Chapter 120

Chapter 120
Serena’s POV

When I stepped inside that small room hidden in the wardrobe, I was surprised to the core.

My breath caught in my throat, and my heart started hammering so loud in my chest that I was sure it would break through my ribs.

The room was nothing like the main room, where Kayden was supposed to live.

This room was very neat, clean and well organised. The surface of the room was gleaming, the floor was polished, the shelves perfectly aligned, and the air carried a faint scent of sandalwood.

My scent!

My perfume!

A shudder ran down my spine.

I took a hesitant step forward as my eyes scanned the room.

The front wall was hidden by royal blue curtain.

My favourite color.

My knee slightly wobbled as I walked to it. My gut intuition already told me what could be behind it, but my brain was not ready to face it.

With trembling fingers, I pulled away the curtains.

My eyes widened and a loud gasp of surprise torn through my throat. The entire wall was covered with photographs.

My photographs.

Every corner, every inch, plastered with pictures of me. A few of them were from days I couldn’t even remember. The close ups made my skin crawl. In college, he used to say he click photos out of hobby. I had no idea what he was doing with my photographs.

A shudder ran down my spine. My hands trembled, clutching at the hem of my shirt.

I stayed frozen at my place. I was traumatized looking at my own pictures.

How much of my life had he been following? How long has he been collecting this?

My finger reached out to one of my photos, that seems to be taken in this house only.

I was actually scared. Initially I thought, he is just attracted towards me. But no! He has taken this to a different level. It is not even love.

I took a step back, my eyes darting from one photograph to the next. It suffocated me. A low, involuntary gasp escaped my lips.

I swallowed hard as my throat turned dry. My mind screamed at me to leave but my feet stayed rooted to the ground. I couldn’t stop looking.

I was feeling horrible.

I always thought him as a good friend of mine. I never doubted his intentions.

Matteo... If he find out this, he will be even more surprised. I don't know how he will react.

I stopped stepping back when my leg collided with the edge of the table which was placed in the middle of the room.

There was a drawer beneath the table. I hesitated for a second, then bent down and pulled it open.

My breath caught.

It was filled with the things that once belonged to me.

A silver hairclip that I lost in my class and never found it back.

A bracelet that I gave to Kayden on friendship day.

The pens that I gave him because he always forgot to bring one.

My hand moved shakily inside the drawer and brushed against a soft piece of fabric. I pulled it out and my throat closed instantly.

My favourite handkerchief. My mom made it for me with a small pocket to keep cash.

I don't know how it still had my scent. At it's right corner there was a faint smear of my lipstick. I thought I had misplaced it somewhere.

But I hadn’t.

It was stolen from me.

I was utterly disgusted when my fingers caught my lip balm.

A wave of nausea rolled through me. I can't even begin to think what he was doing with all these things. I threw them back into the drawer and stood up.

I blinked and swallowed when I saw a sleek and black laptop placed over it.

My pulse quicken up and breaths became shallow as my hand reached out for it.

My legs felt weak so I sat down on the edge of the table and opened the laptop.

It was locked.

Of course!

I closed my eyes for a moment, and tried to think of the passwords. I first tried Kayden's name with the hope it might work.

Access denied.

God!

I tried everything that came to mind but nothing worked.

I leaned back and exhaled shakily.

My gaze once again drifted back to my photographs. The sheer scale of his obsession hit me like a physical blow.

Could it be related to me?

I swallowed hard and typed my name.

Access denied.

Hell!

I bite my lips and was about to give up when I decided to give a last chance.

With trembling fingers, I typed my name along with my birthdate.

My heart came to my throat when the screen turned black.

And then, slowly… it opened.

I froze, staring at the display. Even the wallpaper was of my picture but this time it didn't came as a surprise.

I was utterly disgusted by Kayden.

My eyes widened slightly when I click open the first folder. It was full of small clips of me.

I was actually creeped out by the fact that every single thing in this room was about me, inside out.

I didn't want to see more of his obsession so I just closed the folder.

I went on checking each and every file until my fingers froze when I found something I have been looking for.

A file named “Testimony_Sera”.

My breath hitched. I froze for a second, and blinked several times just to be sure I read it right.

I double clicked on the file and the video opened.

The room suddenly felt colder and heavier. I stopped breathing when the video started playing.

It was the original video.

Every word, every nuance of fear, determination, and raw emotion I had felt was captured there. My words weren't manipulated in the video.

My eyes stung with the tears.

It was Kayden all this time!

He have the original video. This means he was the one who fabricated it before presenting it in the court.

But why did he do that!

Why he betrayed his own brother?

The brother who would have given his life if he had asked once.

My hands were shaking badly. I didn't have the courage to play it again.

But the picture was quite clear in front of my eyes. I need to tell everything about Kayden to Matteo.

I know the truth will break him but I can't hide it from him.

It doesn't matter that he is getting married today.

He deserves to know everything. The truth about his own brother. He has been living in the darkness all his life and he got betrayed by his dearest one.

Abruptly, I stood up from the chair. I was determined to go back to the room, call Matteo and tell him everything. He will trust me once he sees all this..

Just when I walked toward the door, it opened. I froze midway and my breath caught in my throat when I saw Kayden standing at the doorway. His hands were in his pocket and he looked at me like a prey.

The fuck...