
And I saw something else.
Understanding.
“You trusted him.”
I looked away.
“He was my father.”
Rafael didn’t respond.
Because there was nothing to say.
A father was supposed to protect his child.
Not deliver her to a dangerous man.
Not use her as a replacement.
Not hide the truth behind a smile.
Rafael placed the photograph on the desk.
“Your sister discovered something about him.”
“And you?”
His eyes moved to mine.
“What about you?”
The question surprised him.
“What do you mean?”
“Serena told me not to trust you.”
Silence.
The room became still.
“She said you knew why she disappeared.”
Rafael’s jaw tightened.
For the first time since I met him, he looked like someone carrying a secret he didn’t want to reveal.
“I know why she came to me.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“No.”
He looked away.
“It isn’t.”
I stepped closer.
“Then tell me.”
He didn’t answer.
“Rafael.”
My voice became sharper.
“I was forced into this marriage. I was used by my own father. I found out my sister was hiding secrets from me. And now I’m standing in a room with a man everyone fears who refuses to tell me the truth.”
He looked back at me.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Even if it changes how you see everyone?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he walked toward the window.
“Six months ago, Serena contacted me.”
I froze.
“She contacted you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted protection.”
The answer shocked me.
“From who?”
Rafael looked outside.
“Your father.”
My heart refused to accept it.
“No.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s impossible.”
“Is it?”
I remembered the lies.
The forced marriage.
The hidden message.
The tracking device.
The photograph.
Suddenly, impossible felt like the only thing that made sense.
“What did Serena tell you?”
Rafael was silent.
Then he spoke.
“She discovered your father was involved in something much bigger than debt.”
“What?”
“Money laundering.”
My face changed.
“He used the family company?”
“Not only that.”
Rafael turned around.
“He used my organization.”
The room went silent.
I understood.
This wasn’t just a family problem.
This was a war.
“My father betrayed you.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you destroy him?”
A cold expression appeared on Rafael’s face.
“Because Serena asked me not to.”
I stared.
“She protected him?”
“No.”
He looked at the photograph.
“She protected you.”
Those words hit harder than anything else.
My sister knew.
She knew something terrible was happening.
And instead of running away alone…
She tried to protect me.
A sound suddenly came from outside.
A crash.
The guards shouted.
Rafael immediately moved.
“Stay behind me.”
This time, I listened.
The office door opened.
One of his men rushed inside.
“Boss.”
Rafael looked at him.
“What happened?”
“We found someone inside the east wing.”
“Who?”
The guard hesitated.
That hesitation scared me.
“Someone who should not be alive.”
Rafael’s expression changed.
“Take me there.”
I followed.
He stopped.
“No.”
“I’m coming.”
“Clara.”
“I’m already involved.”
He looked at me.
I expected him to argue.
Instead, he nodded once.
“Stay close.”
We moved through the mansion.
The atmosphere had completely changed.
The wedding decorations that once looked expensive now felt like a trap.
The flowers.
The lights.
The perfect arrangements.
Everything was hiding something.
When we reached the east wing, several guards were standing outside a room.
The door was open.
Rafael entered first.
I followed behind him.
The room was empty.
Except for one thing.
A suitcase.
Placed in the center.
Rafael looked at it.
Nobody touched it.
Because everyone understood.
It was another message.
He opened it carefully.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
And a small notebook.
My name was written on the cover.
CLARA BENNETT.
I stepped closer.
“Why does he have a notebook about me?”
Rafael opened it.
The first page contained only one sentence.
My hands shook as I read it.
“Everything begins with the girl who was never chosen.”
I looked at Rafael.
Then at the pages.
There were years of information.
My childhood.
My school.
My daily routines.
Someone had been watching me for a long time.
But then Rafael turned the page.
And stopped.
His expression changed completely.
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Rafael?”
Slowly, he handed me the notebook.
On the final page was a photograph.
A photograph of me.
But I wasn’t alone.
I was a child.
Maybe eight years old.
Standing beside a woman I had never seen before.
And written beneath the picture were four words.
“Your real mother survived.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Because I had been told my mother died when I was a baby.
Rafael stared at the photo.
Then his phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
Listened.
His face became colder.
“Repeat that.”
A pause.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Someone just entered the mansion.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
Rafael lowered the phone.
And whispered the name.
May you like
The name I never expected to hear.
“Serena Bennett.”
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