Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Was Buried Alive
The door opened.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
The woman standing in the doorway looked exactly like the person I remembered.
The same soft brown hair.
The same tired eyes.
The same small scar near her eyebrow.
A scar I had touched when I was a child.
A scar my mother had.
My entire body went numb.
“Mom…”
The word escaped before I could stop it.
The woman’s eyes filled with tears.
“Clara.”
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t think.
Because my mother had been dead for eighteen years.
I watched her funeral.
I watched the coffin disappear into the ground.
I remembered my relatives telling me she was gone.
I remembered learning how to live without her.
But she was standing in front of me.
Alive.
Dominic slowly lowered the gun.
Not because he trusted her.
Because he was shocked.
“How?”
My mother looked at him.
And there was something between them.
Not surprise.
Not hatred.
Pain.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
My mother looked down.
“Yes.”
The answer was so simple.
Too simple.
My anger finally broke through the shock.
“You were alive?”
Everyone looked at me.
“You were alive this whole time?”
My mother stepped forward.
“Clara—”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“No, don’t say my name like nothing happened.”
Tears burned my eyes.
“I buried you.”
She looked devastated.
“I know.”
“You left me.”
“I know.”
“You watched me grow up without you.”
Her lips trembled.
“I know.”
The pain on her face was real.
But that didn’t make it easier.
Because for eighteen years, I had believed I was alone.
And now the person who abandoned me was standing in front of me.
Alive.
Dominic spoke quietly.
“Her name is not supposed to exist anymore.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
My mother looked at Dominic.
“You never told her?”
“No.”
“You promised.”
His expression changed.
“I promised to keep her safe.”
My mother looked at me.
“And you thought hiding the truth was the only way?”
Dominic didn’t answer.
That answer hurt.
Because everyone had been making decisions about my life.
Everyone except me.
I stepped between them.
“Someone needs to explain.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Dominic finally said:
“Your mother was the reason my sister died.”
The room went silent.
I looked at my mother.
She closed her eyes.
Like she had been waiting for this moment for years.
“Is that true?”
She didn’t deny it.
And somehow that hurt more.
“I made a mistake.”
Dominic’s expression darkened.
“A mistake?”
His voice became colder.
“You call it that?”
My mother looked at him.
“I was trying to save her.”
“You failed.”
The words hit the room like a weapon.
My mother looked away.
And I realized something.
Dominic wasn’t just angry.
He was broken.
The kind of broken that never healed.
“What happened that night?” I asked.
Neither of them answered.
Then my mother walked toward the table.
She picked up the old photograph.
The one with my younger face.
“I took this picture.”
My heart stopped.
“You?”
She nodded.
“Five years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed to know Dominic was protecting you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You were watching me.”
“I was making sure she was safe.”
“You disappeared.”
“Because if they knew I was alive, they would come after her.”
I looked between them.
“Who?”
My mother’s expression changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“The same person who tried to kill Dominic.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“You know who attacked him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She looked at Dominic.
Then at me.
And whispered:
“Someone you have trusted your entire life.”
Nobody spoke.
The mansion suddenly felt too quiet.
My phone vibrated.
Everyone looked at it.
Another message.
Unknown number.
Dominic immediately said:
“Don’t open it.”
But I already had.
My fingers moved before my brain could stop them.
One photo appeared.
A picture taken inside the Rossi mansion.
A few minutes ago.
My blood froze.
Because the image showed us standing in this exact room.
Dominic.
My mother.
Eva.
Anthony.
Me.
Someone had been watching us.
The message below contained only one sentence.
“Your mother isn’t the only person who came back from the dead.”
Dominic grabbed my phone.
His face changed as he looked at the screen.
“What?”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Because something outside the bedroom caught his attention.
A sound.
A door closing.
Not downstairs.
Not outside.
Inside the mansion.
Dominic looked toward the hallway.
His hand tightened around the gun.
“Everyone stay here.”
My mother grabbed his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You know who it is.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then she whispered:
“I know who they want.”
The lights flickered again.
The security alarm stopped.
Every camera in the mansion went offline.
Anthony moved toward the window.
“Boss…”
Dominic looked at him.
“What?”
Anthony pointed outside.
The security vehicles parked around the mansion were empty.
The guards were gone.
All of them.
Impossible.
Dominic’s face became unreadable.
Someone had entered the most protected house in the city.
And nobody had seen them.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
A child’s music box.
A soft melody.
Slow.
Broken.
Dominic froze.
My mother covered her mouth.
Eva stepped backward.
“What is that?”
Nobody answered.
Because they all knew.
Dominic whispered one name.
A name he hadn’t spoken all night.
A name that made my mother start crying.
“No…”
Dominic looked at the door.
“Impossible.”
The music stopped.
Then came three knocks.
Everyone froze.
Three slow knocks.
Like someone knew exactly who was inside.
Dominic raised his weapon.
My mother grabbed my hand.
And for the first time since I saw her again, she looked terrified.
Not for herself.
For me.
The door handle moved.
Then a voice came from the other side.
A voice I had never heard before.
But Dominic recognized immediately.
“Open the door, Dominic.”
A pause.
May you like
Then the voice added:
“I know you found my daughter.”
