Chapter 7 - THE DAY HIS DAUGHTER WALKED HOME
Matteo didn't sleep that night.
Neither did Lily.
Neither did anyone who understood what Isabella's words meant.
Because Matteo had spent six years believing his wife's death was a tragedy.
A simple accident.
A terrible medical event that left him a widower.
But now, for the first time, he questioned everything.
His wife had known something.
And before she died...
she tried to warn Isabella.
The question was:
Warn her about what?
At six in the morning, Matteo entered the old private study.
A room nobody had touched since his wife's funeral.
Adriana Ricci.
The only woman who had ever made Matteo feel like he was more than his name.
More than his money.
More than his power.
He opened the drawers.
Nothing.
He searched the shelves.
Nothing.
Then Isabella's words returned.
"Mom told me."
Not wrote.
Not showed.
Told.
Meaning there was a conversation.
A memory.
Something Isabella had buried.
Matteo found his daughter sitting by the window.
"Lia."
She looked up.
"Yes, Dad?"
"Do you remember what your mother said?"
The smile disappeared.
A child should not have to remember things like this.
But Isabella tried.
"She said..."
She closed her eyes.
"She said if anything happened, I should listen to the person who came back for me."
Matteo felt his heart stop.
"The person who came back?"
Isabella nodded.
"Lily."
The room became silent.
Then Isabella continued.
"But Mom was scared."
"Of Marco?"
The girl nodded slowly.
"She said he was pretending."
Matteo whispered:
"Pretending to be what?"
Isabella looked at him.
"Your friend."
---
Later that day, Adrian found something hidden inside Adriana's old belongings.
A small digital recorder.
No label.
No date.
Only one file.
Matteo stared at it.
"Play it."
Adrian pressed the button.
Static.
Then...
Adriana's voice.
Matteo froze.
Because he hadn't heard that voice in six years.
"Matteo..."
His knees almost failed.
The recording continued.
"If you're hearing this, something happened."
A pause.
"I don't know who I can trust anymore."
Matteo closed his eyes.
Adriana continued.
"Marco knows about the accounts."
Matteo opened his eyes.
"What accounts?"
Adrian looked at him.
The recording continued.
"He has been moving money from the company."
Silence.
"He thinks nobody sees him."
Another pause.
"But I saw."
Matteo's breathing changed.
Because suddenly the fire wasn't the beginning.
It was the ending of something much bigger.
Adriana's voice became softer.
"If something happens to me, protect Isabella."
A pause.
"And don't let Marco take everything."
The recording stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
"Mr. Ricci..."
"What?"
"We found Marco."
"Where?"
Adrian hesitated.
"At the airport."
"He's leaving?"
"No."
A pause.
"He's meeting someone."
Matteo stood.
"Who?"
Adrian looked at the screen.
Then slowly turned the phone around.
The photograph showed Marco Duca standing beside a woman.
A woman Matteo recognized immediately.
Because she had been dead for six years.
Adriana Ricci.
Matteo stared at the picture.
Impossible.
His wife was dead.
But the woman standing beside Marco...
was alive.
And then another message appeared.
A single sentence.
May you like
YOUR WIFE NEVER DIED.
---
