Chapter 5 - The Woman Everyone Thought Was Dead
We found Claudia in a lakeside villa.
Marello went alone.
I stayed in the car with Leo.
Hours passed.
Then Marello emerged.
He looked older.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
He opened the car door.
"She's inside."
Leo looked up.
"Grandma?"
Marello froze.
I had told Leo almost nothing about his grandparents.
He had learned the word from family photos.
Marello nodded.
"Yes."
We entered together.
Claudia sat in a chair by the window.
She looked at Marello.
"My son."
He stopped several feet away.
"You're alive."
"I needed you to believe I wasn't."
"Why?"
"Because I knew what they were planning."
"Then why did you let me mourn you?"
Claudia's eyes filled with tears.
"Because if they knew I was alive, they would use me against you."
"You joined them."
"I pretended to."
Marello laughed bitterly.
"Everyone in this family has an excuse."
Claudia looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"Seven years ago, I found out Elena was pregnant."
Marello turned.
"What?"
"I knew before you did."
He stared.
Claudia told us the truth.
A faction inside the Vitali organization had discovered Elena's pregnancy.
They believed the unborn child could eventually inherit the empire.
They decided to remove Elena.
Claudia tried to stop them.
But she was too late.
When she discovered the kidnapping, she created a false death.
She convinced everyone that she had died.
Then she worked in secret to track the conspirators.
She had been gathering evidence.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the people closest to you were compromised."
"Who?"
She looked at us.
"Dario."
"Bianca?"
"Yes."
"Antonio?"
"Yes."
"And who else?"
Claudia hesitated.
"The person who gave the original order."
Marello stepped closer.
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Your uncle Stefano."
Marello's eyes widened.
Stefano had disappeared fifteen years earlier.
He had been presumed dead after a yacht explosion.
But Claudia produced a photograph.
Stefano was alive.
And he had been coordinating the conspiracy from overseas.
He had waited years.
He had built alliances.
He had manipulated Bianca.
He had used Dario.
And he had controlled the people who kidnapped Elena.
Then Claudia handed Marello an old file.
Inside was the original order.
Elena was not to be killed.
She was to disappear.
The baby was to be preserved.
The plan had been to use the child later as leverage.
But something had gone wrong.
Someone inside the group had attempted to kill Elena.
Claudia had intervened.
Helen had helped her escape.
The child's existence had remained secret.
Marello stared at me.
"Seven years."
"I know."
He looked at Leo.
"Seven years they stole from us."
I reached for his hand.
He squeezed it.
For the first time, there was no anger between us.
Only grief.
Claudia apologized.
"I should have found you sooner."
I shook my head.
"You protected him."
She cried.
"I protected what was left of my son."
Marello sat beside her.
"Mom."
She looked up.
"I don't know if I can forgive everything."
"I don't expect forgiveness."
"But thank you."
She began crying.
That night, Marello told Leo the truth.
"This is your grandmother."
Leo stared.
"Really?"
Claudia smiled.
"Yes."
Leo walked toward her.
She opened her arms.
He hugged her.
Claudia sobbed.
Marello looked away.
I saw him wipe a tear.
Family was returning in pieces.
But Stefano was still out there.
And Bianca was still preparing for the wedding.
Marello made another decision.
"We let them think Claudia is still dead."
"Why?"
"Because Stefano thinks he controls her."
"And Bianca?"
"We let her believe everything is going according to plan."
Claudia looked at me.
"You're coming to the wedding?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Then you must be careful."
"I've been careful for seven years."
"Not enough."
She handed me a small device.
"A tracker?"
"A panic transmitter."
She pointed toward Leo.
"If anything happens, press it once."
I took it.
Marello looked at me.
"No more running."
I smiled sadly.
"I don't want to run anymore."
The next morning, we received a new message.
A photograph of Leo leaving school.
Taken the previous week.
Below it:
WE KNOW ABOUT THE BOY.
Marello's face became cold.
The wedding was tomorrow.
They had found out.
But instead of canceling, Marello smiled.
"Good."
I looked at him.
"Good?"
"They're going to come closer."
"And we let them?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because tomorrow, every person involved will be in the same building."
May you like
He placed the photograph on the table.
"Tomorrow, they all walk into my trap."
