Chapter 78: The Truth Hurts

The man standing beside her, with a scar running across his face, watched the screens cautiously. The sound of the silent alarm echoed through the room, signaling someone's approach. Elena clenched her fists, feeling a surge of adrenaline course through her body.

“It’s him,” Elena said, her voice low but resolute. “He’s here. It’s time.”

The man looked at her, concerned, but said nothing. He knew he couldn’t dissuade her. Elena had made her decision. And though everyone’s fate depended on what would happen next, she couldn’t turn back. The truth had to come out, no matter how painful it might be.

Meanwhile, in the nearby villa, Vincent sat in the dining room, studying the surveillance report. Martin stood beside him, monitoring every movement around the refuge. Vincent's face was impassive, but his mind was racing. He was closer than ever to the truth. The revelation that Elena might still be alive had consumed him, and now that he was about to find her, he couldn’t let anything or anyone stand in his way.

“Everything in order?” Vincent asked without taking his eyes off the screen.

“Yes, sir. The men are ready to act as soon as we confirm Elena is inside,” Martin replied, avoiding Vincent’s gaze.

Vincent nodded slowly.

“Do it, Martin. No more games. We’re getting her out of there.”

The air thickened with the silence that followed, and Vincent felt the tension claw at him. The woman he had loved—the woman who had been his life—had now become an enigma. The question tormenting him was clear: What had happened between them? Why had Elena left him? Why had she disappeared from his life?

While Vincent was lost in thought, Clara and Sophia continued with their own plan. Both knew something was going on, and their instincts guided them toward one objective: uncovering what their father was hiding and how it all connected to their mother. The conversation with Alex Morán had left too many unanswered questions. Did Alex know something they didn’t? Why was he so deeply involved in all of this?

“This is our only chance, sir,” Martin murmured, studying the plans on a tablet. “The motion sensors have given us a ten-minute window before they detect our presence.”

Vincent nodded, adjusting the bulletproof vest he wore under his elegant coat.

“I won’t make mistakes this time, Martin. I’ll get the answers I’ve been searching for all these years.”

As they moved toward the underwater access point, Vincent remembered the days when Elena had been his everything: his ally, his love, his refuge. But those memories were tainted by betrayal. The doubts consumed him, but they also drove him forward.

\---

Inside the refuge, Elena walked down a dimly lit corridor. She had been preparing for this moment for months, but her heart pounded at the thought of Vincent being so close.

“Are you ready to face him?” asked Daniel, the dark-haired man with the scarred face, walking beside her.

“I don’t know,” Elena admitted, her voice trembling. “But I can’t keep running.”

Daniel stopped and grabbed her arm.

“If Vincent finds out… if he learns that you never told him the truth about Clara and Sophia, there’s no going back.”

Elena met his gaze with tired but determined eyes.

“It’s a risk I have to take. For them.”

\---

The refuge’s entrance gave way with a metallic hum. Vincent advanced with firm steps, followed by Martin and their team. The air was dense, charged with tension, as they moved through the narrow hallways.

“We’re close,” Martin whispered, pointing to a portable monitor showing life signals in a room at the end of the corridor.

When Vincent entered, he found Elena standing in the center of the room, alone. The dim light outlined her figure, and her eyes, filled with a mix of guilt and defiance, locked onto his.

“Vincent,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

He moved forward slowly, his steps echoing in the room.

“Elena… you’re alive.”

She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself.

“I didn’t expect you to find me so soon.”

Vincent dropped his weapon to the floor, but his gaze was sharp as a blade.

“Why?” he asked, his voice breaking. “Why did you disappear? Why did you make me believe you were dead?”

Elena looked away, unable to hold his intense stare.

“Because I didn’t have a choice, Vincent.”

“No choice?” Vincent shouted, taking a step closer. “You took everything from me. You took yourself away, and now I find out you might have taken the truth about our daughters too.”

Elena lifted her eyes, tears threatening to spill.

“I never wanted to hurt you, but… there were things you couldn’t know. Things that could have destroyed you.”

“Like what?” Vincent’s voice was on the verge of losing control. “What could have been so terrible that you decided to disappear and leave me with a thousand questions?”

Before Elena could respond, Daniel appeared in the doorway, pointing a gun at Vincent.

“That’s enough,” he said coldly. “Step back.”

Vincent turned slowly, his expression hardening.

“Who are you?”

“I’m the one who kept Elena safe all these years. Something you couldn’t do.”

Elena quickly stepped between the two men.

“Stop it! This isn’t a war.”

“Not a war?” Vincent shouted. “Then tell me the truth, Elena. What’s going on?”

Elena took a deep breath, trying to calm the chaos in her mind. Finally, she spoke.

“Vincent… Clara and Sophia aren’t who you think they are.”

The silence was deafening. Vincent’s expression shifted from disbelief to pain in an instant.

“What are you saying?”

“Years ago… I switched our daughters.”

“What?” Vincent’s voice was barely a whisper, filled with restrained fury. “You switched our daughters?”

Elena nodded, tears streaming down her face.

“It was the only way to protect them, Vincent. There were people… dangerous people who were after them. If they had stayed with us, they would have been killed.”

Vincent stepped back, as if her words had physically struck him.

“You… took my family away. You took my life away.”

“I did it to save them,” Elena replied desperately. “Everything I’ve done has been for them.”

“And you think that comforts me?” Vincent shouted, his voice cracking. “You’ve destroyed everything, Elena.”

At that moment, Martin burst in.

“Sir, we’ve got a problem. Local forces have detected our operation. We need to leave now.”

Vincent looked at Elena one last time, his eyes filled with pain and rage.

“This isn’t over. I’ll uncover the whole truth, even if I have to destroy this place to get it.”

Elena watched him leave, feeling the weight of her secrets finally collapse upon her, taking everything she had ever loved with them.