Chapter 6 - The Truth Hidden in Maria’s Voice
The phone fell from Alessandro’s hand.
It hit the marble floor.
The sound echoed through the basement.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Because all of us heard the same thing.
The voice on the other end.
The voice of a woman who had been gone for twenty-seven years.
Maria.
My mother.
I stared at the phone lying on the ground.
My entire body felt frozen.
That name had followed me my whole life.
A name whispered in old memories.
A name attached to unanswered questions.
A name that belonged to the woman who disappeared before I was old enough to remember her face.
And now…
Alessandro Duca had heard her voice.
Alive.
I looked at him.
He was still standing there.
The most powerful man in the city.
The man who had faced enemies, threats, and betrayal without showing weakness.
But now his hands were shaking.
“Alessandro…”
He didn’t respond.
His eyes stayed on the phone.
Like he was afraid to touch it.
Like answering that call would change everything he believed.
Gabriel slowly stepped forward.
“You heard her.”
Alessandro looked at him.
His expression was filled with anger.
“You knew.”
Gabriel didn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
The room exploded with silence.
“You knew she was alive?”
“Yes.”
“And you let me believe she was dead?”
Gabriel looked down.
“I had no choice.”
Alessandro laughed once.
A cold, broken sound.
“No choice?”
His voice became sharper.
“You disappeared.”
He stepped closer.
“You let everyone think you were dead.”
Another step.
“You let me spend twenty-seven years believing the woman who saved my life was gone.”
Gabriel accepted every word.
Because he knew he deserved them.
“I was protecting Maria.”
“From who?”
Gabriel looked at me.
Then at Luna.
“From the same people who are still looking for her.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Nobody answered immediately.
That scared me.
Because every time someone hesitated, it meant the truth was worse than the question.
Alessandro picked up the phone.
The screen was still lit.
The call was still connected.
He pressed it to his ear.
“Maria?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a weak voice answered.
“Alessandro.”
I stopped breathing.
That was her.
I didn’t know how I knew.
I had never heard her voice before.
But something inside me recognized it.
A daughter’s heart knew things the mind couldn’t explain.
My eyes filled with tears.
“Mom…”
The word escaped before I could stop it.
The phone became silent.
Then the woman whispered:
“Elena?”
My knees almost gave out.
Nobody had ever said my name like that.
Not with that much love.
Not with that much pain.
I covered my mouth.
Luna started making small sounds in my arms.
Maria spoke again.
“Is she with you?”
Alessandro looked at my daughter.
“Yes.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“She’s here.”
A long silence followed.
Then Maria cried.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Just a quiet sound from someone who had been carrying too much pain for too many years.
“She found him.”
Alessandro frowned.
“Who?”
Maria didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
“Your father was wrong.”
Everyone in the room went still.
“What are you talking about?” Alessandro asked.
“He thought he could erase the truth.”
Her breathing became weaker.
“But he couldn’t.”
Alessandro looked at Gabriel.
“What truth?”
Maria was quiet.
Then she said something that changed everything.
“The baby was never the secret.”
I looked at Luna.
My heart started racing.
“What does that mean?”
Maria continued.
“The secret was who protected her.”
Nobody spoke.
Alessandro’s eyes moved toward me.
Then Luna.
Then the old photograph.
“Maria…”
His voice was barely a whisper.
“What happened twenty-seven years ago?”
A pause.
Then her answer came.
“I made a promise.”
“To who?”
“To Elena.”
My entire body froze.
“To me?”
“Yes.”
The room disappeared.
Everything disappeared.
Only her voice remained.
“When I found out what your family had done, I knew I couldn’t leave the child with them.”
I looked at Alessandro.
“What did your family do?”
His expression hardened.
But Maria answered.
“They tried to destroy every record.”
“Why?”
“Because the child was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Silence.
Then Maria whispered:
“That Alessandro was never the heir they thought he was.”
The words hit harder than anything before.
Alessandro didn’t move.
Gabriel looked away.
Sofia closed her eyes.
Everyone knew.
Everyone except him.
“What are you saying?” Alessandro asked.
Maria’s voice trembled.
“Your father wasn’t protecting the family name.”
“Then what was he protecting?”
A long pause.
“The truth about your birth.”
Nobody breathed.
Alessandro’s face changed.
“My birth?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
His voice became colder.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
Maria sounded exhausted.
“But you deserve to know.”
I watched Alessandro.
For years, people had feared him because of his name.
His power.
His family.
But suddenly, all of that looked fragile.
Because the foundation of his entire life was breaking apart.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
The question was softer.
Almost like a child asking his mother why she left.
Maria didn’t answer immediately.
Then she said:
“Because your father would have killed you.”
The room went silent.
“He already tried.”
Alessandro looked at Gabriel.
“What?”
Gabriel finally spoke.
“Your father discovered Maria found the records.”
“What records?”
“The original family records.”
Alessandro stared.
“About my birth?”
Gabriel nodded.
“And about the child.”
My heart raced.
“Luna?”
Maria’s voice came through the phone.
“Yes.”
I held my daughter closer.
“What does my baby have to do with all of this?”
Maria was silent.
Too silent.
Then:
“Because Luna carries the proof.”
My breath stopped.
“What proof?”
Maria didn’t answer.
The call suddenly became filled with static.
“Maria?”
Alessandro moved closer to the phone.
“Maria!”
Her voice returned for one second.
Only one.
And she sounded terrified.
“Alessandro…”
“Yes?”
“Don’t trust…”
The signal broke.
“Maria?”
Nothing.
The call ended.
The basement became silent again.
I looked at Alessandro.
“What was she going to say?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he was staring at something behind me.
I turned.
A small red light was blinking on the wall.
A hidden camera.
Someone had been watching us.
Alessandro’s expression changed instantly.
He grabbed his phone and called security.
“Lock down the building.”
His voice was different now.
Cold.
Dangerous.
“Find whoever accessed this basement.”
A response came through the speaker.
His face darkened.
“What do you mean nobody entered?”
He listened.
Then slowly looked toward the open storage room beside us.
The room that had been empty moments ago.
A single envelope lay on the floor.
Fresh.
Not old.
Not dusty.
Someone had just placed it there.
Alessandro walked toward it.
“Don’t touch it,” Gabriel warned.
Everyone stopped.
Because Gabriel looked terrified.
“What?”
He stared at the envelope.
“That handwriting…”
I looked closer.
My heart started pounding.
Because I recognized it.
The same handwriting from the letter.
The same handwriting from the past.
My mother’s handwriting.
But that was impossible.
Because Maria had been missing for twenty-seven years.
Alessandro slowly reached for the envelope.
Then stopped.
Because beneath my mother’s name…
There was another name written.
A name that made Sofia whisper in horror:
May you like
“Elena…”
The envelope was addressed to me.
