HER MOTHER’S FINAL SECRET
988 Words
The Mafia King’s Forbidden Wife
Chapter Fourteen: Her Mother’s Final Secret
The phone slipped from Elena’s hand.
The call was over.
But the words remained.
"Your mother’s final words were his name."
Adrian.
Why would her mother say Adrian’s name before she died?
Was it because she trusted him?
Was it because she blamed him?
Or was there something much deeper that Elena still didn’t understand?
She stood frozen outside the safe house, her mind racing.
Until one thought became impossible to ignore.
She needed the truth.
Not another secret.
Not another half-answer.
The truth.
---
When Elena entered the room, Adrian immediately noticed something was wrong.
He had learned her expressions.
The way her eyes changed when she was hurt.
The way she became quiet when she was angry.
“What happened?”
Elena looked at him.
For a moment, she wanted to believe him.
She wanted to believe that the man standing in front of her was the same man who protected her, who carried years of pain alone, who had promised her mother he would keep her safe.
But trust was fragile.
And secrets were dangerous.
“Someone called me.”
Adrian became alert.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did they say?”
Elena took a deep breath.
Then:
“They said my mother’s final words were your name.”
The room became silent.
Luciano, who had been nearby, stopped moving.
Adrian’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But Elena saw it.
“You know something.”
Adrian looked away.
“Elena…”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“Not this time.”
She stepped closer.
“I lost my mother. I deserve to know what happened.”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
Because he knew this moment would come.
He just hoped it would come later.
---
“Your mother called me that night.”
Adrian finally said.
Elena waited.
“She knew someone was coming for her.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
His voice hardened with frustration.
“I spent years trying to find out.”
Elena studied him.
“What happened when you arrived?”
Adrian was silent.
Then he answered.
“She was injured.”
Elena’s heart tightened.
“What did she say?”
Adrian looked down.
For a moment, the feared Mafia King disappeared.
Only a broken man remained.
“She told me to find you.”
A tear threatened to escape Elena’s eye.
“Why?”
“Because she knew she wouldn’t survive.”
The room was silent.
“She gave me the necklace.”
Adrian looked at the pendant.
“And she made me promise something.”
“What?”
His voice became barely a whisper.
“To protect her daughter.”
---
Elena looked away.
“So you married me because of a promise.”
Adrian didn’t answer.
That answer hurt more than she expected.
Because she had started to believe there was something real between them.
Something beyond the contract.
Something beyond duty.
“Was I just a responsibility?”
Adrian immediately looked at her.
“No.”
“Then what was I?”
The question stayed between them.
And for once…
Adrian didn’t have a perfect answer.
“You were someone I was supposed to protect.”
A pause.
“But somewhere along the way…”
His voice lowered.
“You became someone I couldn’t imagine losing.”
Elena’s heart skipped.
But before she could respond, Luciano interrupted.
“We don’t have time for this.”
They both turned.
Luciano held a file in his hand.
“I found something.”
---
Inside the file were old documents belonging to Victor Moretti.
Elena looked through them.
Bank records.
Photographs.
Names.
Then she saw something that made her freeze.
A signature.
Her father’s signature.
“What is this?”
Adrian looked at the document.
His expression changed.
“No.”
Luciano nodded.
“Yes.”
Elena looked between them.
“What?”
Luciano pointed at the papers.
“Victor Moretti didn’t start this war alone.”
A terrible feeling formed in Elena’s chest.
“Who helped him?”
Luciano looked at her.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Again.
Her father.
The man who raised her.
The man she trusted.
The man she thought was trying to protect her.
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“That’s not possible.”
Adrian watched her carefully.
He knew this pain.
The pain of discovering the people you loved were not who you believed they were.
“Elena…”
“No.”
She stepped back.
“My father loved my mother.”
Luciano’s expression softened.
“He did.”
“Then why?”
Adrian answered quietly:
“Because love and ambition can exist in the same person.”
---
That night, Elena sat alone.
Her entire life felt like a story someone else had written.
Her mother had secrets.
Her father had betrayed her.
Her husband knew more than he admitted.
And yet…
The person she expected to hate was the person who had shown her the most honesty.
A knock came at the door.
She expected Adrian.
Instead, Isabella entered.
Elena immediately became cautious.
“What do you want?”
Isabella looked serious.
“I came to tell you the truth.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“Everyone says that.”
Isabella ignored the comment.
“Adrian is not the only person who knows what happened the night your mother died.”
Elena stared at her.
“Who else?”
Isabella hesitated.
Then whispered:
“I was there.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
Isabella looked toward the window.
“And I saw who killed her.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
Isabella looked back at her.
And said:
“Your mother’s killer was not a De Luca.”
A pause.
“It was a Rossi.”
To be continued…
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