Chapter 3 - My Mother’s Lie Was Bigger Than the City
My mother told me everything.
Not everything at once.
At first, she sat beside my bed for nearly an hour without speaking.
Vincent stood across the room.
He said nothing.
Finally, my mother began.
“Your father was named Adrian Moretti.”
I stared at her.
“Why did you say he died?”
“Because to everyone who mattered, he did.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means Adrian disappeared before you were born.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Vincent.
“Because his family was at war.”
Vincent's expression hardened.
“My father had enemies.”
“Not just enemies.”
My mother took a shaking breath.
“People inside his organization wanted control. Adrian discovered that someone was selling information to a rival group.”
“Who?”
“We never found out.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“What did Adrian find?”
“A ledger.”
Vincent's eyes sharpened.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
“Mom?”
She looked at me.
“I buried it.”
Vincent stared.
“You what?”
“I hid it.”
“Where?”
“In a place nobody would search.”
My mother reached for my hand.
“When you were born, Adrian gave me one instruction. If anything happened to him, I had to disappear with you.”
“Then why stay in the city?”
“Because I believed the danger had passed.”
Vincent gave a bitter laugh.
“It never passed.”
My mother looked down.
“I know.”
That was when I asked the question that had been hurting me the most.
“Why did the stalker know my name?”
My mother covered her mouth.
“Because somebody has been watching us.”
“How long?”
“Years.”
Vincent interrupted.
“Not years.”
He placed a photograph on the bed.
It showed me at four years old.
At a carnival.
Then another.
Me at five.
Walking home.
Then another.
Me at six.
Leaving school.
My stomach twisted.
“Who took those?”
“We don't know,” Vincent said.
My mother started crying.
That night, Vincent made a decision.
I would attend school under a new name.
My mother would move into a secured apartment.
And Vincent would investigate Adrian Moretti's disappearance.
But the next morning, disaster struck.
The police arrived.
Six officers.
Their captain demanded to see my mother.
Vincent met them downstairs.
I watched from the balcony.
“She's a witness,” the captain said.
Vincent replied, “She's under my protection.”
“We're not asking.”
The captain held up a warrant.
Vincent took one look at it.
Then smiled.
“You forged this.”
The captain's face tightened.
“Excuse me?”
“The judge who supposedly signed this warrant retired three years ago.”
Silence.
The officers backed away.
Vincent turned to his men.
“Photograph every badge.”
Then he looked at the captain.
“Now leave.”
The police left.
My mother whispered, “How did you know?”
Vincent answered without looking at her.
“Because the same person who stalked your daughter owns half the city's corrupt officials.”
That afternoon, one of Vincent's men discovered a hidden camera beneath the hallway clock at our old apartment.
Another was inside the hospital parking garage.
Another was taped under my school desk.
Someone had been watching us from everywhere.
Then they found the gray sedan.
Abandoned.
Inside was a child's drawing.
I recognized it immediately.
It showed a family.
A mother.
A father.
A little girl.
And a black crow drawn above them.
On the back, someone had written:
She remembers more than you think.
Vincent brought the drawing to me.
“Do you remember this?”
I shook my head.
But then something happened.
A memory surfaced.
A man kneeling beside me.
A man's voice.
A silver watch.
A black crow ring.
And words whispered into my ear.
“Never trust the man with the black roses.”
I told Vincent.
His eyes narrowed.
“Black roses?”
I nodded.
“Did your father have them?”
My mother suddenly stood.
“No.”
Vincent looked at her.
She was trembling.
“Mom?”
She whispered:
“Adrian's brother did.”
Vincent went completely still.
“You said Adrian had no brother.”
“I was wrong.”
“Who?”
My mother's lips moved.
“Gabriel.”
Vincent took a step backward.
“Gabriel Moretti is dead.”
“No.”
May you like
My mother looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“He's alive.”
Related Stories
