The Other Side
945 Words
Aria read the message again.
Then again.
Her hands had gone cold.
BECAUSE DANTE ISN'T WHO YOU THINK HE IS.
She looked up slowly.
Dante was watching her.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I was.”
Aria stepped away from him.
“Your father is the man my father was fighting. Your family had a contract involving me. And now my real father is warning me about you.”
Dante remained silent.
“What exactly am I supposed to think?”
“That you shouldn't trust anyone.”
“Does that include you?”
“Yes.”
The answer caught her off guard.
Dante walked toward the desk and picked up the black folder.
“My father built an empire by destroying anyone who stood in his way. Adrian Vale was the only man powerful enough to challenge him.”
“And you?”
“I inherited the empire.”
Aria stared at him.
“So you're just like him?”
“No.”
His voice was firm.
“I'm trying to destroy what he built.”
She frowned.
“Then why are you protecting me?”
“Because someone wants you dead.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
Dante looked at the photograph of Isabella.
“My mother spent years investigating the contract between our families. Before she died, she discovered something that could destroy both empires.”
“What?”
Dante opened the folder again.
A single sheet of paper was hidden beneath the photographs.
He handed it to Aria.
She read the first line.
THE ROMANO-VALE AGREEMENT
Her eyes moved down the page.
Then she stopped.
There was a handwritten note at the bottom.
The child must never learn the truth.
Aria looked up.
“Who wrote this?”
Dante pointed to the signature.
“Isabella.”
Aria's heart sank.
“Why would your mother want me kept in the dark?”
“Because she knew what would happen if the truth came out.”
“What truth?”
Dante hesitated.
Before he could answer, the study door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
She was dressed in black and held a small envelope.
“Dante.”
He immediately reached for his weapon.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at him calmly.
“You don't remember me?”
Dante's expression changed.
Aria watched him carefully.
The woman smiled faintly.
“I worked for your mother.”
Dante lowered his weapon slightly.
“What do you want?”
“To finish what she started.”
She placed the envelope on the desk.
Dante didn't touch it.
“What is that?”
“Proof.”
“Proof of what?”
“That Adrian Vale is alive.”
Aria stepped forward.
“Where is he?”
The woman looked at her.
“He's been watching you for years.”
Aria's stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Because he believed keeping his distance was the only way to keep you alive.”
“Then why come back now?”
The woman looked toward Dante.
“Because the people who wanted him dead have finally found his daughter.”
Dante's phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
His face became expressionless.
“Say that again.”
He listened.
Then his eyes moved to Aria.
“What happened?”
A pause.
“Where?”
He ended the call.
“They found your father's car.”
Aria's breath caught.
“Where?”
“Outside the city.”
“Was he inside?”
“No.”
“Then what did they find?”
Dante looked at her.
“Your photograph.”
Aria went still.
The woman suddenly whispered,
“They're sending a message.”
Dante turned toward her.
“What message?”
She looked at Aria.
“They want her to know that her father isn't hiding anymore.”
A loud knock sounded against the study door.
Everyone froze.
Three slow knocks.
Then silence.
Dante signaled for his men to stay back.
He opened the door.
No one was there.
Only a small black box sat on the floor.
Dante crouched beside it.
“Don't touch it,” Aria said.
He stopped.
There was something written on the lid.
FOR THE HEIR.
Aria stared at the words.
Dante slowly opened the box.
Inside was a silver necklace.
Attached to it was a tiny photograph.
Aria picked it up.
Her breath caught.
It showed her as a child.
Standing between two men.
Daniel Bennett.
And Adrian Vale.
On the back, four words had been written.
YOUR FATHER CHOSE YOU.
Aria looked at Dante.
“What does that mean?”
Before he could answer, the woman spoke.
“It means Adrian didn't give you away because he wanted to.”
Aria turned toward her.
“Then why?”
The woman looked at the necklace.
“Because you weren't his weakness.”
She paused.
“You were his weapon.”
Aria's face went pale.
Dante immediately stepped toward her.
“What does that mean?”
The woman didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the window.
Her expression suddenly changed.
“They're here.”
A red laser dot appeared on the glass.
Dante pulled Aria down.
A sharp c***k echoed through the room.
The window shattered.
Everyone dropped to the floor.
Dante grabbed the folder and pulled Aria toward the hidden passage behind the bookshelf.
“Move!”
Aria followed him.
As the door closed behind them, she looked back at the broken window.
For the first time, she understood something terrifying.
The contract wasn't about a debt.
It had never been about money.
It had always been about her.
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