There was a huge commotion outside Sky Villa. Fabian looks outside the window, hiding behind the curtains when Nina taps on his shoulder.

"What is all that noise about?" she asks trying to peep but Fabian covers her.

"Reporters." And goes back to looking outside. "I have already called Alphie and he is on his way."

"But how....I mean why?" Nina trails off as she turns to hear the lock of the basement door turn. Fabian gets ahead of her, shielding her, with his gun pointing, "Nina, don't move."

The door opens only to reveal a panting Alphie.

"QUICK! Close the curtains! Amber and Julia, make sure no one can enter the house! Hurry!" he hurries off to close the curtains. Fabian runs up to the girl's rooms while Nina looks at them with a confused expression.

"Will you tell me what is wrong? Why are the reporters outside?" Nina taps on Alphie's shoulder, making sure not to disturb his now 'all over the place' state.

"The reporters found out about you. I don't know how....and ...Patricia doesn't know about it yet..." Alphie replies in a panicked tone. Nina looks at Alphie and then it struck her like lightning. They can't know about them. It wasn't good for their campaign. And if Patricia finds out about it...she could hurt Mara.

"NO! This can't happen!" Nina sits on the couch, with her head buried in her hands. She started to imagine all the horrible things Patricia would do and couldn't stop her tears. Alphie notices this and stops in his tracks. Shit!

"Oh Nina, don't worry, please. I promise we will handle this. I will never let them know about you!" he goes forward to hug her but Fabian's voice interrupts him.

"What if we don't hide it at all?"

"What?" Alphie looks at him with a serious expression on his face. Fabian means no harm, that is for sure, but what he suggested was a suicide mission.

"I meant what I said." He looks at Nina, "Why don't we reveal Mara to the whole world?"

Nina stands up to punch him but Alphie stops her. She looks at him with disgust.

"Have you lost your mind? Maybe you don't know what Patricia is capable of, but I do. I know how her mind works and you tell me to go against her for your stupid little game?"

Fabian tries to calm her down and holds her hand. This somehow makes her feel safe but she was still upset.

"This is no game, Nina. Listen to this carefully. Patricia wants you both to be hidden away as it will affect her campaign. She threatens you with Mara's life. But once everyone knows who 'Mara' is, will it be possible for her to just kill her? The reporters will do their job of keeping her safe by revealing her, and we can ruin Patricia's campaign." He takes a deep breath. Nina sits on the couch again, defeated. What Fabian suggested seemed plausible but still, she can't risk her sister's life.

"But still..." she says with a lot calmer tone now.

Fabian clutches her hand and looks her in the eye, "This will also help you find your mother's killer."

"It will." Alphie breaks his silence. He was quiet the whole time, listening to Fabian's plan. It was now making sense to him. "If we bring out Juliana Martin's daughter out of the blue, people will ask questions about her existence to date. This will help us reopen your Mom's case with new, competent personnel who will dig deep into this. And since Patricia is busy with the campaign, she cannot get into this or her image will get spoiled."

"How will her image get spoiled?" Nina looks at Alphie.

"People will criticize her if they come to know that Patricia Williamson knows where the daughters were but hid them from the world. Some might even question her relationship with you and Mara. She would be caught up both sides as the case will reopen no matter if she gets involved or no."

"It will be more beneficial for her to not get involved and watch from afar. She will try her best to make sure that this investigation stays put at its place. It will make her anxious and...." Fabian trails off as he sees Mara coming down, rubbing her eyes.

"What is all this commotion about?" She tries to look but Alphie stops her. He looks at Nina waiting for her confirmation. She nods sadly and Fabian clutches her hand more.

"You did a great job, Nina. We will protect her, don't worry." He whispers in her ear.

Alphie turns to Amber and Julia signaling them to take Mara up and get her ready.

"Wait...what...what is going on?" Mara protests and Alphie replies,

"I'll explain everything." Alphie says as he closes her door to let her change.

Alphie couldn't possibly tell her the truth but Mara, being a kid was excited to be in front of the cameras. She would look at herself in the mirror a million times, touching up her makeup, asking Amber if she looks pretty.

"You look very beautiful, baby girl." Nina exclaims as she watches her sister descend the stairs in a silky sundress.

"I am nervous Nina...please please stay with me outside... I can't face the cameras alone." She hugs Nina, clutching to her back.

"Okay, Mara. She will come with you outside. But one thing. You can't tell people that she is your sister. For the world, she is your bodyguard."

"But why? Nina is my sister. We both are Juliana's daughters. Then why can't she be known?"

Alphie cuts in and turns her to him, "Remember Mara what I told you. We are doing this so that they reopen your mother's case and we find the real killer. But we need to make sure that both of you are protected. So please do what we say."

Mara nods. She was a little upset but felt relieved to at least have Nina by her side. It always gave her confidence.

"You can calm your nerves for the time being. We will take you out in some time." Alphie says to Mara.

Meanwhile, Nina had nudged Fabian to follow her to the kitchen.

"What is this now? Why do you want me to go out there in front of them?" She looks nervous. Fabian notices it and holds her hand again. She smiles a bit.

"It will be easier to protect you. Since you will also be in the limelight, Patricia can't harm you." Nina nods giving him a weak smile. Somehow his warm hands gave her the confidence she needed.

"Nina, you should get ready too." Alphie says in a little annoyed tone. Fabian leaves Nina's hand in a sudden moment after hearing that tone. Nina doesn't notice the tension between the two males; she leaves them in the kitchen and goes to Amber to help herself to find a dress.

"So you think the plan will work?" Alphie gulps down a glass of water.

"I hope so." Fabian could feel something was off with Alphie. But what?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Uh....where is Nina...we can't find her anywhere!" Alphie jokes around when he sees Nina in her pink backless dress. Nina hits him playfully while Mara hugs her.

"I knew my beautiful sister was in those boring clothes."

"We are ready to....." Fabian stops mid-sentence when he sees Nina.

"Yes...we should go now. Mara are you ready?" Nina looks at her, completely oblivious to the fact that Fabian was staring at her for too long.

Alphie, Mara and the housemaids were the first ones to leave. Nina turns to Fabian to finally notice that he was frozen in one place, looking at her. She goes to him playfully and whispers into his ear,

"I know you are thinking of ways to insult me in this dress, but what we are going to do is more important. So save those insults for our victory party." She winks at him and smiles.

That breathtaking smile that left Fabian gasping for air.

Did his heart just skip a beat?