STRINGS OF THE PAST (A Song we will play)

Chapter 28

The Revelation of Catherina’s Secret Pain

The morning air in Cambridge was crisp and sharp enough to sting your flesh. Autumn had arrived silently, painting the Harvard campus in faded reds and gentle golds. To everyone else, it was stunning.

But Catherina said it felt hollow.

A week had passed since the confrontation, and Bruno and Junior's disagreement had blasted through her life like a storm. Classes had resumed, and everyone had found new things to talk about, but she still couldn't find peace.

Her nights were sleepless. Her days are a gloom.

She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror at her dorm. Her eyes were ringed with fatigue. Beneath the makeup were faint bruises – not new, but recollections of anguish from months past. Pain was something she'd never admitted to anyone. Not even to Bruno.

A knock arrived on her door.

She tightened.

It was Evelyn, her roommate. "Cat? You've got a visitor downstairs. A man."

Her heartbeat skipped. "Bruno?"

Evelyn shrugged. "He did not say his name. Just that you'd like to see him.”

Catherina forced a smile. "Thanks. I will be right down."

She put on a sweater and dashed downstairs. But as soon as she entered the lobby, her steps faltered.

It was not Bruno.

It was Junior.

He stood there, his customary swagger subdued by tiredness. The sharp suit he wore only made his unkempt appearance worse. His eyes, which were previously proud and black, now carried a look of remorse.

"Catherina," he said gently.

She froze. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to talk," he explained. "Please. Only five minutes."

Her instincts said ‘no’, yet something compelled her to nod, possibly out of sympathy. "Fine. Outside."

They stepped into the courtyard. The leaves cracked under their shoes.

Junior pushed his hands into his pockets and looked down. "I should not have visited your dorm in that manner. I should not have said what I did.”

She remained silent, arms tightly folded. He looked up at her. "You love him, don't you?"

The question caused her to flinch. "That's none of your business."

"Maybe not," he replied gently. "But it's mine to regret."

She blinked, unsure on how to interpret his tone. The man who insulted her before now sounded… broken.

Then he uttered something that caused her blood to freeze. "Cat, my father is angry. He feels Bruno embarrassed us. He isn't going to let this go."

She gulped. "What does that mean?"

Junior paused. "He has deployed men to monitor you. I told him to stop, but he doesn't listen to me anymore."

Catherina's breath stopped.

"You… you're saying I'm being followed?"

He gave a nod. "You shouldn't go out alone. Tell your boyfriend to avoid the Cortezes.”

He has no idea what they are capable of.

Her pulse raced. "Then help me stop it!" Catherina said.

Junior's expression became sour. "Do you think I can? Catherina, I cannot even control my own life. You don't know what it's like to be Rafael Cortez's son.

Everything I have— every breath is his to take away."

For a brief moment, she saw the terrified youngster behind the bravado. The boy who used to be kind before power corrupted his world. But then memories of how he'd abused and maltreated her flooded back: the orchestrated accident, the shouting, the threats, the day he gripped her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.

She stepped back. "You should go."

Junior's eyes darkened. "I did not intend to hurt you. I was angry and stupid… "

"Stop." Her voice crackled. "You did hurt me Junior. You made me afraid to look at myself even on the mirror."

The truth sat heavily between them.

Junior clinched his jaw. For once, he did not protest. He only nodded, mumbled, "I'm sorry," and walked away, the wind engulfing his figure as he vanished beyond the gate.

That same night in New York, Bruno Sanchez sat in his penthouse office, his exhausted face illuminated by the glare of his computer screen. His desk was cluttered with files, including corporate ledgers, obsolete reports, and documents stamped with the name Cortez Holdings International.

He'd spent hours hunting for every thread that connected his company's weak finances to the Cortez family. He eventually discovered it.

A hidden clause buried deep in the Digital Studios' investment papers revealed that Cortez Holdings was one of their major silent debt contributors.

He believed the court decision on Raphael Cortez's misappropriation of business funds had put an end to his deceit as one of their shareholders.

Alias, the court announcement and judgment were all a showbiz for him and the entire populace.

It indicated one thing: the Cortez family had a financial interest in his company.

