The Mother He Lost
797 Words
I had expected monsters to look like monsters.
That was the problem.
The people who caused the most damage rarely did.
They smiled.
They loved.
They shared your name.
And sometimes...
they were family.
When Alessandro said his mother might have been involved, I didn't know what shocked me more.
The accusation.
Or the pain behind it.
Because he wasn't speaking about an enemy.
He was speaking about someone he had lost.
Someone he had once loved.
---
"Your mother?"
My voice was barely above a whisper.
Alessandro nodded.
"Her name was Isabella De Luca."
I waited.
"Tell me."
He looked toward the darkness outside.
"I don't know where to begin."
"Start with the truth."
A small, bitter smile appeared.
"You sound like Sofia."
The mention of my mother's name changed something in him.
It always did.
"Was she close to Sofia?"
"No."
A pause.
"Not at first."
I sat across from him.
"What happened?"
Alessandro took a deep breath.
"My mother was different from my father."
"She wasn't involved?"
"I thought she wasn't."
The way he said it told me there was more.
"Then what changed?"
"After my father died, I found documents."
"What kind of documents?"
"Records. Meetings. Payments."
"Connected to Sofia?"
"Yes."
I felt a cold feeling in my chest.
"And Isabella was involved?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
He looked at me.
"For sixteen years, I have tried to separate what I know from what I fear."
That answer was painfully human.
"Why suspect her?"
"Because Sofia trusted her."
I frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
"Exactly."
He looked down.
"My mother was one of the few people in my family who treated Sofia kindly."
I understood.
"Then why would she betray her?"
"That is the question."
---
The next morning, Alessandro took me to a place I hadn't seen before.
A private room beneath the estate.
Not an office.
Not a storage room.
A memory.
The walls were covered with old photographs.
Family photographs.
The De Luca family before everything became broken.
Then I saw her.
Isabella.
She looked nothing like I expected.
She wasn't cold.
She wasn't cruel.
She was smiling.
And beside her was a young Alessandro.
Before the darkness.
Before the reputation.
Before he became the man everyone feared.
"He looks different."
The words escaped me.
Alessandro looked at the photograph.
"He was different."
There was sadness in his voice.
"What happened?"
"My father happened."
I looked at him.
"And your mother?"
"She tried to protect me."
"From him?"
"Yes."
A pause.
"But sometimes protecting someone means making choices they will never forgive."
I looked at the photographs.
"Do you forgive her?"
He was silent.
"I don't know."
---
At the bottom of an old drawer, we found a letter.
Not from Sofia.
From Isabella.
Alessandro stared at the envelope.
His hands were completely still.
"You don't have to open it."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because some answers change everything."
I understood that feeling.
But I also knew something else.
Living without answers was its own kind of pain.
"Open it."
He did.
The letter was short.
Only a few paragraphs.
But by the time he finished reading, his expression had changed.
"Alessandro?"
He handed it to me.
I read:
My son,
If you ever discover the truth about Sofia Rossi, know this: I tried to stop what was happening. I failed.
My heart tightened.
Your father believed power mattered more than people. Victor believed fear was the answer. But you were never like them.
I looked at Alessandro.
He was staring at the floor.
I continued.
The night Sofia disappeared, I was not her enemy. I was the person who tried to warn her.
I stopped.
A second later, I read the final line.
The person who betrayed Sofia was someone she trusted more than anyone.
The letter fell from my hands.
Another secret.
Another question.
But this time...
it wasn't about Alessandro's family.
It was about Sofia's.
---
That evening, Adrian returned.
Not through the gates.
Not through the security system.
He was simply there.
Standing in the garden.
Waiting.
Alessandro immediately moved in front of me.
"You shouldn't be here."
Adrian looked at him.
"I know."
"Then why come?"
His eyes moved to me.
"Because Elena deserves the truth."
My stomach tightened.
"What truth?"
Adrian looked at Alessandro.
"The truth about the person Sofia trusted most."
The air changed.
Alessandro's expression became cold.
"Don't."
Adrian ignored him.
"Because if she doesn't know..."
A pause.
"She will never understand why her mother died."
My heart stopped.
"Who was it?"
Adrian looked directly at me.
And said:
"Your father."
The world went silent.
Because I didn't have a father.
Not one I remembered.
Not one anyone ever talked about.
And yet...
everyone seemed to know his name.
- Writer
