Elena stared at the photograph.
Her hands were trembling.
Damien stood beside the mysterious woman, and unlike the cold expression he usually wore, there was something different in his eyes.
Something almost familiar.
Something intimate.
Elena’s chest tightened.
“Who are you?” she whispered to the woman in the photograph.
The door suddenly opened.
Elena quickly hid the photograph behind her back.
Damien stepped inside.
“I didn’t find anyone.”
His eyes immediately settled on her face.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Damien narrowed his eyes.
“You’re lying.”
Elena looked away.
“I’m tired.”
He walked closer.
“Elena.”
She refused to look at him.
Damien reached for her hand.
She pulled it away.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”
“Who is she?”
Silence.
Damien froze.
Elena slowly brought the photograph from behind her back and held it toward him.
“This woman.”
His eyes fell on the picture.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then his jaw tightened.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was outside my window.”
Damien took the photograph.
“Who gave it to you?”
“I don’t know.”
His fingers tightened around the picture.
“Elena, you need to stay away from this.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“You keep telling me to trust you, but every time I ask a question, you hide something from me.”
“Because knowing the truth could put you in danger.”
“I am already in danger!”
Her voice cracked.
I deserve to know what I’ve been dragged into.”
Damien stared at her.
For the first time, he seemed to have no answer.
Elena’s eyes filled with frustration.
“Was she important to you?”
Damien looked away.
“She was.”
Elena’s heart sank.
“Your lover?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
He remained silent.
Elena shook her head.
“Fine.
If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself.”
She turned toward the door.
Damien caught her wrist.
“Don’t.”
Elena looked at him.
“Why?”
His voice became quieter.
“Because Isabella isn’t the person you think she is.”
Elena froze.
“You know her name.”
Damien released her wrist.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“Isabella was my brother’s wife.”
Elena’s eyes widened.
“Your brother?”
“Marco.”
She remembered the name.
Damien’s brother.
The man whose name was rarely mentioned inside the Moretti mansion.
“What happened to her?”
Damien’s face darkened.
“She betrayed my family.”
“How?”
“She gave our enemies information that led to an ambush.”
Elena stared at him.
“Did Marco die?”
Damien said nothing.
That silence answered everything.
Elena covered her mouth.
“Oh God…”
“Marco died that night.”
“But you said Isabella was presumed dead.”
“She disappeared after Marco’s death.”
“And now she’s back.”
“Yes.”
Damien walked toward the window.
“And she isn’t back for forgiveness.”
Elena slowly approached him.
“What does she want?”
Damien looked into the darkness.
“Revenge.”
A sudden sound came from downstairs.
Both of them turned.
A man’s voice echoed through the mansion.
“Boss!”
Damien immediately reached for his gun.
Luca appeared at the doorway, breathing heavily.
“We found something.”
“What?”
Luca held up a phone.
“This was recovered from one of the men outside.”
Damien took it.
There was one unread message.
He opened it.
His expression changed instantly.
Elena watched him.
“What does it say?”
Damien slowly turned the screen toward her.
There was a photograph.
Elena’s photograph.
Taken only minutes earlier.
Beneath it was a message:
SHE KNOWS THE TRUTH NOW.
Then another message appeared.
AND SHE WILL BE MINE BEFORE THE SUN RISES.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
Damien’s eyes hardened.
“Lock every gate.”
Luca nodded.
“And bring everyone inside.”
Damien looked at Elena.
“This house is no longer safe.”
Then the mansion lights went out.
Again.
And somewhere in the darkness…
a woman laughed.