Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Lied
I couldn't breathe.
My mother.
Evan's video continued.
“She didn't start this.”
“She inherited it.”
Dominic stared at the screen.
Evan explained that my mother had once worked for Rafael Moretti's mother.
She had carried money.
Messages.
Names.
For years she believed she was only helping people survive.
Then she discovered the operation had expanded.
Children.
Witnesses.
Families.
People were being threatened into silence.
My mother tried to leave.
They wouldn't let her.
She disappeared for six months.
Then she returned pregnant with me.
Evan believed that was the moment she began planning her escape.
The video ended.
Lily was asleep on the sofa.
I sat motionless.
Dominic turned the screen off.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Since when?”
“For years.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't have proof.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would have gone after her.”
“Of course.”
“And gotten yourself killed.”
I looked at him.
“You don't get to decide what I can handle.”
His gaze softened.
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“But I get to decide what I can protect.”
I looked away.
The sentence should have angered me.
Instead, it made my heart beat faster.
We spent the next two days tracing my mother's history.
We discovered she had visited five countries under false names.
She had opened three bank accounts.
She had transferred money into children's shelters.
She had paid for medical care.
She hadn't kept the money.
She had been moving people.
Saving them.
I realized the woman I thought had lied to me all my life had actually been trying to keep me alive.
Then we found her.
A small apartment in Queens.
I went alone.
She opened the door.
When she saw me, she cried.
“Mara.”
I stood there.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
She closed her eyes.
“Because I wanted you to have a normal life.”
“It wasn't normal.”
“No.”
She looked behind me.
“Is Lily safe?”
“Yes.”
“Then thank God.”
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“Did Evan know?”
“Yes.”
“Did you love him?”
She smiled sadly.
“He loved you.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“I knew he would protect you.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew what Dominic's father was capable of.”
I stiffened.
“My mother was connected to Rafael Moretti?”
She nodded.
“He was involved.”
“And Dominic?”
“Dominic tried to stop him.”
I turned.
Dominic was standing at the end of the hallway.
I hadn't heard him enter.
My mother looked at him.
“You came.”
He nodded.
She smiled.
“You were always like your mother.”
He frowned.
“My mother?"
“She helped people too.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“My mother died when I was twelve.”
“She didn't.”
Silence.
“What?”
My mother looked at me.
“The Moretti family has been built on lies for decades.”
Before we could ask more, the window shattered.
Gunfire.
Dominic pushed us down.
My mother screamed.
Three men rushed the hallway.
Dominic fired.
My mother grabbed Lily.
I crawled toward them.
The attack lasted less than a minute.
Then silence.
Two attackers were dead.
One escaped.
Dominic stood breathing hard.
My mother looked at him.
“It's started.”
“What has?”
“The man behind Rafael.”
Dominic stared.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know his name.”
“Then how do you know he's behind this?”
“Because Evan found him.”
She looked at me.
“And because he is the reason your husband died.”
My stomach turned.
“Where is he?”
My mother reached into her coat.
She pulled out a photograph.
A young man.
He looked harmless.
Business suit.
Friendly smile.
Beside him stood Evan.
I knew the man.
I had seen him at our wedding.
I had spoken to him at holidays.
I had once trusted him.
Daniel Mercer.
My husband's closest friend.
May you like
My mother's voice was barely audible.
“He was the one who delivered Evan to them.”
