PART 2: The Woman in Red Knew the Truth About Clara
Vanessa’s face had gone completely pale.
“You were never supposed to come here.”
I tightened my arms around Leo.
“What does that mean?”
“Vanessa.” Adrian’s voice turned cold. “Don’t say another word.”
That only made me more afraid.
I looked again at the photograph behind the bar.
The woman had my eyes, my hair, even the same small dimple beside her mouth.
“Who is she?”
Adrian slowly removed the photograph from the wall.
For the first time since he entered the restaurant, his hands were trembling.
“Her name was Isabella Moretti.”
My stomach dropped.
Moretti was my last name.
“That’s impossible.”
Adrian looked directly at me.
“What is your mother’s name?”
“Teresa Moretti.”
The moment I said it, Vanessa closed her eyes.
She knew.
I stepped toward her.
“You know my mother, don’t you?”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
Vanessa grabbed her purse.
“I’m leaving.”
Adrian’s men blocked the door.
“Sit down,” he ordered.
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You don’t understand what bringing her into this will do.”
“I didn’t bring her anywhere,” Adrian said. “She was already here.”
Leo suddenly touched my face.
Then he looked at the photograph again.
“Mama.”
A chill ran through me.
I looked at Adrian.
“You said Leo only behaves this way with his mother. Was Isabella his mother?”
Adrian was silent for several seconds.
Then he said something I never expected.
“No.”
“What?”
“Isabella died four years ago.”
I looked at Leo.
“But he’s only eight months old.”
“Exactly.”
My heart began pounding.
“Then who is Leo’s mother?”
Adrian looked at me.
“We don’t know.”
I almost laughed from disbelief.
“How can you not know who your own son’s mother is?”
“He isn’t my biological son.”
The restaurant seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
Adrian continued.
“Eight months ago, someone left Leo outside my home. There was no name. No explanation. Only a note.”
“What did it say?”
Adrian reached inside his jacket.
His men immediately looked uneasy.
He removed an old folded piece of paper.
“I’ve carried this every day since.”
He placed it on the table.
There were only seven words written on it.
Protect him until the Moretti girl returns.
My hands started shaking.
“The Moretti girl?”
Adrian looked at me.
“I spent eight months trying to understand who that meant.”
Vanessa suddenly whispered:
“Stop.”
I turned toward her.
“Why?”
“Because some secrets stay buried for a reason.”
I stared at her.
“Is that why you slapped me?”
Vanessa looked away.
And suddenly I understood.
“You weren’t just jealous.”
Silence.
“You recognized me.”
Her eyes filled with fear.
“I recognized Isabella.”
“Who was she?”
Vanessa finally broke.
“Your aunt.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My mother never had a sister.”
“Yes, she did.”
Vanessa pointed toward the photograph.
“Her twin.”
I looked again.
That explained the face.
But not the baby.
Not the note.
Not my mother's warning about the dragon tattoo.
Then Adrian said quietly:
“Your mother knew my family long before you were born.”
I looked at the black dragon on his hand.
And suddenly I remembered being seven years old.
My mother kneeling in front of me.
Her hands shaking.
If you ever see that dragon, Clara, you run.
I stepped away from Adrian.
“Why was my mother afraid of you?”
“She wasn't.”
“Then who?”
Adrian's expression changed.
“My brother.”
Vanessa immediately stood.
“No.”
Adrian ignored her.
“His name was Dante Romano.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Until Adrian pulled out his phone.
He showed me an old photograph.
My mother stood beside Isabella.
Between them was a young man who looked almost exactly like Adrian.
And on his hand was the same black dragon.
My mother was pregnant.
I stared at the date beneath the photograph.
It was taken months before I was born.
My voice barely came out.
“Who is that man?”
Adrian looked at me.
“My brother.”
Something inside me already knew the next question.
But I was terrified to ask it.
“Why is he standing beside my mother?”
Nobody answered.
Then Vanessa began crying.
I turned toward her.
“What aren't you telling me?”
She shook her head.
“Ask your mother.”
“My mother told me my father abandoned us.”
Vanessa looked at Adrian.
Then back at me.
“No, Clara.”
Her next words made my blood run cold.
“Your father never abandoned you.”
I couldn't move.
“What are you saying?”
“He never even knew you survived.”
Before I could ask another question, someone knocked on the restaurant door.
Three slow knocks.
Adrian’s men immediately reached inside their jackets.
Then a voice came through the glass.
“Clara Moretti?”
I froze.
A gray haired man stood outside.
One hand rested against the door.
Across it curled a faded black dragon.
My mother's warning screamed inside my head.
Adrian stared at the stranger.
For the first time, the most dangerous man in the city looked genuinely afraid.
“Impossible,” he whispered.
I looked at him.
“Who is he?”
Adrian didn't answer.
The stranger smiled at me through the glass.
Then he said:
“Hello, Clara. I’ve waited twenty four years to meet my daughter.”
Leo began crying.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
And Adrian whispered the name I had just heard for the first time minutes earlier.
“Dante.”
My father hadn't abandoned me.
My mother had spent my entire life hiding me from him.
And now he had found me.
To be continued in Part 3... 👇
