Chapter 5 - The Woman Everyone Buried
Isabella Greco sat in front of the fireplace as though she had never disappeared.
Lorenzo stood across from her.
He couldn't move.
“Twenty-six years,” he whispered.
She nodded.
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I had to.”
“You let me bury you.”
“I know.”
“You let me hate Father.”
“You needed someone to hate.”
Lorenzo's voice broke.
“Why?”
Isabella looked at me.
“Because I failed to protect you once.”
She turned to me.
“Then I failed to protect Julia.”
I stared.
“What does my mother have to do with you?”
“Everything.”
She explained.
Elena had discovered the Belladonna Circle.
Isabella had helped her.
They were friends.
Not merely acquaintances.
They had investigated the same network.
They discovered that Matteo Greco was part of it.
So was Julian Romano.
My father.
But there was one thing the Circle feared.
A child.
Me.
I had been born into two families that wanted power.
The Circle believed I could become the legal heir to assets controlled by both families.
They planned to use me as leverage.
Isabella and Elena created a secret agreement.
They would make the records disappear.
They would fake their deaths.
And they would place me somewhere no one would search.
With my father.
I stared at her.
“My whole life was a lie.”
“It was a shield.”
“That's not better.”
“I know.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“You took my mother away.”
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“I chose exile over your funeral.”
He looked away.
“I thought you abandoned me.”
“I watched you from a distance.”
“When?”
“Every birthday.”
His face crumbled.
“You were there?”
“Always.”
He shook his head.
“You don't get to say that.”
She accepted the anger.
“You're right.”
Then she looked at me.
“The roses were sent by Matteo.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“To tell you the shield is breaking.”
“What does he want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because the agreement expires when you turn thirty.”
I went still.
I had turned twenty-nine three months earlier.
“What's supposed to happen at thirty?”
“The assets transfer.”
“To me?”
She nodded.
“What assets?”
“Enough to bring the Belladonna Circle back from hiding.”
I laughed nervously.
“This sounds insane.”
“It is.”
Lorenzo asked:
“Where is Elena?”
Isabella looked at me.
“Alive.”
My breath caught.
“Where?”
“She moved constantly.”
“Why won't she contact me?”
“She believes she is being watched.”
“By Matteo?”
“By everyone.”
I felt tears burning.
“Did she ever try to find me?”
“She came near your school once.”
“When?”
“When you were thirteen.”
I covered my mouth.
“She saw me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she come to me?”
“Because a man followed her.”
“What man?”
“Matteo.”
Lorenzo turned sharply.
“Where is he now?”
Isabella shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“But you know someone who does.”
She looked at the notebook.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“My brother.”
“Matteo.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Then the house shook.
An explosion.
Windows shattered.
Lorenzo pushed me down.
“Stay here!”
Gunfire.
Men entered through the cellar.
Claudio and the guards fought them.
Isabella grabbed my hand.
“There is a tunnel.”
We ran.
Behind us, fire spread through the building.
Lorenzo came last.
We escaped through the woods.
The vineyard burned behind us.
Isabella watched it.
“That was the last safe place.”
I looked at her.
“Where do we go now?”
She turned to Lorenzo.
“To the one place Matteo won't expect.”
“Where?”
“Saint Verena.”
The abandoned hospital.
The place where everything began.
That night, we returned.
Beneath the chapel, Isabella revealed another chamber.
Inside was a metal safe.
She opened it.
There was one object.
A video cassette.
Lorenzo stared.
“What is that?”
“Your father recorded this the night before he died.”
We found an old player.
The screen flickered.
My father appeared.
He looked exhausted.
“If you're watching this, I failed.”
He paused.
“Julia, I never wanted you to know what I did.”
I stared.
“I made terrible choices.”
Lorenzo stepped closer.
“I tried to protect you.”
My father looked directly at the camera.
“The man you need to fear is not Matteo.”
My heart stopped.
“It is the man who claims he is protecting you.”
The video ended.
I looked at Lorenzo.
He stared at the blank screen.
Isabella went pale.
Then Claudio entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
Claudio looked at me.
“There was another man in the chapel.”
“Who?”
He handed Lorenzo a surveillance still.
A blurred figure.
Lorenzo stared.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Victor Salazar.”
