RUN FROM ME

CHAPTER ELEVEN_ THE CARD DOESN'T LIE

CHAPTER 11 — THE CARD DOESN’T LIE

POV: SERA

The morning started softer than most mornings in the Moretti estate.

That was what confused me the most.

Because nothing about this place was ever truly soft.

The sunlight slipped through the tall windows in slow golden lines, touching the marble floors like it didn’t belong there. For a moment, I stood in the hallway just watching it, holding my sleeves close around my hands.

I was still getting used to how quiet everything could feel here when nothing was wrong.

Or when I thought nothing was wrong.

“Stop looking like you’re trapped in a painting,” Isabella’s voice cut through my thoughts.

I turned slightly.

She was leaning casually against the doorway, dressed like she had already decided the world belonged to her today. There was something effortless about her confidence that always made me feel smaller in comparison.

“I wasn’t—” I started.

“You were,” she interrupted immediately, walking toward me. “You always look like that when you’re thinking too hard.”

“I don’t think too hard.”

She gave me a look.

That exact look that said she absolutely didn’t believe a word I was saying.

Then she tilted her head slightly.

“Come with me today.”

I blinked. “Where?”

Her lips curved faintly. “Mall.”

That word alone made me pause.

The idea of being around crowds again… strangers… noise… eyes I couldn’t control…

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I admitted softly.

Isabella sighed dramatically like I had personally insulted her entire existence.

“Oh please. You’ve been in this house for too long. You’re starting to match the furniture.”

“I don’t—”

“You do.”

She stepped closer, lowering her voice slightly now.

“Just come with me. I’ll be there the whole time. You need air. Normal air. Not… Moretti air.”

At the mention of Alessandro, something inside me shifted slightly without permission.

Isabella noticed immediately.

Her eyes narrowed playfully.

“Oh,” she said slowly. “You were going to ask him, weren’t you?”

I hesitated.

That hesitation was enough.

She smiled like she had won something.

“Let’s go ask him together then.”

---

We found Alessandro in his office.

Of course he was there.

He was always working.

The room was quiet in that controlled way that made it feel like even the air didn’t want to disturb him.

Marco was standing near him, speaking in low tones until Isabella walked in like she owned the place.

“Brother,” she said brightly.

Alessandro didn’t even look up immediately.

That alone made me nervous.

Then his gaze lifted.

And it landed on me.

It always landed on me a second longer than necessary.

“What is it?” he asked calmly.

Isabella didn’t waste time.

“She wants to go out.”

I turned to her instantly. “I didn’t say—”

“You were thinking it,” she corrected.

Alessandro’s eyes shifted slightly toward me now.

I suddenly felt like the room had become smaller.

“A mall,” Isabella continued casually. “Just for a few hours. She needs fresh air.”

Silence.

Marco looked between us like he already knew this was going to become complicated.

Alessandro finally leaned back slightly in his chair.

“No.”

One word.

Clean.

Final.

Isabella groaned loudly. “Oh my God, you’re impossible.”

“It’s not safe,” he added calmly.

“I’ll be with her,” Isabella argued.

“I said no.”

This time his voice was quieter.

Not louder.

But firmer.

That kind of firmness that didn’t invite argument.

I didn’t even realize I had stepped forward slightly until I spoke.

“I’ll be careful.”

The room went still.

Alessandro looked at me again.

Longer this time.

I felt it in my chest.

“You want to go?” he asked quietly.

I hesitated.

Then nodded.

A pause.

Then he exhaled slowly.

Not defeat.

Not approval.

Something in between.

“Marco will send men,” he said finally.

Isabella instantly smiled. “So that’s a yes.”

Alessandro didn’t answer her.

He was still looking at me.

And for a second, I wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision.

---

The mall was louder than I remembered.

Or maybe I had just forgotten what normal life sounded like.

People moved in every direction. Conversations overlapped. Lights reflected off glass displays like the world itself was trying too hard to impress everyone.

Isabella walked ahead of me confidently, already pulling me into stores and pointing at things I didn’t even know how to respond to.

“You’re too quiet,” she said suddenly.

“I’m not used to this,” I admitted.

“Exactly. That’s the problem.”

She stopped at a boutique store and turned to me with sudden seriousness.

“You’re allowed to exist outside that house, you know.”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Because I wasn’t sure if that was true anymore.

Then she smiled again like she wanted to erase the heaviness.

“Come on. Try this place.”

She pushed me gently inside.

---

The dress was simple.

Soft fabric. Elegant. Nothing too loud.

But I stopped when I saw it.

It wasn’t expensive in the way everything else here was.

It just looked… pretty.

For a moment, I forgot everything else and reached toward it lightly.

Isabella’s voice came from behind me.

“I’m going to grab something quickly. Stay here.”

“Okay,” I said softly.

And then she was gone.

---

That was when everything changed.

Alone, I stood there longer than I should have.

