Chapter 10: The Woman From My Mother’s Past
I had spent twelve years believing my family was gone.
My mother.
My father.
Every connection to the life before my childhood memories.
Gone.
But standing in the entrance of the Moretti mansion, surrounded by armed men and secrets I could barely understand, I realized something terrifying.
My family had never disappeared.
They had been hiding.
And now they had all come back at once.
The woman standing in front of us smiled gently.
Too gently.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Her face looked warm.
Her eyes did not.
“Clara,” she repeated.
My fingers tightened around Leo’s hand.
The little boy looked up at me.
He felt it too.
Something was wrong.
Rico stepped forward.
“Celeste.””
The woman smiled wider.
“So you remember me.””
Adrian’s expression was different.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Regret.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
Celeste looked at him.
“And yet you are.””
The room became silent.
I looked between them.
“You know each other.””
Nobody answered.
That was becoming a pattern.
A terrible, exhausting pattern.
I stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
Celeste looked at me.
For a second, her expression softened.
“I’m your aunt.””
The word hit harder than I expected.
Aunt.
Another family member.
Another person who had existed while I lived alone with unanswered questions.
“My mother’s sister?””
“Yes.””
I swallowed.
“And you knew where I was.””
Her silence was enough.
I laughed quietly.
It wasn’t because anything was funny.
It was because I didn’t know what else to do.
“Of course you did.””
“Clara—”
“No.””
I looked at everyone.
“No more.””
My voice echoed through the mansion.
“No more secrets. No more people telling me they lied because they loved me.””
Nobody moved.
“I want the truth.””
Celeste studied me.
Then she nodded.
“You deserve it.””
Rico looked at her.
“Careful.””
She ignored him.
“Your mother and I were raised very differently.””
She stepped farther into the room.
“Your mother believed people could change.””
Her eyes moved to Rico.
“I never did.””
Rico’s jaw tightened.
“Celeste.””
“You were always her weakness.””
The words were directed at him.
But they felt like they belonged to another lifetime.
“She believed loving you would make you better.””
Celeste looked back at me.
“But loving someone dangerous always comes with a price.””
I stared.
“Are you saying my mother regretted him?””
Nobody answered.
Then Adrian spoke.
“No.””
Everyone looked at him.
His voice was quiet.
“She never regretted loving him.””
Rico looked surprised.
Adrian continued.
“She regretted what loving him put her daughter through.””
The room changed.
Because that sounded like something my mother would say.
I looked at Rico.
He looked away.
That hurt.
Because it meant Adrian was telling the truth.
At least about that.
Celeste walked toward the table.
“The night Elena died, she was going to disappear.””
My breath caught.
“What?””
“She had everything prepared.””
Celeste looked at me.
“A new identity. A new home. Enough money to start over.””
“Then why didn’t she?””
Celeste’s face became cold.
“Because Adrian found out.””
Adrian flinched.
I noticed.
“What happened?””
Celeste looked at him.
“Tell her.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Adrian said:
“I went to your mother’s house.””
My chest tightened.
“Why?””
“To ask her to come back.””
“And?””
His eyes lowered.
“She refused.””
A silence.
“She told me she had chosen you.””
He looked at me.
“She said you were the only thing that mattered.””
My throat tightened.
“Then what?””
Adrian looked away.
“I left.””
“That’s it?””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“Someone else came.””
Rico’s expression changed.
“Who?””
Celeste answered.
“Me.””
Everyone looked at her.
I felt my stomach drop.
“You?””
She nodded.
“I followed Elena because I knew she had the evidence.””
“The evidence that was on the drive?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Celeste looked at the floor.
“Because I wanted it.””
The honesty shocked me.
“You wanted it?””
“Yes.””
“For what?””
Her eyes lifted.
“For power.””
Nobody spoke.
The woman who looked like she belonged in old family photographs suddenly looked like a stranger.
“I thought the evidence could protect us.””
Rico’s voice was cold.
“It could have destroyed everyone.””
“I know.””
“Then why?””
Celeste looked at me.
“Because I was tired of being powerless.””
A strange sadness filled her face.
“I spent my entire life watching Elena choose kindness.””
She laughed softly.
“And I spent mine learning kindness gets people killed.””
My anger faded slightly.
Not because I forgave her.
Because I understood something.
Broken people didn’t always become better.
Sometimes they became dangerous.
“What happened that night?”” I asked.
Celeste became silent.
Then:
“Your mother found out I had betrayed her.””
My heart sank.
“She knew?””
“Yes.””
“And she still let you leave?””
Celeste looked away.
“She loved me.””
That answer hurt.
Because my mother had loved everyone.
Even people who hurt her.
“Then why did she die?””
Celeste’s face changed.
Before she could answer, the mansion lights went out again.
Everyone reacted immediately.
Rico grabbed my shoulder.
Dante moved Leo behind him.
Adrian looked toward the entrance.
“No.””
A sound came through the security system.
A man’s voice.
Not Adrian.
Not Rico.
Someone else.
“You all keep telling the girl pieces of the story.””
The voice was calm.
Controlled.
“Maybe it’s time she hears the whole thing.””
Celeste went pale.
“Impossible.””
Rico looked at her.
“Who is it?””
She whispered:
“The man who started everything.””
A pause.
Then the voice continued.
“Clara.””
My blood turned cold.
“You want to know who killed your mother?””
The speakers crackled.
“Ask the man who raised your father.””
Rico froze.
Adrian froze.
And Celeste whispered one name.
A name that meant nothing to me.
May you like
But everything to them.
“Victor Moretti.””
