Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Isabella Serrano was alive.
Sofia nearly collapsed when she saw the image.
Vittorio ordered us to remain at the estate while investigators went to my apartment.
I refused.
It was my home.
My life.
I was finished letting other people decide where I could go.
Vittorio looked like he wanted to argue.
Instead he nodded.
“I’m coming with you.”
We arrived with law enforcement.
My apartment door was open.
Nothing appeared stolen.
But my bedroom had been searched.
A single envelope waited on the bed.
My name was written across it.
Inside was a letter from Isabella.
She had survived by disappearing after Gabriel’s death.
She spent decades gathering evidence against Matteo and Luca.
But she couldn’t approach the Serranos because she believed Matteo still controlled people inside the family.
She had been watching me.
The old photograph came from her.
Luca had stolen it from her files.
Isabella was not working with him.
She was hunting him.
The security footage had captured her following him into my building.
Then we found blood near the fire escape.
Not much.
Enough.
Police followed the trail.
No body.
No Isabella.
No Luca.
But Isabella had left something behind.
A flash drive.
It contained audio recordings.
Matteo ordering Luca to arrange Robert’s death.
Charles agreeing to monitor my mother.
Preston being selected because his debts made him easy to manipulate.
And finally, a recording made two weeks earlier.
Matteo told Luca:
“Once the girl activates Gabriel’s trust, Charles will make her sign.”
Luca asked:
“And if she refuses?”
Matteo answered:
“Then Serrano will be blamed for whatever happens to her.”
I understood.
I had been brought to Vittorio not merely to access the trust.
I had been brought there so Matteo could frame Vittorio.
If I disappeared after entering his estate, everyone would assume the feared mafia boss was responsible.
Vittorio looked sickened.
“They were going to use you to destroy me too.”
For the first time, our stories felt connected.
Not romantically.
Not yet.
We were two people someone had tried to turn into enemies.
Instead, the lie had brought us together.
Investigators arrested Charles that evening.
Preston entered a cooperation agreement.
My mother chose to testify.
Matteo remained under investigation, but his attorneys fought aggressively.
Luca remained missing.
So did Isabella.
Then a hospital called.
A woman had arrived with a stab wound.
No identification.
She had given only one emergency contact.
Rosalie Hale.
Me.
We rushed there.
Isabella was alive.
When I entered her room, I understood why Sofia had mistaken me for her.
The resemblance wasn’t exact.
But it was unmistakable.
She cried when she saw me.
“I’m sorry.”
Those were her first words.
Not hello.
Not an explanation.
An apology.
She told me Gabriel had made her promise to watch over me.
She had failed.
Fear kept her hidden.
But when Matteo resurfaced, she knew I was in danger.
Luca found her before she could warn me.
The rest of her evidence was stored somewhere safe.
She would give it to investigators.
Then she asked about Sofia.
“My mother?”
“She’s waiting outside.”
Isabella closed her eyes.
Thirty-five years of grief crossed her face.
I opened the door.
Sofia entered.
Mother and daughter stared at each other.
Neither spoke.
Then Sofia crossed the room and embraced her.
I stepped into the hallway.
Vittorio stood there.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
“Me neither.”
That made me laugh despite everything.
He smiled.
Then his phone rang.
Marco.
Vittorio answered.
His smile vanished.
“When?”
He listened.
“Lock the estate down.”
I asked what happened.
He lowered the phone.
“Matteo disappeared from federal surveillance.”
My stomach tightened.
Then my own phone buzzed.
A photograph arrived.
It showed my mother sitting alone inside the Serrano library.
Taken seconds earlier.
May you like
Beneath it were five words.
COME HOME, ROSALIE. COME ALONE.
