Chapter 9 - Alessandro Finally Understood Why Mia Had Entered Sophia’s Nursery Every Night, and His Daughter Gave Him the Answer He Needed MostYears passed.
Sophia was five.
Mia was seven.
They remained inseparable.
One rainy evening, Alessandro found both girls sitting beneath Sophia's bed.
“What are you doing?”
Mia looked up.
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
“Mommy.”
Isabella wasn't there.
She was in the kitchen.
Alessandro smiled.
“Your mother is downstairs.”
Mia shook her head.
“Not that mommy.”
He stopped.
“What?”
Mia pointed toward the wall.
The same wall that had once hidden the tunnel.
Alessandro opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
Isabella's mother.
His mother.
Two women.
Standing together.
On the back:
Protect the children.
Alessandro stared.
His mother had known.
Before Isabella died.
Before he married her.
Before Mia was born.
Everyone had been part of a plan to protect the children.
Mia had inherited the responsibility without understanding it.
She had simply followed love.
That night, Alessandro sat beside the girls.
“Why did you go into Sophia's room?”
Mia looked confused.
“Because she cried.”
“That's all?”
She nodded.
“Babies shouldn't cry alone.”
Alessandro's eyes filled.
She said it as if the answer were obvious.
He looked at his daughter.
“Who taught you?”
Mia smiled.
“Mommy.”
Isabella appeared at the door.
Alessandro stood.
She came closer.
Mia ran to her.
Alessandro watched.
He finally understood.
The real inheritance wasn't money.
It wasn't power.
It wasn't a criminal organization.
It was the ability to care for someone when nobody else was watching.
Mia had done that.
May you like
Isabella had done that.
Now he would do it.
