Chapter 9 - WHAT SURVIVED
The months after Matteo's arrest were strangely quiet.
There were trials.
Investigations.
News stories.
Family meetings.
Assets were frozen.
Illicit operations were shut down.
Aldrich sold businesses tied to organized crime.
He kept only legitimate companies.
Shipping.
Construction.
Real estate.
Healthcare investments.
He wanted a different name for his future.
Anel needed a different one too.
Not a Ferrante built on fear.
A Ferrante built on protection.
Riona took time.
She didn't immediately move into the Ferrante estate.
She didn't immediately remarry Aldrich.
She didn't forgive everything.
But she stayed.
They went to therapy.
Together.
Separately.
Aldrich learned to listen without defending himself.
Riona learned that forgiveness didn't mean pretending nothing happened.
They learned each other again.
Slowly.
One day at a time.
Anel became the bridge between them.
He loved them both.
He wasn't interested in the history.
He cared about bedtime stories.
School projects.
Football games.
Pancakes on Sunday.
The first winter he spent with Aldrich, he asked for a dog.
Aldrich said no.
Riona laughed.
Anel won.
They named the dog Cosmo.
Aldrich pretended not to cry when Anel brought the puppy home.
Riona saw him.
She didn't mention it.
One evening, they stood outside on the terrace.
Snow fell over Montreal.
Anel was asleep upstairs.
Riona looked at Aldrich.
“Do you ever regret finding us?”
“No.”
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything.”
She smiled.
“I don't know when I fell in love with you again.”
He looked at her.
“I do.”
“When?”
“The first time you told Anel I'd stay away until you trusted me.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you were protecting him from me.”
He took her hand.
“And I realized you loved him enough to hurt yourself.”
She squeezed his fingers.
“I loved you enough once.”
“I know.”
“You hurt me.”
“I know.”
“I may always carry that.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“But I don't want to carry it alone anymore.”
Aldrich's eyes filled.
“Neither do I.”
They kissed beneath the falling snow.
Inside, Anel woke.
He walked downstairs in pajamas.
“Mama?”
Riona turned.
“What are you doing awake?”
“I had a dream.”
“What kind?”
“You and Dad were fighting.”
Aldrich smiled.
“What happened?”
“We stopped.”
Riona laughed softly.
“Yes.”
“We did.”
Anel looked between them.
“Good.”
He went back upstairs.
Riona rested her head on Aldrich's shoulder.
“We should probably teach him not to eavesdrop.”
“He's a Ferrante.”
She laughed.
“Don't encourage him.”
“I wouldn't dare.”
Later that year, Aldrich proposed.
Not with a diamond.
With the old brass key from the funeral.
He placed it in Riona's hand.
“What is this?”
“The key to my life before you.”
She frowned.
“What do I do with it?”
“Keep it.”
Then he offered another.
“This one is different.”
“The house?”
“No.”
“The office?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Our home.”
Riona's eyes filled.
“You're ridiculous.”
“You're going to say yes.”
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
Their wedding was small.
No criminal families.
No armed guards.
No secrets.
Just people who had earned the right to be there.
Anel carried the rings.
He was eight now.
He walked down the aisle very seriously.
When Aldrich saw him, he nearly cried.
Riona laughed.
Then she walked toward them.
Aldrich whispered.
“Beautiful.”
She smiled.
“You're still terrible at hiding your feelings.”
“I stopped trying.”
They married beneath the same kind of autumn light that had once found them separated by eight years of pain.
The irony wasn't lost on either of them.
The boy who had once arrived at a funeral as a secret was now standing openly between his parents.
The truth had survived.
So had love.
But there was one more thing Riona needed to do.
She returned to Cosmo's grave.
Aldrich stood beside her.
Anel placed a flower on the stone.
Riona whispered.
“You were right.”
Aldrich looked at her.
“About what?”
She smiled.
“He said the truth always comes back.”
Aldrich looked down.
“I wish I'd listened sooner.”
Riona took his hand.
“You're listening now.”
They stood together.
Three people.
May you like
One family.
And the grave of the man who had protected them when they couldn't protect themselves.
