Chapter 2: The Secret Isabella Took to Her Grave
I didn’t understand what was happening.
One minute, I was a waitress holding a glass of warm milk.
The next, I was standing in front of Brooklyn’s most feared man while his bodyguard told him someone wanted me dead.
Ricardo stared at me.
“Clara, did anyone know you had this necklace?””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Did anyone know your mother’s name?””
“No.””
His eyes narrowed.
“Then someone has been watching you.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
I looked around the restaurant.
The customers who had been staring moments earlier were suddenly looking away.
Like they had learned something they weren’t supposed to know.
I stepped back.
“I think I should leave.””
Leo immediately grabbed my hand.
“No.””
I looked down.
His fingers were wrapped around mine.
“Leo…”
“Mommy always leaves.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
Ricardo closed his eyes for a moment.
“Leo.””
The boy looked at his father.
“Everyone leaves me.””
For the first time, I saw Ricardo break.
Not completely.
Just a crack.
But it was there.
He crouched beside his son.
“I’m still here.””
Leo whispered.
“But you couldn’t save Mommy.””
The restaurant became painfully quiet.
Ricardo had no answer.
I looked away.
That was the moment I realized something.
The dangerous man everyone feared wasn’t heartless.
He was a man drowning in grief.
Ricardo stood.
“Dante.””
“Yes, boss?””
“Take Clara somewhere safe.””
I immediately shook my head.
“No.””
Both men looked at me.
“I don’t need protection.””
Dante almost laughed.
“With respect, Miss Vance, someone just threatened your life.””
“I’ve survived my whole life without a bodyguard.””
Ricardo stepped closer.
“Not anymore.””
His voice wasn’t angry.
It was certain.
I hated that it made me feel safer.
“I don’t know you.””
“No,” he said.
“But my wife knew you.””
That stopped me.
“My wife?””
He looked at my necklace.
“She had a sister.””
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.””
“I thought so too.””
He pulled out the photograph again.
The little girl beside Isabella looked exactly like me.
Same eyes.
Same small scar above the eyebrow.
A memory flashed.
My mother standing in our kitchen years ago, crying while looking at an old picture.
I had asked her who it was.
She had hidden it immediately.
“Clara?””
I looked back at Ricardo.
“My mother never talked about Isabella.””
“Why?””
“I don’t know.””
His expression darkened.
“Then we find out.””
Two hours later, I sat inside Ricardo Moretti’s private office.
I expected something terrifying.
A room full of weapons.
Men making threats.
Instead, I saw a desk covered with photographs of Leo and Isabella.
A mother laughing with her child.
A family frozen in time.
Ricardo noticed me looking.
“She loved him.””
His voice was quiet.
“I know.””
“No, you don’t.””
He touched one photograph.
“She used to sing when she cooked.””
A small smile appeared.
“She was terrible.””
I almost smiled.
“Leo said she made warm milk.””
“Every night.””
He looked at me.
“She believed routines made children feel safe.””
The silence between us changed.
For a moment, he wasn’t a mafia boss.
He was just a grieving husband.
Then the office door opened.
Dante walked in holding a file.
“Boss.””
Ricardo looked up.
“What did you find?””
Dante placed the file on the desk.
“We checked Evelyn Vance’s history.””
I watched Ricardo open it.
His eyes moved across the pages.
Then stopped.
“What is this?””
Dante hesitated.
“Your wife wasn’t Isabella Vance when she was born.””
I felt my stomach drop.
“What?””
Dante looked at me.
“Isabella’s birth name was Clara Vance.””
The room went silent.
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible.
“That’s not true.””
Ricardo looked at me.
Dante opened another document.
“DNA records confirm it.””
My hands went cold.
“No.””
Ricardo slowly stood.
“Clara…”
I shook my head.
“My sister died.””
Dante’s expression softened.
“Someone wanted you to believe that.””
I looked at the papers.
Two names.
Two daughters.
One secret.
Then Ricardo found something else.
A handwritten note hidden inside the file.
His face changed.
“What?””
He didn’t answer.
“Ricardo?””
He handed me the paper.
The handwriting was old.
But I recognized the name at the bottom.
Evelyn.
The note said:
*If anything happens to Isabella, protect Clara. She cannot know the truth.*
My breathing stopped.
“Why would my mother write that?””
Ricardo looked at Dante.
Dante’s phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
His face turned pale.
“Boss…”
Ricardo looked up.
“What now?””
Dante slowly lowered the phone.
“The woman who killed Isabella isn’t trying to hide anymore.””
A pause.
“She sent a message.””
Ricardo’s eyes hardened.
“What did she say?””
Dante looked directly at me.
“She said…”
May you like
He swallowed.
“Tell Clara Vance her sister died because of her.””
