Chapter 3 - The Woman Watching Lily Knew Everything About My Family—But She Made One Mistake When She Threatened the Child I Had Promised to ProtectSecurity doubled.
Then tripled.
No one entered the mansion without screening.
Every employee was investigated.
Phones were confiscated.
Cameras were replaced.
Doors were reinforced.
Lily noticed.
She didn't like it.
“Why are there so many men?”
I knelt.
“They're here to keep you safe.”
“From bad people?”
“Yes.”
“Are you bad?”
The question caught me off guard.
“No.”
She thought about it.
“Sometimes you're scary.”
I smiled.
“Fair.”
She touched my face.
“But you're nice to me.”
I closed my eyes.
No one had ever said that.
Not sincerely.
Clara stood in the doorway.
She smiled faintly.
“She trusts you.”
“I know.”
“You didn't have to take responsibility.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
I looked at Lily.
“Because she asked me to.”
Clara lowered her eyes.
“Alessandro.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
I didn't know what to say.
So I said nothing.
Days passed.
We searched for the woman.
Elena Moretti.
We found a trail.
Bank accounts.
Charitable organizations.
Private security contracts.
Old photographs.
She was always one step ahead.
Then Lily disappeared again.
Not from the house.
From school.
Someone had disguised themselves as a teacher.
The security footage showed a woman walking with her.
Lily followed willingly.
That terrified me.
Because it meant she trusted whoever the woman was.
We found the car within thirty minutes.
Empty.
A note on the seat.
BRING ALLESSANDRO. NO POLICE.
I stared.
“She's baiting you,” Clara said.
“Yes.”
“Don't go.”
“I have to.”
“You don't have to.”
I looked at her.
“She has me.”
Clara's eyes filled.
“No.”
“She knows.”
“She knows nothing about you.”
“She knows everything.”
I turned to my men.
“Find the location.”
We traced the vehicle.
An old theater.
Abandoned.
I entered.
Lily sat on the stage.
Safe.
Untouched.
A woman stood behind her.
Elena.
She smiled.
“You came.”
“Let her go.”
“You've become soft.”
“Maybe.”
She laughed.
“You never were.”
I moved forward.
“Release the child.”
“You think she's yours.”
“She isn't.”
“Then why are you here?”
I answered honestly.
“Because I promised.”
Elena's smile disappeared.
She knew then that threats wouldn't work.
She pressed a gun to Lily's head.
Lily looked at me.
“Mister Alessandro.”
I held her gaze.
“I'm here.”
“Okay.”
She wasn't crying.
She trusted me.
Elena didn't understand what that meant.
She made one mistake.
She took the gun away from Lily for one second.
That was enough.
I moved.
Security stormed the theater.
Elena escaped.
Lily ran to me.
I caught her.
She buried her face in my chest.
“I knew you'd come.”
My throat tightened.
“I will always come.”
She whispered,
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
The word left my mouth before I could think.
I always kept my promises.
Later, Clara asked what happened.
I told her.
She cried.
Then she hugged me.
I froze.
Nobody had hugged me in years.
I wrapped my arms around her.
She whispered,
“Thank you.”
I held her tighter.
That night, I finally admitted what I had refused to see.
I loved them.
Both of them.
Not as obligations.
Not as responsibilities.
May you like
As family.
And that terrified me more than any enemy.
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