He breathed and leaned back in shock. That was why they hadn't gone after him publicly. They didn't want to jeopardize their own asset; they just wanted to control him.

A message appeared on his phone. Unknown Number: We warned you once. You have 72 hours to step down as CEO, or we will remove everything from you, beginning with her.

Bruno froze.

His pulse accelerated.

“Her.”

He didn't need to inquire who they were referring to.

It was definitely Catherina.

Without hesitation, he grabbed his coat, contacted his private driver, and then Daniel.

"Book the earliest flight back to Massachusetts. Now."

Catherina was still awake when the phone rang. Bruno's name displayed on the screen.

She responded immediately. "Bruno?"

"I'm on my way to you," he said swiftly. "Stay in your dormitory. Lock the doors.

Do not go anywhere."

Her heartbeat quickened. "What's going on?"

"They are threatening to hurt you, Cat. The Cortezes. "They sent me a message."

Her blood became chilled. "Oh my God…"

"I'll explain everything once I get there. Just promise that you will not open the door for anyone." He said.

“I promise,” she muttered, tears sliding down her cheeks.

When the call ended, she sat trembling, gripping the phone. She remembered the men Junior had warned her about, and the weird cars parked near the gate. Everything finally made sense—and it horrified her.

Hours later, Bruno came. When she spotted him at the door, she burst into tears. He held her, his coat drenched with rain, his voice low and comforting.

"I am here. You're safe now." He said.

She shook her head. “No, Bruno. You do not understand. They will not stop. And it is my fault. If I had not—"

"Don't say that, I know you’re scared" he replied abruptly, lifting her chin up. "But none of this is your fault."

Her lips twitched. "You don't know what I've been through with him… with Junior."

He frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?" Tears flowed freely now. "He hurt me real bad, Bruno.

She moved closer, tears already threatening her eyes.

"I remember everything now," she muttered. "I wasn't to blame for what happened that night of my accident. It wasn’t even an accident."

Bruno frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Junior was driving," she explained, her words tumbling out now. "We were coming back from a course mates’birthday party, and I told him to slow down."

He claimed to be better than you and promised I would never see you again. I believed he was inebriated.

But his ex-girlfriend Elena confronted me and presented me evidence of their chat proving that he purposely caused the accident.

She swallowed hard. "And then… we crashed." Bruno's breath caught. "He was the driver?"

"Yes." She replied. Her voice cracked. "He was the cause of everything. "My memory loss, trauma, everything."

He stared at her silently, attempting to grasp the hurricane raging in his chest. The image of Junior's arrogant smile, his continual interference, his arrogance resurfaced like an angry echo.

Bruno's gaze hardened, his jaw clenched. "He what?"

She murmured, "He hit me once. Maybe twice. He said I made him feel small. I didn't tell anyone because I felt ashamed being a lawyer that couldn’t defend herself. And I didn’t also tell you because I was also afraid because he said he will kill himself, you and myself, of I have ever tried to leave him or tell anyone else. "

"He hits you," Bruno exclaimed fiercely. "Many times," she whispered. "It started following the accident. He apologized and promised to take care of me, but it quickly turned into control — jealousy, threats, and bruises. I was afraid, Bruno. I figured if I left him, he'd injure someone else. Perhaps even you.”

Tears ran down her face. "That's why I never informed you. I did not want you to die for me. Bruno moved closer, his hand quivering as he wiped a tear from her face.”

"You should have told me, Catherina.” He insisted.

“You've never had to face him alone.”

For the first time in weeks, she allowed herself to cry—not out of fear, but out of relief.

As dawn neared, Bruno sat by the window, keeping an eye on her while she slept. His mind raced with threats, Cortez secret fraud to his company, and Catherina's agony.

He realized how serious their situation was. It wasn't just a feud. It was a fight between families, driven by power, debt, and legacy.

And Catherina got caught in the center of it all.

He took out his phone and texted Daniel:

"Contact a security consultant. Someone off the books. We'll do whatever it takes to protect her."

He returned his gaze to Catherina, whose face was serene in sleep.

Bruno whispered to himself, " I can risk my title, company, and name, but I can never risk loosing you Cat."

Outside, thunder rumbled in the distance, faint but increasing. A warning that the war between the Sanchez and Cortezes had only just started.