ANA:
He's here. I can feel it. The weight of his gaze burns into the back of my head, but I don't dare turn around. When I was little, my mother warned me about dangers, but she could have never prepared me for the monster that lurking in the shadows right now.
"Well, you know, Mark has been daifferent since the incident. It's like he's broken, hurt, but also relieved somehow, and I can't figure out what exactly is going on with him. Yeah, I mean, we did have this little arrangement between us... You know, about sex... and God, he's a pro at it, but what I can't understand is why he's so secretive all the time about his life. He doesn't let me into his life, and all we do is fuck, then he ghosts me, and it pisses me the fuck off."
Lara's words spill out as we sit in the secluded corridors of the library. The very place where I met Enzo... I force the thought out of my mind. He doesn't want me. He's safe, and he talks to Mark, but he never came for me. Not when I was in the hospital after the incident. Not when I was found senseless in that abandoned building. Not even when my father locked me away.
All I had was those blue roses by my side sent by some anonymous. But now I know better.
I tried to reach him, but he never answered. He vanished as if he never existed.
But why? Why did he choose to leave me like this? Didn't he promise to protect me? To be by my side? He said he wanted to know me, to understand the feelings he had inside, so why did he disappear?
Tears blur my vision, turning the screen of my laptop blur. But I quickly wipe them away, forcing myself to focus on Lara.
"And you know what he did yesterday? He shows up out of nowhere and asks me to be his girl. Can you believe that? How ridiculous! I mean, why would he think he could get a girl like me after ghosting me for days and then showing up like a caveman?"
I shake my head with a small smile, pretending to listen, but my mind is elsewhere. That crawling sensation under my skin persists, as if someone is still watching me.
David mentioned that Diana and San have been missing for days, and someone is trying to sabotage the witness. But who? And why?
There are theories that, over the years, San and Diana made a few enemies and this could be payback. But I can't accept that excuse. If their enemies wanted them, why didn't they strike before? Why now, just as the Boston police are digging into the Romanos, a case indirectly linked to my mother?
There's a bigger conspiracy here, something far more sinister than what's being shown, and I need to uncover it.
"And then he took me to this nice restaurant, calling it a date, and said he wanted to try harder for me," Lara sighs, her voice pulling me back to reality. "And then he took me to his apartment, and—" She gasps. "Are you even listening to me, Ana?"
My eyes snapped toward her. "I... Uh... yes," I stammered with an awkward smile.
She frowned but sighed after a few seconds. "I know you miss Enzo, and I know it must feel like shit knowing he's clearly trying to avoid you... but you know what?" She grabbed me by the shoulders, more like forcing me to face her with a determined look in her eyes. "Fuck him. I know he's hot and has that great, charming smile, but that fucker doesn't even deserve my bestie."
I scoffed at her, trying to brush off the hurt.
"I'm dead serious, Ana. If I ever see him again, know that he's dead meat."
I pursed my lips, nodding. "I just wanted answers, Lara. I just wanted to know why." Tears welled up in my eyes before I could stop them, and the next thing I knew, I was breaking down in her arms.
It felt nice, comforting even, to know that someone was there for me, someone who wouldn't leave when I needed them most. Lara had been that person for a long time, and I couldn't be more thankful.
"Let's forget about him," Lara said, her tone softer now. "Tell me, did you find anything about your mother yet?"
I sighed, lowering my gaze. "No. The only clue I had, six months ago before... before they declared me mad, was that picture. My mom was holding me, I was so little, curled up in her arms as she smiled down at me. Beside her was another woman with a child, maybe the same age as me or a little younger. They both looked happy, and the suspicious part? They were standing in front of the Romano mansion."
"And that wasn't all," I continued. "I remember the first clue came when I found a photo of my mother with San Dios and Diana Moretti. After some digging, I learned they were business partners. I asked David to help me find them, and he agreed. He'd been after them for a long time on a different case, but then, a week ago, they both went missing abruptly."
"Wow... Do you think someone's trying to sabotage all this?" Lara asked, her brow furrowed.
"Possibly. David said it could be someone from their past, but it feels too sudden, especially with the Romano case going viral."
"Speaking of the Romanos, do you actually believe the devil's dead? I mean, Aurora's brother... Benny?"
