The Secret She Forgot
1227 Words
The gunshot echoed through the Romano estate.
Elena screamed as Dante pulled her against him.
For a few seconds, everything seemed frozen.
Then another gunshot shattered the silence.
Dante pushed Elena behind a marble pillar.
“Stay here.”
“Dante, what happened?”
“Don't move.”
He stepped into the hallway, his gun raised.
Guards rushed toward the staircase.
“Where did the shot come from?” Dante demanded.
“Second floor!”
Dante immediately looked at Victor.
But Victor was gone.
Elena's heart raced.
“Where did he go?”
Dante didn't answer.
Instead, he grabbed her hand.
“We're leaving this floor.”
“But Victor”
“I said move.”
They hurried through a side hallway.
Elena could barely keep up.
“What happened to the person who fired?”
“We don't know.”
“Was the gunshot meant for me?”
Dante stopped.
His expression told her everything.
“Yes.”
Elena swallowed.
“Why?”
“Because you're the last Valdez heir.”
They entered a large study.
Dante locked the door behind them.
Elena leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
“I'm tired of being told I'm important without being told why.”
Dante stared at her.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to understand something first.”
He walked toward a large bookshelf.
“There are people who believe your father left something inside you.”
Elena frowned.
“Inside me?”
“Not literally.”
Dante pressed a hidden button.
The bookshelf moved.
Behind it was a small room.
Inside stood an old metal safe.
Elena stared.
“What is that?”
“Your father's safe.”
Dante entered a code.
The door opened.
Inside was a small black box.
He picked it up and placed it on the table.
Elena immediately recognized the symbol carved on top.
The black rose.
Her pendant suddenly felt warm against her skin.
Dante noticed.
“Give me the pendant.”
Elena stepped back.
“No.”
“Elena.”
“You told me not to lose it.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you want it now?”
Dante's eyes darkened.
“Because I think it opens this box.”
Elena looked at the box.
Slowly, she placed the pendant into a small opening.
A click echoed through the room.
The box opened.
Inside was a single photograph and a small key.
Elena picked up the photograph.
Her hands began to tremble.
It showed her parents.
But they weren't alone.
Standing behind them was a much younger Dante.
And beside him stood Maria.
Elena stared in disbelief.
“Maria knew your family.”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
Dante remained silent.
Elena turned the photograph over.
There were handwritten words on the back.
When the time comes, take Elena to the place where it all began.
Below it was an address.
Elena looked at Dante.
“What place is this?”
Dante read the address.
His face changed.
“The old Valdez estate.”
“I thought it was destroyed.”
“So did I.”
“Then why does my mother want me to go there?”
Dante looked at the key.
“Because whatever your father hide is probably still there.”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Elena froze.
“Again?”
Dante immediately pulled his weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Someone stopped outside the study.
Then three knocks.
Elena's blood ran cold.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Dante raised his gun.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
Then a woman's voice came from the other side.
“Elena…”
Her eyes widened.
She knew that voice.
“Maria?”
Dante looked at her.
“Don't open the door.”
“But that's Maria!”
The voice came again.
“Elena, please.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Maria!”
She moved toward the door.
Dante caught her arm.
“Wait.”
“That's her!”
“Maybe.”
Elena stared at him.
“What do you mean, maybe?”
Dante approached the door carefully.
He listened.
Nothing.
Then suddenly
A loud explosion came from the opposite side of the mansion.
The voice outside disappeared.
Dante opened the door.
Nobody was there.
Only a small envelope lay on the floor.
Elena picked it up.
Her name was written across it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Elena stared.
It was her mother.
But the photograph had been taken recently.
Her mother was alive.
And standing beside her was a man whose face had been scratched out.
Elena's hands shook.
“Maria said my parents disappeared.”
Dante looked at the photograph.
“This changes everything.”
“What do you mean?”
Dante pointed to the background.
There was a building behind Elena's mother.
A familiar building.
Elena recognized it immediately.
“The old house.”
Dante nodded.
“But that's impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because that photograph was taken yesterday.”
Elena's heart stopped.
“Yesterday?”
Dante looked at her.
“Yes.”
Her mother wasn't simply alive.
Someone had been with her.
Someone who wanted Elena to see this photograph.
Then Elena noticed something written in the corner.
Three words.
COME ALONE, ELENA.
Dante's expression hardened.
“It's a trap.”
Elena looked at him.
“What if it isn't?”
“It is.”
“But what if my mother is there?”
“We'll find her.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“I need to know the truth.”
Dante stepped closer.
“You don't know what you're walking into.”
“I've spent eighteen years being protected by lies.”
She held up the photograph.
“I'm done hiding.”
Dante stared at her.
For the first time, he didn't argue.
Instead, he picked up the key from the black box.
“We go together.”
Elena nodded.
But before they could leave, Dante's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression immediately darkened.
“What?”
He listened.
Then his eyes slowly moved toward Elena.
“Repeat that.”
Silence.
Dante ended the call.
“What happened?” Elena asked.
He hesitated.
Then he said quietly,
“The old Valdez estate has been surrounded.”
Elena's heart sank.
“By who?”
Dante looked toward the window.
“Everyone who has been waiting for you.”
A second message appeared on his phone.
Dante read it.
His face became completely unreadable.
Elena stepped closer.
“What does it say?”
Dante turned the phone toward her.
There was only one sentence.
BRING ELENA ALONE, OR MARIA DIES.
Elena's blood ran cold.
Dante looked at her.
“They know Maria is the one person you'll risk everything for.”
Elena tightened her grip around the black rose pendant.
And somewhere far away, behind the walls of the abandoned Valdez estate, Maria opened her eyes.
She looked toward the camera hidden in the ceiling.
Then she whispered,
“She's finally remembering.”
A man's voice answered from the darkness.
“Not yet.”
Maria looked terrified.
“Then what are you waiting for?”
The man stepped into the light.
His face remained hidden.
“I'm waiting for her to remember who she really is.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD