Chapter 14: The Dead Don't Speak
1066 Words
"Ask Elena Romano."
The words echoed inside Aria's mind.
Again.
And again.
And again.
She stared at the guard.
Certain she had heard wrong.
Certain this had to be some cruel mistake.
"What did you say?"
The guard swallowed.
"The message at the scene."
His voice was uneasy.
"As written."
Aria felt her heartbeat quicken.
"But my mother is dead."
Nobody answered.
Because that was the problem.
The message made no sense.
Elena Romano had been dead for years.
Everyone knew that.
There were death certificates.
Funeral records.
A grave.
Yet somehow her name had appeared again.
Connected to Victor's execution.
Connected to her father's journal.
Connected to everything.
Luca's expression darkened.
"Who found the body?"
"Local fishermen."
The guard handed over a folder.
"It happened approximately six hours ago."
Luca opened it immediately.
Inside were crime scene photographs.
Witness statements.
Initial reports.
His face grew colder with every page.
"What is it?" Aria asked.
Luca hesitated.
Then handed her a photograph.
The image nearly made her sick.
Victor's body lay near the harbor docks.
A single gunshot wound marked his forehead.
Professional.
Precise.
Execution style.
But that wasn't what shocked her most.
Someone had painted a symbol beside him.
A black serpent.
The signature of the organization that had haunted her life.
Her hands trembled.
"Why?"
No one answered.
Because no one knew.
That evening, Luca called an emergency meeting.
The atmosphere inside the conference room was grim.
Every senior member of the Moretti organization attended.
Marco sat at the far end of the table.
Still recovering from his injuries.
His shoulder remained heavily bandaged.
Yet he refused to stay away.
Not now.
Not during a war.
Luca stood at the head of the table.
Victor's photograph projected onto a screen behind him.
"Someone wants us chasing Elena Romano."
The room remained silent.
Everyone understood the significance.
"If Elena is dead," Marco said, "then the message is meaningless."
Luca nodded.
"Exactly."
Aria frowned.
"What if that's the point?"
Every eye turned toward her.
"What do you mean?"
She swallowed.
"What if someone wants us distracted?"
The room grew quiet.
Because it was a valid possibility.
A very valid possibility.
Marco leaned forward.
"So you're suggesting the message is fake?"
"I'm suggesting somebody wants us looking backward."
Instead of forward.
Luca's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then one of the older advisors cleared his throat.
"There is another possibility."
The room turned toward him.
The elderly man adjusted his glasses.
"What if Elena Romano never died?"
Silence.
Complete silence.
Aria nearly laughed.
The idea sounded absurd.
Impossible.
Yet lately impossible things kept becoming reality.
"My mother was buried."
The advisor nodded.
"According to records."
Aria frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The man exchanged a look with Luca.
Then answered carefully.
"It means records can be forged."
The room became deathly still.
Aria's stomach twisted.
No.
No way.
Not her mother.
Not after all these years.
Not after all this pain.
Not after all the lies.
Luca finally spoke.
"We need facts."
The advisor nodded.
"Agreed."
"So we start with the grave."
Aria froze.
"The grave?"
Luca looked directly at her.
"If Elena is dead, we'll prove it."
The alternative remained unspoken.
If she wasn't—
Everything changed.
The cemetery sat on the outskirts of the city.
Gray clouds covered the sky.
Cold wind drifted between rows of headstones.
Aria hated being there.
The entire situation felt wrong.
Unnatural.
Yet she couldn't stop thinking about the possibility.
What if?
What if somehow—
No.
It wasn't possible.
It couldn't be.
They stopped before a polished marble headstone.
ELENA ROMANO
Beloved Wife and Mother
Gone But Never Forgotten
Aria stared at the name.
Tears filled her eyes.
For years she had visited this grave.
Brought flowers.
Spoken to the stone.
Mourned the woman she loved.
And now people were questioning whether the grave even belonged to her.
The thought made her angry.
And terrified.
Luca stepped beside her.
"We don't have to do this today."
"Yes, we do."
Her voice surprised even herself.
If answers existed—
She wanted them.
No matter how painful.
Hours later, legal permissions were arranged.
The grave was opened.
Aria stood nearby.
Unable to look away.
Unable to breathe.
The coffin emerged slowly.
Covered in dirt.
Weathered by time.
The workers carefully opened it.
Then everything changed.
One of the men looked confused.
Then alarmed.
Then shocked.
"What is it?" Luca demanded.
The worker stepped backward.
His face pale.
"The coffin."
Aria's pulse thundered.
"What about it?"
The worker looked toward them.
Then delivered words that shattered reality.
"It's empty."
Silence.
Complete silence.
The world seemed to stop spinning.
Aria stared.
Certain she had misheard.
"No."
Her voice barely existed.
"No."
The worker nodded slowly.
"There are no remains."
Aria's legs nearly gave out.
The grave.
The funeral.
The years of grief.
All of it.
A lie.
Her mother had never been buried there.
Which meant—
One terrifying possibility remained.
Elena Romano might still be alive.
That night, nobody slept.
The discovery changed everything.
Every assumption.
Every memory.
Every piece of the puzzle.
Aria sat alone in the library.
The empty coffin report rested before her.
Beside it lay her mother's journal.
And her father's journal.
Two stories.
Two versions of the truth.
Neither complete.
Neither trustworthy.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
Luca entered.
For once, he looked tired.
Genuinely tired.
He sat across from her.
Neither spoke for several moments.
Then Aria finally broke the silence.
"If she's alive..."
Her voice cracked.
Luca looked up.
"Then why didn't she come back?"
The question hurt.
More than anything else.
If Elena had survived—
Why abandon her family?
Why leave her children?
Why disappear?
Luca had no answer.
Because there wasn't one.
Not yet.
Suddenly his phone rang.
The timing immediately felt wrong.
Dangerous.
Luca answered.
His expression hardened almost instantly.
"What?"
Silence followed.
Then another pause.
Aria watched his face lose color.
Something terrible had happened.
"What is it?" she asked.
Luca lowered the phone slowly.
His eyes locked onto hers.
And for the first time since she met him—
She saw genuine fear.
"Aria."
Her stomach dropped.
"What happened?"
Luca swallowed.
Then spoke three words.
Three words that changed everything.
"She contacted us."
Aria froze.
The room became silent.
Cold.
Unreal.
"Who?"
But deep down—
She already knew.
Luca's answer confirmed it.
"Your mother."
- Writer
