Chapter 8 - Aunt Evelyn's Last Unspoken Secret
My mother came home under police protection. I expected relief to make everything feel normal. Instead, the sound of a car door outside our apartment could send me racing to the window.
Evelyn called and asked to see me. I almost refused, but her voice carried a sadness I recognized.
When I arrived, she handed me a small tape recorder. “Your father visited me three weeks before the fire,” she said. “He was afraid Luca's uncle had made a terrible bargain.”
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“I told my brother. He promised to investigate. He died before he could. Then the records vanished, and I convinced myself I had misunderstood.”
The tape held my father's voice. He described hidden shipments, a corrupt accountant, and a woman who introduced herself as Vanessa Bellini, although she had used another surname at the time.
I listened twice. The second time, I heard Evelyn quietly crying beside me.
“I failed him,” she said.
“You were afraid.”
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“That explains my silence. It doesn't excuse it.”
I had no answer. But when she offered her hand, I took it.