My breath hitched at the mention of his name. It was no secret that Benny was the Devil. Is. But it's still a controversial topic whether he's really dead or alive to the outside world. How could I tell Lara what happened three days ago in the forest? How I thought I could hunt him down, but the truth is, he hunted me. Ravaged me. Swallowed me whole.
The ache in my ass, the imprints of his punishment, remind me of what he's truly capable of. A monster who would devour me completely.
"I... uh... I mean..."
"Well, it's odd," Lara pressed, "if he's alive... wouldn't he have come for you by now?" She knew all too well that, from the very beginning, the Devil's prey had been me. It didn't matter that I was the daughter of the biggest conglomerate in the country or that I had feelings for someone else back then. He still wanted me.
And maybe, just maybe, that's why I was drawn to him.
I shoved those unholy thoughts aside, focusing back on Lara.
"Well, maybe if we dig into Romano's past a little more, we could uncover some new clues," Lara suggested.
"That's the problem," I replied with a sigh. "David's been on it for the last six months, but he hasn't found anything. No files, no records. When he asked some locals about the Romanos, all he got was that they died in a tragic fire accident."
"Wow, this case feels like a murder mystery," she scoffed. Just then, her phone rang. She rolled her eyes before answering it.
"Yeah?" she snapped. "Well, I'm in class!" Her tone shifted to annoyance. "What? Don't you dare. Okay, wait, I'll be there in like two minutes."
She ended the call and looked at me with guilty eyes, and I realized it was none other than Mark.
"I'm so sorry, Ana... I know I promised to keep you company, but this monster can be a real pain in the ass."
"It's okay, Lara. I need to head back home too. My guards have probably informed Helia that I've been missing for the last forty-five minutes, and I really need to get back before she locks me up for real."
"Aww... I'll be your knight in shining armor..."
"I'm counting on you."
Lara said her goodbyes, and I returned to my research on the Romanos. I spent another fifteen minutes digging. I found a few interesting details about the fire accident and the missing reports, but the oddest thing was the complete lack of pictures. Absolutely none. It was as if someone had deliberately tried to erase the Romanos from existence.
I huffed in frustration, glancing at the clock. It was almost 3:45. I really needed to get back. Checking my phone, I sighed and turned off airplane mode. I always do that to avoid unwanted distractions from all the notifications.
But as soon as my phone came back to life, dozens of notifications flooded the screen, and I frowned. What's going on?
I clicked on the first link, and my eyes widened in shock. It was Preston's building—on fire. More precisely, the building I was currently in.
"Fuck," I muttered as I scrambled to gather my belongings. How did I not notice the commotion? Honestly, it was my own fault. I had been sitting in a secluded part of the library, where no one ever comes or goes. Maybe that's why no one thought to check here.
I bolted toward the door I usually used, but of course, it was jammed. I tried pushing, pulling, anything—but nothing worked. Now, I was left with only one option: escape through the front.
Without wasting another second, I sprinted toward the heart of the library. What was once a bustling area filled with students was now consumed by smoke. My lungs filled with the acrid air, choking me. I tried covering my nose and mouth, but the smoke was too thick.
"Help!" I screamed, but no one was there to hear me. "Help!" I screamed again, my voice desperate and raw.
I fumbled for my phone, thinking to call my guards, but in the dense smoke, I could barely see anything. That's when my phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor.
"Shit," I cursed. A different kind of panic hit me—a deep, primal fear, as if I had faced this kind of fire before. The heat wasn't foreign, and the screams for my life felt all too familiar.
Is this how I die? I don't know. I really don't want to die before solving my mother's case. But I have no choice, no way out.
I collapsed to the ground, coughing violently. My lungs burned, and my vision blurred as my body started to go limp. Only my hearing remained sharp, and that's when I caught a familiar voice.
"Shhh... Don't close your eyes, Estrellita. I'm here. Wake up. Nothing will ever happen to you, I promise."
I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn't. I felt a pair of strong arms lifting me, carrying me out of the inferno. But maybe I was imagining it. How could someone possibly be here to save me in this massive fire?
"Just don't give up on me, okay? It's not your time," the familiar voice urged, his words carrying a weight that crushed my heart. "Your life is mine," he promised.
And then, everything went black.