Chapter 9 - The Secret Beatrice Kept Until the EndOne year later, Beatrice became ill again.
Not with Alzheimer's.
Something else.
Her heart.
Damian moved her into the guest room.
Tessa cared for her.
Just as she had before.
But this time, Beatrice knew her own name.
She knew Damian.
She knew Tessa.
And she knew the past.
One night, she called Damian to her bedside.
“There is one thing you don't know.”
“What?”
“Your father wasn't the first Costa.”
Damian frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Beatrice handed him an old journal.
Inside was a family tree.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
The Costa name began with a woman.
Damian looked at Tessa.
“Who?”
Beatrice smiled.
“Your great-grandmother.”
She had built the original organization to protect women and children in immigrant neighborhoods.
It had become corrupt over generations.
Dominic destroyed it completely.
Then Damian inherited the ruins.
He had spent years trying to become his father.
Only to discover his real family legacy was protection.
Not violence.
Beatrice reached for Tessa's hand.
“That's why I watched you.”
Tessa looked confused.
“Me?”
“You reminded me of the woman we once were.”
Damian smiled.
“That's why you let her stay.”
“Yes.”
Beatrice closed her eyes.
“I knew you would fall in love.”
Damian laughed.
“You knew?”
“I saw it.”
“Before I did?”
“You were staring at her through cameras.”
Tessa laughed.
“That's creepy.”
Beatrice smiled.
“Love usually is.”
A week later, Beatrice died peacefully.
At home.
With her family around her.
No violence.
No fear.
Just love.
Damian carried the urn himself.
Tessa stood beside him.
After the funeral, he placed the old family journal into the fire.
Tessa looked surprised.
“Why burn it?”
“Because some legacies deserve to end.”
Then he pulled her into his arms.
May you like
“Some don't.”
She smiled.
