Chapter 7 - The Wedding He Had Planned Before He Lost His Memory
The investigation lasted three months.
Vincent was arrested.
Julian cooperated.
Romano Holdings underwent restructuring.
Illegal operations were dismantled.
Matteo testified.
Emily testified.
The public learned only a fraction of the truth.
To the world, Matteo Romano had survived an attempted assassination and exposed a financial conspiracy.
To Emily, the truth was more complicated.
Matteo remembered almost everything.
Almost.
There were still missing pieces.
But one morning, he entered Emily's office holding a file.
"What is this?"
She looked up.
"Your old calendar."
"Why does it say tomorrow is important?"
Emily smiled.
"You told me never to tell you."
"Tell me."
She closed the planner.
"It was supposed to be our wedding day."
Matteo froze.
"Our what?"
"Wedding."
He stared at her.
"We were engaged?"
She nodded.
"Secretly."
He looked at the file.
"Why didn't we get married?"
"Because you wanted to leave the syndicate first."
He sat down.
"And you agreed?"
"I loved you."
The words came quietly.
He looked at her for a long time.
"I don't want a secret wedding."
Her heart jumped.
"What do you want?"
"To marry you."
"Matteo..."
"I don't care what happened before."
He took her hand.
"I know what I want now."
Emily started crying.
He reached into his pocket.
A ring.
Simple.
Elegant.
The same ring he had bought years earlier.
"I found this in the safe."
"You remembered?"
"No."
He smiled.
"I didn't have to."
He placed it in her hand.
"Will you marry me?"
She laughed through tears.
"You forgot me and somehow still managed to propose twice."
"I seem determined."
She kissed him.
For the first time, there was no fear.
No secrecy.
No gunfire.
No hidden cameras.
Just them.
And one little girl watching from the hallway.
"Does this mean I get to be the flower girl?"
Emily turned.
"Nora!"
Nora ran into the room.
Matteo laughed.
"Yes."
"Can I wear sparkly shoes?"
Emily smiled.
"Absolutely."
Wedding preparations began.
But old wounds remained.
Matteo sometimes woke from nightmares.
Emily worried.
Nora asked difficult questions.
Why did Daddy forget?
Why did bad people hurt them?
Why did they need guards?
Matteo always answered honestly.
"Sometimes adults make dangerous choices."
"And you?"
"I made some mistakes."
"Mommy too?"
Emily smiled.
"Definitely."
Nora giggled.
But two weeks before the wedding, Emily found something in Matteo's study.
A small box.
Inside was a letter.
Written by Matteo before the accident.
She opened it.
Emily,
If you're reading this, either I've finally become brave enough to tell you everything, or something went terribly wrong.
I love you.
I have loved you since the first time you walked into my office holding that ridiculous green folder.
You were so nervous you spilled coffee on my desk.
You apologized twelve times.
I pretended to be angry.
I wasn't.
I was fascinated.
You saw every terrible thing in my world and never asked me to become someone else.
You simply asked me to become better.
If I'm ever gone, take Nora and leave.
Don't wait for me.
And if I'm alive but don't remember you, tell me one thing.
The cabin.
She stopped.
The cabin.
Matteo had never told her about that.
She found him downstairs.
"What is the cabin?"
He looked startled.
"You remembered that?"
"You wrote about it."
He smiled.
"Then I suppose it's time."
He took her to Vermont.
A small wooden cabin beside a lake.
Snow covered the trees.
Inside were photographs.
Their first Christmas.
Nora's first steps.
Emily sleeping on the couch.
Matteo cooking badly.
A note taped to the refrigerator.
Someday, we're going to live like this.
Emily cried.
"You wanted this."
"I still do."
He wrapped his arms around her.
"We don't need forty rooms."
"You said fifty."
"I exaggerated."
She laughed.
"And the mafia boss?"
"He retired."
"Really?"
"Mostly."
She smiled.
"What does mostly mean?"
He kissed her.
"It means I still know how to scare men who deserve it."
She laughed.
May you like
For the first time, their future looked ordinary.
And ordinary had never felt so precious.
