Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Came Back From The Dead
The wedding was supposed to be small.
It wasn't.
By the time the ceremony arrived, half the city seemed to know about it.
Maya wore a simple ivory dress.
Dominic wore black.
Matteo walked her down the aisle.
At the altar, Dominic looked nervous.
Maya whispered, "You're scared."
"Terrified."
"Good."
"Why?"
"Now you know how I felt on our first night."
He laughed.
Then the ceremony began.
Everything was beautiful.
Until a woman stepped into the back of the church.
Maya saw her first.
The woman was older.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A familiar scar above her eyebrow.
Maya stopped breathing.
She knew that face.
She had seen it in old photographs.
Her mother.
Sofia.
Alive.
Maya turned toward Dominic.
He followed her gaze.
His face went white.
The woman walked forward.
"Maya."
One word.
That was enough.
Maya ran.
She reached her mother and stopped inches away.
"You're alive."
Sofia cried.
"I had to disappear."
"Why?"
"Because Vincent wasn't the only one involved."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Who else?"
Sofia looked at him.
"Your father's closest friend."
Matteo froze.
"What?"
Sofia pulled out an envelope.
"Read it."
Inside was a list.
Politicians.
Judges.
Police commanders.
And one name that shocked everyone.
The mayor.
Sofia explained that the Russo family had been under surveillance for years.
She had gone into hiding to protect Maya.
She had believed Matteo would eventually escape.
But then Vincent discovered her.
So she disappeared again.
Now that Vincent was arrested, she had returned.
Maya hugged her mother.
For the first time in her life, she had both parents.
Dominic watched.
His eyes filled with tears.
Matteo put a hand on his shoulder.
"You've got a family now."
Dominic smiled.
"I know."
Sofia looked at Maya.
"I am sorry."
Maya hugged her again.
"You don't have to be anymore."
The wedding resumed.
And this time, when Dominic said his vows, he wasn't making promises to protect Maya from the world.
He was promising to build a world where she didn't need protection from him.
Their marriage was not perfect.
They argued.
They disagreed.
Dominic hated shopping.
Maya hated how he left coffee cups everywhere.
He sometimes became controlling when frightened.
She called him out.
He sometimes shut down when memories returned.
She stayed.
They learned.
May you like
They grew.
And that was what made their love stronger than the violence that had brought them together.
