CHAPTER 5 VALEZ BLOODLINE RECORDS

The mansion felt different after those words were spoken.

He’s alive and he remembers who started the fire.

It didn’t echo like a sentence anymore.

It echoed like a sentence being sentenced.

Oriana stood frozen at the top of the staircase, the maids still gripped her arms, but their hands had loosened slightly, like even they were afraid to breathe too loudly now.

Adrian hadn’t moved. Not toward her. Not toward the stranger. Not toward the truth that was slowly beginning to unveil in front of him.

His face was unreadable again. But something inside him had already shifted.

The man stepped back slightly, slipping the burned photograph into his coat as it belonged there more than anything else in the room.

Then he spoke again, quieter this time. “Bring him to me.” One of his men nodded immediately and left through the side door.

Livia stepped forward quickly, panic slipping through her feminine voice.

“Adrian, you can’t just allow this, this stranger to walk into your home and accuse your family”

Adrian raised his hand slightly. Not to stop her. Just to silence her. And she did.

Instantly.

That simple gesture made Oriana’s chest tighten painfully. Because he had never silenced Livia for her before. Not once.

Adrian finally turned his head slightly toward Oriana again.

For a brief second, their eyes met.

Oriana’s lips parted. “Adrian” she whispered again, weaker now. “Please tell me what is happening”

Something was unreadable across his eyes. Not softness. Not love. Something heavier.

Like a memory trying to break through a locked door. But then Adrian looked away again.

Just like before.

And that single movement turned her apart more than anything else tonight.

Mateo stepped closer to Oriana instinctively, blocking the maids from pulling her further.

“She’s not staying here,” he said firmly.

Adrian’s mother scoffs. “She's exactly where she belongs.”

Mateo’s jaw tightened. “You starved her. You humiliated her. You”

“Enough,” Adrian said coldly.

"On what grounds, Mom?" Mateo screams at her.

"I said enough " Says Adrian, this time staring deeply into Mateo's eyes

Silence dropped again. But this time, it was different. Because Adrian finally started walking. Not toward Oriana. Not toward Mateo. Not toward Livia.

He walked toward his study doors. “Follow me,” he said lightly.

The Man's lips curved slightly. “I was hoping you would say that.”

And just like that, Adrian disappeared inside. The stranger followed. Mateo hesitated only for a second before moving after them.

Oriana struggled against the maids immediately. “No wait! Where are they going?!”

But they tightened their hands again.

Livia stepped closer with a forced calm expression.

“You stay here,” she said softly. “You are still part of tonight’s arrangements.”

Oriana froze. Her eyes met Livia's.

“What… arrangements?” Livia smiled faintly. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

Inside the study, the air was colder.

Adrian stood near the desk, unmoving. The man leaned casually against a shelf, as if he belonged there more than anyone else in the house.

Mateo stood near the door, tense and alert.

Adrian finally spoke first. “What do you want?” The stranger tilted his head slightly. “The truth,” he repeated.

Adrian exhaled slowly. “There is no truth you don’t already know.”

“Oh, I know enough,” the strange man replied. “But I want to hear it from you.”

A long silence followed.

Then Adrian finally looked up. “No one helped her. No one ever did.

Thirteen years ago,” he said slowly, “there was a fire in the Valez estate.” Mateo’s eyes narrowed.

Oriana’s name in the hallway made it feel like she was standing inside the room with them.

Adrian continued. “It was ruled an accident.

The strange man smiled slightly.

“But it wasn’t,” Adrian added.

He didn’t deny it. That was the first crack. Mateo stepped forward. “What are you saying?”

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “I’m saying” he paused, “some truths were buried for a reason.”

The man pushed off the shelf slowly.

“Buried by who?”

Adrian didn’t answer immediately.

When he did, his voice was lower.

“My family.”

The room went completely still. Even Mateo froze. But the stranger didn’t look surprised.

Only satisfied. “There it is,” he murmured.

Adrian finally looked at him fully. “You knew this already.”

“I suspected,” the stranger corrected. “But I needed confirmation.” Mateo frowned. “Why are you even involved in this?”

The stranger’s gaze shifted slightly.

“To find her,” he said simply.

Adrian’s expression changed slightly at that. “To find who?”

The man reached into his coat again.

But this time, he didn’t pull out a photograph.

He pulled out a file. Old. Sealed.

And marked with a name that made the air inside the room feel heavier instantly.

VALEZ BLOODLINE RECORDS.

Mateo’s voice dropped. “That’s classified family documentation.” The stranger nodded. “And inside it,” he said slowly.

“Is the name of the girl who survived the fire?”

Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“There were no survivors.”

The stranger looked at him directly. “There was one.”

Silence. A long, crushing silence.

Then, he opened the file. And pulled out a single page, he turned it toward Adrian first. Adrian’s eyes landed on it.

And for the first time that night, his control broke, just slightly. Barely noticeable, but real.

Mateo noticed immediately. “What is it?” he demanded.

Adrian didn’t answer. His eyes stayed locked on the page.

Then the stranger said it out loud. Slowly. Clearly. “The official record says the child died in the fire.”

He paused. Then added. “But someone changed the name.”

Mateo stepped closer. “Whose name?”

The stranger looked up, and for the first time, he said it directly. “The girl you know as Oriana Valez”

A pause. Heavy enough to suffocate the room. "Which was never meant to exist.”

Adrian’s breath stopped completely.

Mateo froze. And from outside the study doors, a faint sound echoed.

A crash. Followed by shouting. Then a servant’s panicked voice. “SHE ESCAPED”

Silence was shattered instantly. Adrian turned sharply toward the door.

Mateo rushed forward. The stranger slowly closed the file and smiled. Because he already knew. Oriana was no longer in the hallway.