Chapter 10 - My Mother Was Alive, and the Reason She Stayed Away Nearly Broke Me
I read my mother's letter twice.
Then a third time.
She had survived the bridge and years of hiding. She had been moved between protected locations after threats against Nico.
"Why didn't she come for me?" I asked.
Nico sat opposite me.
"She tried."
He showed me copies of letters addressed to my old apartment, my workplace, and Meera's home.
None had reached me.
Someone had intercepted them.
The newest photograph showed my mother outside a clinic in Pittsburgh.
She looked older. Thinner.
Alive.
"Where is she now?"
"Under medical care. She has a heart condition. Mara knows the location."
My anger turned toward Cedric.
"Did you know?"
"No," he said.
I searched his face for the lie I'd become accustomed to expecting.
I couldn't find it.
"I would have told you," he added.
"You don't get credit for promises about things you never knew."
He accepted that.
On the drive back, Nico told me how Mariana had hidden him under another surname. He told me about school plays she attended, birthdays spent quietly, and the terror of seeing an unfamiliar car outside their building.
I mourned the years I'd missed.
I also understood that he had been loved.
That mattered.
At the mansion, Mara was waiting.
"Vittorio knows Nico has surfaced," she said.
"Then protect him," I demanded.
"We intend to. But we need a witness willing to testify publicly."
I thought of the false signature, the missing letters, and my mother's voice on the tape.
"I'll testify."
Cedric turned toward me.
"Anna—"
"No. I've spent fifteen years being told what happened to my family. Now they can hear it from me."
Mara studied me.
"Once you do this, the threats may intensify."
My hands trembled.
May you like
I put them flat on the table.
"I know."
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