Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Matteo Ricci had spent his entire life learning how to recognize danger.
It wasn't something people could teach.
It was something men like him learned because mistakes had consequences.
A wrong decision could cost millions.
A wrong alliance could cost a company.
A wrong enemy could cost a life.
But nothing in his years of surviving powerful men prepared him for the possibility that the person he trusted most had been standing beside him while his daughter suffered.
Marco Duca.
The name felt different now.
It wasn't the name of his partner.
It wasn't the name of his closest friend.
It was the name of the man who had stolen four years from Isabella.
And maybe much more.
"Where is Lily Carter?"
Matteo's voice was calm.
Too calm.
Marco looked at him carefully.
"You're going to make the same mistake again."
"What mistake?"
"Believing you can control everything."
Matteo walked closer.
"I don't need to control everything."
His eyes hardened.
"I only need the truth."
Marco laughed quietly.
"You think Lily is the truth?"
"No."
Matteo stared at him.
"I think Lily is the person you are afraid of."
For the first time, Marco had no answer.
And Matteo knew.
He had found the weakness.
---
Lily Carter had not slept.
Not after the envelope.
Not after the message.
Not after realizing someone had started searching for her again.
She sat at the small kitchen table while Ethan paced across the apartment.
"We have to leave."
Lily looked up.
"What?"
"We leave tonight."
"No."
"Lily."
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"I'm tired of running."
Ethan stopped.
"You know what happens when people like Matteo Ricci get involved."
"He saved his daughter."
"He destroyed people's lives."
Lily looked at him.
"Did he?"
Ethan didn't answer.
Because that was the question neither of them wanted to face.
For years, Lily had hated Matteo.
Not because he hurt her.
Because she thought he didn't care.
She thought powerful men like Matteo only protected their own world.
But last night, she saw something.
When Isabella ran toward her...
Matteo didn't look angry.
He looked broken.
Like a father seeing his child breathe again after years underwater.
And that complicated everything.
"Ethan."
Her brother looked at her.
"What if he doesn't know?"
"Know what?"
"The truth."
Ethan's face changed.
"Lily."
"What if someone made sure Matteo never found out?"
Silence.
Because both of them knew the answer.
Marco Duca.
---
That afternoon, Matteo found Lily outside the restaurant where she worked.
Not with security.
Not with guards.
Alone.
That surprised her.
She expected intimidation.
Threats.
Pressure.
Instead, Matteo stood several feet away and simply said:
"Isabella asked for you."
Lily froze.
"What?"
"She wants to see you."
Lily looked away.
"I can't."
"Why?"
Because she knew.
If she saw Isabella again, everything she buried would come back.
The fire.
The screams.
The promise.
The guilt.
"Because I failed her."
Matteo's expression changed.
"You saved her."
"No."
Lily shook her head.
"I saved her from the fire."
Her voice broke slightly.
"But I didn't save her from everything that happened afterward."
Matteo studied her.
"What does that mean?"
Lily looked at him.
And for a moment, Matteo saw something he had never expected.
Not fear.
Pain.
"The night of the fire wasn't an accident."
Matteo didn't move.
"I know."
Lily's eyes widened.
"How?"
"Because I know Marco."
A silence passed.
Then Lily whispered:
"You finally figured it out."
Those words hurt more than Matteo expected.
Because they confirmed something.
She had known.
For four years.
"Tell me everything."
Lily looked around.
People walked past them.
Cars moved through the street.
The world continued.
But for Matteo Ricci, everything had stopped.
"I was seventeen."
She swallowed.
"My father repaired things at your estate. He knew everyone who worked there."
Matteo listened.
"The night of the fire, I brought him dinner."
Her eyes became distant.
"I heard screaming."
Matteo's hands tightened.
"Isabella."
Lily nodded.
"I ran inside."
She closed her eyes.
"I found her trapped."
A pause.
"Then I saw him."
"Marco."
Another nod.
"He wasn't trying to help."
The words hit like a bullet.
"He was standing outside the room."
"Doing what?"
Lily looked at Matteo.
"Waiting."
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
"Waiting for her to die?"
Lily didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"No."
Matteo frowned.
"Then what?"
"He was waiting for something else."
"What?"
Lily's voice became barely a whisper.
"He was waiting for you."
---
That night, Matteo brought Lily to the Ricci estate.
For the first time in four years, Isabella waited outside her room.
The moment she saw Lily, tears filled her eyes.
"You came back."
Lily broke.
She crossed the room and hugged the girl she once carried through smoke.
"I'm sorry."
Isabella shook her head.
"You promised."
"I know."
"You promised you would find me."
Lily cried.
"I tried."
Matteo watched them.
And for the first time since the accident...
he saw his daughter smile.
Not politely.
Not because doctors told her to.
A real smile.
The kind he thought he had lost forever.
But then Isabella said something that made both adults freeze.
"Mom told me not to trust him."
Matteo turned.
"What?"
Lily went pale.
"Isabella..."
The girl looked confused.
"My mom said Uncle Marco was dangerous."
Matteo felt the room spin.
Because Isabella's mother had been dead for six years.
She couldn't have known about the fire.
She couldn't have warned her.
Unless...
Unless there was another secret.
May you like
A much older one.
---
