Chapter 4 - The Secret Lily Had Been Hiding
Lily hated hospitals.
They made everything too quiet.
Every machine seemed to announce how fragile life could be.
She had spent two days recovering when Alessio finally entered her room with a look she had never seen before.
Fear.
He closed the door.
"There's something I need to ask you."
Lily sat up slightly.
"What?"
"Did you know my father?"
She froze.
"What?"
"Before you met me."
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He placed an old photograph on the bed.
Lily stared.
It showed Vincent Romano standing beside her father.
Daniel Carter.
Her breath caught.
She had never seen that photograph.
"Where did you get it?"
"My uncle's archives."
She picked it up.
On the back was a date.
Eighteen years ago.
Lily frowned.
"My father wasn't working for your family."
"According to official records, no."
"Then why is he with your father?"
Alessio studied her.
"Because your father was an accountant."
She laughed nervously.
"My father repaired boats."
"After he stopped working for my father."
Her stomach twisted.
"What did he do?"
"Financial investigations."
Lily sat back.
"My father never told me."
"Maybe he was protecting you."
Alessio placed another photograph down.
This one showed a younger Lily.
At school.
Someone had circled her in red.
The picture had been taken fifteen years earlier.
"Who took this?"
"We don't know."
Lily's skin prickled.
"Someone had been watching me?"
"Apparently."
She stared at the picture.
"Alessio."
"Yes?"
"There is something I never told you."
He waited.
"When I was eighteen, my father gave me a box."
"What box?"
"I thought it was just old family things."
"Where is it?"
"At my mother's house."
Alessio immediately stood.
"Tell Marco."
"No."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because I think that's what they were looking for."
She reached into her bag and removed a small key.
Alessio stared at it.
"Where did you get that?"
"My father gave it to me."
"Does it open anything?"
"I don't know."
He looked at the engraving.
A tiny wolf.
The Romano family symbol.
Lily had carried a Romano key for years without knowing what it meant.
Alessio looked shaken.
"My father gave this to your father."
"What?"
"They were allies."
Lily stared.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because they were trying to bury the past."
"Or because someone was afraid I'd remember."
Alessio sat beside her.
"I believe you."
The words were simple.
But Lily felt them deeply.
"You didn't before."
"I know."
"And that's why I'm scared."
"I know."
He took her hand.
"I can't undo what I did."
"No."
"But I can refuse to repeat it."
Lily looked at him.
"I need time."
"You have it."
"I need trust."
"I'll earn it."
"And I need you to understand something."
"Anything."
"Being pregnant doesn't make me weak."
His eyes softened.
"I know."
"I'm still me."
"I know."
"And if we're going to have a future, you don't get to lock me away because you're afraid."
A faint smile appeared.
"Deal."
She smiled.
"Good."
That night, Alessio and Marco went to Evelyn's house.
They found the old box.
The lock matched Lily's key.
Inside was a small ledger.
And a cassette.
Yes.
A cassette.
Alessio found an old player in the attic.
They listened.
Daniel Carter's voice filled the room.
"Vincent, if you're hearing this, I failed."
Lily covered her mouth.
"I discovered the person moving money through our accounts."
Alessio leaned closer.
"It's someone with access to both families."
A pause.
"I believe they will use my daughter."
The recording crackled.
"Do not let Lily marry into this world."
Alessio froze.
Lily looked at him.
"Why?"
Daniel continued.
"Because the person behind this wants the Romano name."
Then the recording stopped.
Alessio rewound it.
Nothing.
He played it again.
Still nothing.
Then he noticed something.
The cassette had a second side.
He flipped it.
Daniel's voice returned.
"There is one person I trust."
A woman's voice whispered something in the background.
Lily couldn't make it out.
Alessio stopped the recording.
"Who was that?"
"I don't know."
But Lily did.
The voice belonged to her mother.
They exchanged a look.
Then Evelyn walked into the room.
"She knows."
Alessio stood.
"Knows what?"
Evelyn's face was pale.
"Who was behind it."
Lily stared at her.
"Mom?"
Evelyn took a shaky breath.
"I was afraid that if I told you, they would come back."
"Who?"
Evelyn looked at Alessio.
"The man who murdered your father."
Lily's heart stopped.
"He's alive."
Silence filled the room.
Alessio's hand closed around hers.
"Who?"
Evelyn whispered his name.
"Gabriel Romano."
Alessio's face turned white.
"My grandfather?"
May you like
Evelyn nodded.
"The man everyone thought died fifteen years ago."
