Chapter 17 – A Stranger in My Own Home

I barely slept that night. My mind kept replaying what I had discovered—I wasn’t a Montiero.

Every insult, every cold glance, every moment of neglect suddenly made sense. They never truly saw me as family. I was just a stranger they had taken in, a burden they tolerated.

But why?

I stared at my ceiling, my body aching from training, but my thoughts kept me wide awake. There was more to this than just me being adopted. They hid it for a reason.

I need to find out why.

The Next Morning

The atmosphere at the breakfast table was the same as always—cold and suffocating.

Lucas scrolled through his phone, barely acknowledging my presence. Eliana, my younger sister, sipped her coffee, whispering to our mother about something trivial. Father sat at the head of the table, silent and unreadable as usual.

I took a seat, forcing myself to act normal, even though my stomach churned.

“You look tired,” Eliana commented, giving me a fake-sympathetic smile. “Didn’t sleep well?”

I met her gaze without hesitation. “I slept fine.”

She smirked, but before she could say more, our father spoke.

“Eliana, enough,” he said firmly. Then, he turned to me. “I heard you’ve been training with Adrian.”

I kept my expression neutral. “Yes.”

He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Good. At least you’re trying to be useful.”

Useful. That word again.

I clenched my fists under the table. I wanted to snap back, to throw the truth at his face, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet.

Instead, I simply nodded. “Of course.”

For now, I would play along. I would let them think I was still the same weak, pathetic Clarisse they could control.

But deep inside, something burned—a fire that wouldn’t be put out.

They will regret underestimating me.

----

I kept my posture straight, my expression calm. Years of being treated as an outsider had trained me well in masking my emotions. But deep inside, I was screaming.

After breakfast, I excused myself and walked toward the garden. It was one of the few places where I could be alone—where I could think.

The cold morning breeze brushed against my skin as I sat on the stone bench near the fountain. My mind replayed last night’s discovery over and over.

If I wasn’t truly a Montiero, then why did they keep me?

There had to be a reason. People like my "parents" didn’t do anything without gaining something in return.

I needed answers.

And there was only one person in this house who might be willing to give them to me.

The Servants’ Quarters

I made my way to the servants’ wing of the house, where the staff lived. Most of them avoided eye contact with me, either out of fear or indifference. But there was one person I trusted—Martha, the head maid.

She had been in the Montiero household longer than I had been alive. She had seen everything.

I found her in the laundry room, folding sheets with practiced efficiency.

“Martha,” I said, stepping inside.

She looked up, startled. “Señorita Clarisse, what are you doing here?”

I closed the door behind me, my heart pounding. “I need to ask you something… and I need you to tell me the truth.”

Her hands hesitated over the fabric, her expression cautious. “The truth about what?”

I took a deep breath. “About me. About who I really am.”

Her eyes widened, and for the first time, I saw something flicker in them—fear.

Martha knew something. And I wasn’t leaving until she told me everything.

-----

Martha’s hands trembled as she set the folded sheet down. She looked around nervously, as if checking for eavesdroppers.

“Señorita…” she whispered. “You shouldn’t be asking these things.”

Her fear only confirmed what I already knew—there was a secret they didn’t want me to uncover.

I stepped closer. “Martha, please. You’ve been here since before I was born. You know the truth, don’t you?”

She swallowed hard, her wrinkled fingers twisting together. “I—I promised not to speak of it.”

I clenched my jaw. Of course, they had forced her to stay silent.

I softened my voice, lowering it to almost a whisper. “Martha, they don’t care about me. They never did. You’ve seen it. They treat me like I don’t belong because… I don’t, right?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. She wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Please,” I begged. “I need to know.”

Martha closed her eyes, as if battling with herself. Then, after what felt like forever, she sighed.

“You are right,” she murmured. “You are not their child.”

Even though I had expected it, hearing the words out loud still sent a sharp pain through my chest.

I forced myself to stay calm. “Then whose child am I?”

She hesitated again before whispering, “Your real parents… they were never meant to be forgotten.”

My breath hitched. “What do you mean?”

Martha took a deep breath, as if gathering courage. Then she looked me straight in the eyes.

“Your real family was powerful, señorita. Dangerous. And the Montieros… they were the ones who took everything from them.”

----

My entire body went still.

The Montieros took everything from my real family?

I struggled to process Martha’s words, my heart pounding so loudly it almost drowned out my thoughts.

“What do you mean?” My voice was barely above a whisper. “What did they do?”

Martha’s eyes darted toward the door again, her voice lowering to almost nothing. “I shouldn’t be telling you this… If they find out—”

I grabbed her hands, squeezing them tightly. “No one will know. Just tell me the truth.”

She exhaled shakily, then nodded. “Your real parents… they were powerful, more powerful than the Montieros. But something happened. A betrayal. A deal gone wrong. I don’t know the full details, but I know this—your parents were destroyed because of them.”

A cold chill ran through me. My parents—people I had never even met—had their lives taken because of the Montieros.

“And me?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Why did they take me?”

Martha hesitated, then whispered, “I don’t know the full reason, but I do know this—they should have killed you too. But for some reason… they didn’t.”

A lump formed in my throat. They were supposed to kill me?

My fingers tightened into fists. All these years, I thought I was just an unwanted child, an outsider they didn’t care about. But it was so much worse.

I wasn’t just an unwanted burden.

I was a survivor of a past they wanted to erase.

Martha’s hands trembled in mine. “Señorita, please. Pretend you never heard this. It’s too dangerous—”

But I wasn’t listening anymore.

I finally understood.

I had spent my entire life begging for a place in this family. Trying to earn their approval. Trying to be loved.

But now I knew the truth.

I was never meant to belong.

And now… I didn’t want to.

----

A heavy silence filled the room as Martha’s words sank deep into my bones. My breath felt tight, my heart beating erratically against my ribs.

I was never meant to belong here.

And now, I didn’t want to.

For years, I had endured their cruelty, convinced that I was just unloved, just unwanted. But the truth was far worse—they weren’t indifferent to me. They were hiding me. They had let me live, but only as a shadow, a forgotten remnant of something they had destroyed.

I let go of Martha’s hands, stepping back. “Does anyone else know?”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “No one dares to speak of it. If your… if the Montieros knew I told you, they’d—” She stopped herself, swallowing hard. “They would not be kind, señorita.”

I nodded, understanding the weight of what she had risked just by telling me this.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “Thank you, Martha. You don’t have to say anything else.”

She exhaled in relief but still looked troubled. “Please be careful, señorita. Knowing the truth is dangerous.”

Dangerous.

I had spent years living in fear of them. Fear of their insults, their punishments, their rejection. But now?

Now, the fear was gone.

I was done cowering. Done waiting for them to treat me like family. They never would.

And I didn’t need them to.

As I left the servants’ quarters, I felt something shift inside me. The old Clarisse—the one who begged for love, who longed for acceptance—was gone.

I was no longer the weak, naive girl they had controlled for so long.

I was something else now.

Something stronger.