Chapter 5 - Renata Revealed That the Man Who Ordered My Family’s Massacre Was Someone I Had Mourned for Fifteen YearsRenata refused to speak again.
But she left a clue.
A name written inside her ring.
Salvatore.
I knew the name.
My father's oldest friend.
Salvatore Bellini.
He had been killed in the massacre.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
I searched old records.
His body had never been identified.
The funeral had been symbolic.
He might still be alive.
We found him in an old monastery.
He had a beard.
Gray hair.
But I recognized the eyes.
“Salvatore.”
He looked at me.
“You survived.”
“So did you.”
He smiled sadly.
“Your father warned me.”
“About the attack?”
“About your uncle.”
“Then why did you disappear?”
“Because the attack was bigger than the Duca family.”
I sat.
“Tell me.”
Salvatore explained.
My father had discovered that Matteo was selling information to a coalition of criminal families.
But someone else was funding Matteo.
Salvatore.
I stared.
“You?”
He nodded.
“I believed your family had become too powerful.”
“You ordered the massacre.”
“Yes.”
Marina gasped.
I felt like the room had vanished.
“Why?”
“I wanted control.”
“How many people died?”
“Twenty-three.”
“My family.”
“Yes.”
“You killed children.”
He lowered his head.
“Yes.”
I wanted to kill him.
But he was old.
Broken.
And the truth was finally here.
“Why did my father survive?”
“I thought he was dead.”
“He lived.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't he come back?”
“Because he was protecting you.”
I closed my eyes.
Everything connected.
My father had survived the massacre.
He had gone into hiding.
Marina protected me.
Renata infiltrated the house.
Matteo continued the plan.
And Salvatore funded it.
But there was one more secret.
Salvatore looked at Marina.
“Elena knew.”
“My mother?”
“She discovered everything.”
“That was why she disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
He looked at me.
“She died trying to expose me.”
I stood.
The room was silent.
He handed me a final envelope.
“Your mother's letter.”
I opened it.
Her handwriting.
Lorenzo,
I'm sorry I couldn't come back.
Marina saved you.
Renata will try to become your family.
Don't let her.
The last line broke me.
Family is not who stays beside you after everyone dies. Family is who protects your truth.
I folded the letter.
I understood.
Marina had been my family all along.
May you like
Not because of blood.
Because she had kept her promise.
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