Chapter 5 - The Woman Rafael Moretti Was Protecting
“Serena Bennett.”
The name stayed in the air.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
For a moment, I thought I had imagined it.
Because that was impossible.
My sister was gone.
Missing.
The entire reason I was standing in Rafael Moretti’s mansion wearing her wedding dress was because Serena had disappeared.
But Rafael’s men had just found evidence that she was here.
And now someone claimed she had entered the mansion.
Alive.
I looked at Rafael.
He looked back at me.
Neither of us knew what to believe.
“Where is she?”
My voice came out almost like a whisper.
The guard standing near the door looked uncomfortable.
“We saw someone near the east entrance camera.”
“Show me.”
Rafael didn’t wait.
He walked past me.
I followed.
This time, nobody tried to stop me.
Maybe because they understood something I was only beginning to realize.
Whatever was happening inside this mansion involved me.
We reached the security room within minutes.
Several guards stood in front of multiple monitors.
The screens showed different parts of the property.
The garden.
The gates.
The hallways.
The east wing.
A guard quickly pulled up the footage.
“There.”
The screen showed a woman walking through the hallway.
Her face was hidden.
She wore a long dark coat.
But the way she moved made my heart race.
I knew that posture.
I knew that walk.
“Stop.”
Everyone looked at me.
I stepped closer to the screen.
“Zoom in.”
The guard obeyed.
The image became clearer.
The woman turned slightly.
Only for a second.
But it was enough.
I covered my mouth.
Because I knew that face.
Even after one day.
Even after all the fear.
Even after everything that happened.
It was her.
“Serena…”
My voice broke.
The room became silent.
Rafael watched me carefully.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No doubt.
“That’s my sister.”
The guards looked at Rafael.
Waiting for orders.
But Rafael didn’t speak immediately.
His eyes stayed on the screen.
Like he was seeing a ghost.
“She came back.”
I turned toward him.
“You knew she might?”
His silence answered before he did.
My chest tightened.
“You knew.”
“Clara.”
“No.”
My voice became sharper.
“You knew she was alive?”
Rafael looked at me.
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“A possibility?”
I laughed quietly.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I couldn’t understand how many secrets one person could carry.
“My sister disappeared. My father lied. Someone put a tracker in my ring. Someone has been following me since I was a child. And you’re telling me you knew she might still be alive?”
His expression didn’t change.
But his eyes did.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By keeping me in the dark?”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised me.
Most people would have lied.
He didn’t.
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
Rafael looked at the screen again.
“Because the moment you knew the truth, you became a target.”
I stared at him.
“I was already a target.”
He didn’t deny it.
That scared me.
A guard suddenly interrupted.
“Boss.”
Rafael looked over.
“What?”
“The woman on camera disappeared.”
Everyone turned back to the screen.
The hallway was empty.
The woman was gone.
“How?”
The guard shook his head.
“She was there ten seconds ago.”
Rafael immediately walked toward the exit.
“Lock down the mansion.”
The guards moved.
I followed.
“Wait.”
Rafael stopped.
“What?”
“Where are we going?”
“To find your sister.”
The answer should have made me relieved.
Instead, I felt afraid.
Because if Serena was alive…
Why had she stayed hidden?
Why had she let me walk into this marriage?
Why had she warned me about Rafael?
We searched the east wing.
Room by room.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No signs.
Like she had never been there.
Then Rafael stopped in front of a small door at the end of the hallway.
I had never noticed it before.
“What is that?”
His expression became serious.
“A room Serena knew about.”
I looked at him.
“You said you didn’t know her well.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then how does she know hidden rooms in your mansion?”
He didn’t answer.
That was becoming a habit.
Rafael unlocked the door.
Inside was a small private room.
Not a bedroom.
Not an office.
A hiding place.
There were documents on the table.
A suitcase.
Clothes.
A phone charger.
Someone had been living here.
Recently.
I stepped inside.
My heart was pounding.
Because this wasn’t a place Serena visited.
This was a place Serena stayed.
“She was here.”
Rafael nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked around.
Then I saw something on the table.
A photograph.
I picked it up.
It was Serena and me.
But I had never seen this picture before.
We were children.
I was maybe six years old.
Serena was older.
She was holding my hand.
Behind us stood a woman.
The same woman from the notebook.
My supposed mother.
My hands started shaking.
“Who is she?”
Rafael looked at the picture.
“I don’t know.”
I looked at him.
“You’re lying.”
For the first time, he looked surprised.
“I’m not.”
“You know something.”
He was silent.
That silence was enough.
I put the photograph down.
“Tell me.”
Rafael looked away.
“When I first met Serena, she wasn’t looking for money.”
“What was she looking for?”
“You.”
My breath stopped.
“What?”
“She told me someone was trying to erase your existence.”
I felt cold.
“My existence?”
Rafael nodded.
“She said your father had spent years making sure you believed you were nobody.”
The words hurt because they felt true.
I thought about my childhood.
How Serena was always protected.
How I was always ignored.
How nobody ever asked what I wanted.
“How could she know?”
Rafael looked at the photograph.
“Because she found records.”
“What records?”
Before he could answer, the lights flickered.
Again.
The same thing.
Darkness.
A warning.
Everyone froze.
Then Rafael’s phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His face changed.
“What?”
I stepped closer.
“What happened?”
He showed me the screen.
A message.
From an unknown number.
There was only one sentence.
Rafael, she knows the truth now.
My heart stopped.
“Who sent that?”
Rafael didn’t answer.
Because another message arrived.
This time with a photo.
A live photo.
Taken inside the room we were standing in.
A photo of me.
Standing beside Rafael.
But the picture was taken from behind us.
Someone was inside the room.
Someone close enough to hear everything.
Rafael slowly turned around.
The guards raised their weapons.
The room was empty.
Then we heard it.
A soft voice.
Coming from the darkness behind the hidden wall.
“Clara…”
My blood froze.
Because I knew that voice.
It was Serena.
May you like
And she whispered:
“Don’t let him tell you why he really saved you.”
