Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO WANTED HER SILENT|
By the following morning, Clara's name was everywhere.
News websites described her as Aurelio Marchetti's mysterious fiancée, a financial specialist suspected of helping move millions of dollars through offshore accounts.
Her photograph appeared beside images of expensive restaurants, black cars, and the Marchetti estate.
The comments were worse.
Some people called her a gold digger.
Others claimed she had deliberately seduced Aurelio to gain access to his business.
One article suggested she had been secretly married to another man.
None of it was true.
But truth had become irrelevant.
At ten thirty, Clara's lawyer, Margaret Ellis, arrived at her apartment.
Margaret was in her late fifties, with silver hair, sharp eyes, and the kind of calm that made people stop talking.
She placed a newspaper on the table.
"Your name is trending."
"I noticed."
"Do you know how many journalists have called my office?"
"Enough to make me regret having a telephone."
Margaret almost smiled.
Then she opened her briefcase.
"We need to protect your assets, preserve the evidence, and establish that your credentials were compromised."
"What about Aurelio?"
"Don't speak to him without me present."
As if summoned by his name, Clara's phone began vibrating.
Aurelio.
Margaret looked at the screen.
"Answer it."
Clara hesitated.
"Put it on speaker."
She accepted the call.
"Clara."
His voice sounded exhausted.
"Don't hang up."
"What do you want?"
"To fix this."
She looked at Margaret.
"Then tell the truth."
Aurelio exhaled.
"Things are more complicated than you understand."
"Explain them."
"Not over the phone."
"That's what you said at dinner."
Silence.
Then he spoke again.
"Come to the estate tonight. I'll explain everything."
"No."
"Clara, listen to me. You're in danger."
"Because of you?"
"Because of people who want to use you against me."
She laughed once.
"You already used me against yourself."
His voice hardened.
"Don't make this worse."
Margaret immediately raised a hand.
Clara looked at her lawyer and continued.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No. I'm trying to protect you."
"Then give my lawyer every document connected to Bellara."
"That's not possible."
"Why?"
"Because some of those records involve people you don't want to know about."
"Then I suppose I'll meet them through the investigators."
Aurelio's breathing changed.
"Clara, there are things you don't understand about this family."
"I understand enough."
She ended the call.
That afternoon, Margaret filed a formal notice demanding preservation of the financial records and communications related to the fraudulent transactions.
By evening, Clara had received another warning.
This one arrived as a photograph.
Her apartment building.
Taken from across the street.
Beneath it were six words:
Stop digging before someone gets hurt.
Margaret immediately contacted security.
They arranged temporary accommodation at a private hotel under Clara's legal protection.
But before she could leave, a familiar voice sounded from the hallway.
"Clara?"
She opened the door.
Aurelio stood there.
Two security men waited behind him.
His face was pale, his tie loosened, and there was a small cut across his right hand.
For a moment, the sight of him brought back the man she had loved.
Then she remembered the recording.
"Leave," she said.
"Five minutes."
"No."
He looked at Margaret.
"Can you give us privacy?"
"Absolutely not."
Aurelio ignored her.
He looked at Clara.
"I didn't authorize anyone to use your identity."
"Your voice is on the recording."
His expression changed.
"What recording?"
"The one where you called me a clean record."
He went completely still.
Then he looked at the laptop on the table.
"Who gave you that?"
Clara understood immediately.
He wasn't asking whether the recording was real.
He was asking who had exposed him.
"Get out."
Aurelio stepped closer.
"Clara, there are people in my family who would kill to get that file."
She held his gaze.
"Then you should be very careful about who you trust."
His phone rang.
He checked the screen.
Uncle Anselmo.
He answered.
"What?"
The old man's voice was loud enough for Clara to hear.
"Your brother is alive."
Aurelio's face lost its color.
May you like
Then came the second sentence.
"And he's asking for the woman you were supposed to marry."