The dress still in front of me.

My fingers tightened slightly.

I shouldn’t.

But I remembered something.

The black card.

Alessandro’s card.

He had given it to me once.

“Use it for anything you need.”

I still didn’t understand why I had kept it with me.

But my hand moved anyway.

I walked to the counter slowly.

“I’d like this,” I said quietly.

The cashier looked at me.

Then at the card.

Then her expression changed.

Instantly.

Not curiosity.

Recognition.

That kind of recognition that made my stomach tighten.

“This card…” she said slowly.

I nodded nervously. “Yes.”

Her eyes sharpened.

“This belongs to the Moretti family.”

My breath caught slightly.

“I—he gave it to me.”

But even as I said it, I realized how wrong it sounded in my own ears.

Her gaze dropped over me slowly.

Like she was judging every part of me.

Then she smiled.

Not kindly.

“Stealing from the Moretti family is bold.”

My stomach dropped.

“I didn’t steal anything.”

But my voice came out too soft.

Too uncertain.

Other people started noticing.

Whispers began.

The space around me suddenly felt tighter.

A security guard appeared.

Then another.

“Step away from the counter,” one of them said sharply.

My hands started shaking.

“No, I can explain—”

“Empty your bag,” the cashier snapped.

I froze.

“I said empty it.”

People were watching now.

I hated it.

I hated being looked at like this.

Like I was something wrong.

My throat tightened.

“I didn’t do anything,” I tried again.

But my voice cracked slightly.

And that was enough for them to stop listening.

One of the guards reached for my phone.

“Stop—please don’t—”

But it was already gone.

My hands went cold.

I couldn’t breathe properly anymore.

I needed Isabella.

I needed—

I typed quickly on my watch before they noticed.

A short message.

Isabella.

Then I couldn’t do anything else.

Because they took that too.

---

The next minutes blurred.

Voices.

Noise.

Accusations.

I stood there while strangers looked at me like I didn’t belong in the same world as them.

And all I could think was—

I shouldn’t have come here.

---

Then everything stopped.

Not gradually.

Instantly.

The atmosphere changed so sharply it felt like the air itself froze.

The crowd went silent.

I didn’t understand why at first.

Until I saw Isabella.

She had returned.

Her expression was no longer playful.

It was sharp.

Dangerous.

“What is going on here?” she asked slowly.

The cashier immediately smiled.

“Oh! Miss Isabella, we caught someone attempting to use—”

She didn’t finish.

Because Isabella moved faster than I expected.

The sound of the slap echoed through the store.

Hard.

Clean.

Everyone went silent again.

The cashier staggered back in shock, hand on her face.

“You touched her?” Isabella said quietly.

The air turned heavy.

“I—she was stealing—”

“She is under Moretti protection,” Isabella cut in coldly. “Do you want to repeat your accusation?”

The cashier froze.

And then I saw it.

The moment she realized.

Fear replaced confidence.

Because she finally understood who I belonged to.

Not in the way she assumed.

But in the way that mattered in this world.

---

Then the doors opened again.

And everything shifted for the second time.

Alessandro entered.

The entire store changed with him.

People stepped back instinctively.

Even Isabella straightened slightly.

He didn’t look around at first.

His eyes went directly to me.

And stayed there.

Long.

Quiet.

Something unreadable passed through his expression.

Then his gaze shifted.

To the cashier.

That was when she collapsed.

“Sir—please—there was a misunderstanding—”

He didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t need to.

“On your knees,” he said calmly.

Silence.

“Now.”

She dropped immediately.

The sound of panic filled her voice.

“I didn’t know—she looked like—please—”

Alessandro didn’t even look at her properly anymore.

He turned slightly.

“Marco,” he said quietly.

Marco stepped forward.

“Take everyone involved.”

The cashier’s eyes widened.

“What—no—please—”

Alessandro finally spoke again.

Still calm.

“Shatter everything they touched on their way out.”

Silence.

“Let them understand what mistake feels like.”

My breath caught.

Isabella didn’t even react.

Because this was normal for them.

But it wasn’t normal for me.

---

Then he walked toward me.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Like everything else in the room no longer existed.

He stopped in front of me.

“You’re shaking,” he said quietly.

I didn’t realize I was until he said it.

His hand lifted slightly.

Paused.

Then gently adjusted the sleeve on my arm like it mattered more than everything happening behind him.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked.

I shook my head quickly.

“No.”

Silence.

Then softer—

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

But I did.

Because I still didn’t understand why I was here.

Or what I was to him.

So before I could stop myself, I asked—

“Why did you give me that card?”

Silence.

Longer this time.

His gaze held mine.

And for the first time…

he didn’t answer immediately.

Not because he didn’t know.

But because he did.

And couldn’t say it.

---

He finally spoke softly.

“Come home.”

And I did.

But I still didn’t understand what home meant anymore