THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH

Camila barely spoke to Luciano during the journey back to the hotel.

She sat beside the window, holding the silver locket in her palm. Every now and then, she opened it and looked at the tiny photograph inside.

It was a picture of her mother.

She had seen hundreds of photographs of Valeria growing up, but this one felt different. It was as though the woman in the picture had been trying to tell her something.

Luciano glanced at her.

"You're going to wear that photograph out."

Camila closed the locket.

"Do you always have something to say?"

"Only when people sit beside me looking like they're planning a murder."

She turned towards him.

"Maybe I'm just thinking."

"About your mother?"

"About what Isabel said."

Luciano looked ahead.

"Which part?"

"That someone from your family helped my mother disappear."

He didn't answer.

Camila laughed quietly.

"Of course. Silence again."

"I don't know what happened that night."

"But you know something."

"I know my father was involved in the agreement. I know he knew Valeria. I don't know why she left."

Camila studied his face.

"And you expect me to believe that?"

"No. I expect you to find out the truth with me."

She looked away.

For some reason, that answer unsettled her more than another argument would have.

They arrived at the hotel shortly afterwards.

Camila went straight to her room, but Luciano stopped her before she closed the door.

"Have dinner with me."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Is that an order?"

"No."

"Good. Because I'm not in the mood to follow one."

"Then consider it a request."

She looked at him for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because we have a lot to discuss, and I'd rather not do it while you're standing in a doorway."

Camila sighed.

"Fine. But I'm not promising to be pleasant."

"I wasn't expecting you to."

The restaurant was quiet when they arrived.

Luciano had chosen a table near the window, away from the other guests. Camila sat opposite him and picked up the menu.

For a while, they spoke about nothing important.

Then Luciano placed his glass down.

"Tell me about your mother."

Camila looked up.

"What do you want to know?"

"What was she like?"

She considered the question.

"She was kind. At least, that's what everyone who knew her says. I don't remember much about her myself."

"How old were you when she died?"

"I was very young."

Luciano nodded.

"My father died when I was younger than I would have liked."

Camila looked at him.

"Did you have a good relationship with him?"

"He was difficult. But he was my father."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the one I have."

She smiled slightly.

For the first time that evening, the conversation felt less like an interrogation.

Luciano reached for his glass.

"Did Esteban ever tell you why he arranged this marriage?"

"He said it was important to both families."

"And you believed him?"

"No. I just stopped asking."

Luciano watched her for a moment.

"Perhaps we should start asking the same questions."

Later that night, Camila returned to her room and found a message from Isabella.

Please tell me you're okay. Your father has been calling everyone.

Camila typed a reply.

I'm fine. I'll explain when I get back.

Another message arrived almost immediately.

There's something I found.

Camila sat down.

What?

I searched through some old family photographs. I found one of your mother with a man I've seen before.

Who?

Alberto Vittoria.

Camila stared at the name.

She had heard it from Isabel.

Send it to me.

A photograph arrived.

It showed Valeria sitting beside Alberto at what appeared to be a private gathering. They looked comfortable together, as though they had known each other for years.

But it was the person standing behind them who caught Camila's attention.

Alessandro Russo.

She enlarged the image.

Three people from two different families, all connected to an agreement nobody wanted to explain.

Camila forwarded the photograph to Luciano.

His reply came a few seconds later.

Where did you get this?

Isabella found it.

Don't show it to anyone else.

Camila frowned.

Why?

He called instead of replying.

"Listen to me," he said.

"What is it?"

"That photograph was taken at my father's house."

"How do you know?"

"I recognise the room."

Camila looked at the photograph again.

"Then perhaps your father should have explained why my mother was there."

"My father isn't alive to explain anything."

She went quiet.

Luciano's voice softened slightly.

"I'll look into it."

"Please do."

Madrid, Spain

Esteban stood in his study, looking through an old box of documents.

He had not opened it in years.

Inside were letters, photographs and a few legal papers he had hoped would never be needed again.

He removed a photograph of Valeria.

For a moment, he simply stared at it.

Then he heard a knock.

"Come in."

His lawyer, Rafael Moreno, entered.

"You asked to see me?"

Esteban placed the photograph back inside the box.

"Have you heard from Alberto?"

"No."

"Try again."

Rafael hesitated.

"Esteban, I think we need to discuss what happens if Camila finds the second document."

Esteban looked at him sharply.

"She won't."

"How can you be certain?"

"Because I won't let her."

Rafael lowered his voice.

"You cannot keep controlling what she knows forever."

Esteban stood.

"Watch your words."

"I'm only saying what you already know."

Esteban walked towards the desk.

"The agreement was supposed to protect this family."

"Then why does everyone involved seem so afraid of it?"

Esteban didn't answer.

Rafael collected his briefcase.

"Call me when you decide what you're going to do."

After he left, Esteban returned to the box.

He removed a folded piece of paper from beneath the photographs.

It contained one sentence in Valeria's handwriting.

If Camila ever finds out, tell her I didn't leave because I stopped loving her.

Esteban folded the paper and put it away.

Palermo, Italy

Luciano was on the phone with Matteo when someone knocked on his hotel room door.

"Wait," he said before ending the call.

He opened the door.

Nobody was there.

He looked down.

An envelope had been placed on the floor.

Luciano picked it up and returned inside.

There was no name on the front.

He opened it carefully.

Inside was a photograph of Valeria standing beside his father.

On the back was a date and a handwritten message.

You have been looking for the wrong answer.

Luciano read it twice.

Then he noticed something else.

A second photograph had been tucked behind the first.

It showed Valeria holding a baby.

The baby's face was partly visible.

Luciano stared at it.

He recognised the room.

It was his father's private study.

And standing in the background was Alessandro.

He immediately called Matteo.

"Where are you?"

"At the office. Why?"

"Get me everything you can find about Valeria's last visit to my father's house."

Matteo went quiet.

"Luciano, I think you should come back to Milan."

"Why?"

"I found something in the archive."

"What?"

"The original agreement wasn't signed by just our fathers."

Luciano looked at the photograph again.

"Who else signed it?"

Matteo took a breath.

"Valeria."

Luciano said nothing.

Then Matteo added something that made him sit down.

"And there's a second document. It was registered separately, under a name I didn't expect."

"Whose name?"

"Alberto Vittoria."

Camila was asleep when her phone vibrated.

She reached for it and opened the message.

It was from an unknown number.

There was no explanation, only a photograph.

This time, it wasn't of her mother.

It was a picture of a little girl standing beside Valeria.

Camila recognised herself immediately.

She was wearing a white dress and holding her mother's hand.

But there was another woman beside them.

Someone Camila had never seen before.

Beneath the photograph was a short message.

Your mother didn't disappear to protect you from the Russos.

Camila stared at the screen.

Another message arrived.

She disappeared because she was protecting you from your own family.

She sat up and read it again.

Then she called Luciano.

He answered after a few rings.

"Camila?"

"I think we have a problem."

"What happened?"

She sent him the photograph.

For a long moment, he said nothing.

Then his voice came through.

"Where did you get this?"

"Someone just sent it to me."

Luciano looked at the image on his own phone.

He recognised the woman standing beside Valeria.

It was Marina De La Vega.

Esteban's sister.

And according to the records Matteo had found, Marina had been missing for years.