Chapter 10 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE SHADOW
Three months later, Nora thought the nightmare was finally over.
She was wrong.
The first warning came at 2:13 a.m.
The bedroom lights switched on.
Nora woke instantly.
Dominic was already standing beside the window.
A pistol rested in his hand.
“Stay behind me.”
Nora sat up.
“What happened?”
“Someone entered the property.”
Her heart raced.
“How?”
“I don't know.”
Then they heard footsteps downstairs.
Slow.
Deliberate.
One.
Two.
Three.
Dominic moved toward the door.
Nora grabbed his arm.
“Don't go alone.”
He looked at her.
Then nodded.
They descended together.
The front door stood open.
Rain blew across the marble floor.
A woman stood outside.
Dark coat.
Umbrella.
Face hidden.
Dominic raised his weapon.
“Who are you?”
The woman slowly lowered the umbrella.
Nora gasped.
Elena.
But something was wrong.
Elena looked terrified.
“Dominic,” she whispered.
He lowered the gun slightly.
“What happened?”
“They found me.”
“Who?”
Elena looked at Nora.
“Your mother's killer.”
Nora stepped forward.
“Who?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother wasn't killed because she found the Black Ledger.”
Nora's heart pounded.
“Then why?”
“Because she created it.”
Silence.
Dominic stared at her.
Elena continued.
“She wasn't a victim.”
“She was the person who built the entire network.”
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“She created a system that recorded every transaction, every bribe, every betrayal.”
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
Nora felt dizzy.
“My mother did all of this?”
“Yes.”
Elena looked toward the dark road.
“And she left one final secret.”
“What secret?”
Elena reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Nora recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her mother's.
Her hands trembled.
She opened it.
Only one sentence was written inside.
Nora, if you're reading this, then Dominic has finally chosen you over the family.
Nora looked at Dominic.
His face was pale.
There was more.
She turned the page.
That means you are ready to know the truth about your father.
Nora's breath caught.
“Dad?”
Elena nodded.
“Thomas isn't your biological father.”
Nora stared at her.
“What?”
Elena whispered:
“Your biological father was Dominic's father.”
The world disappeared beneath Nora's feet.
Dominic stepped backward.
“No.”
Elena's voice shook.
“Your mother had an affair with him before the Rossi family collapsed.”
Nora looked at Dominic.
Neither spoke.
The implications were impossible.
Terrifying.
Then Elena shook her head.
“But there's more.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What?”
Elena reached into her coat again.
This time she pulled out an old photograph.
It showed three people.
Nora's mother.
Dominic's father.
And a baby.
Nora.
On the back was a date.
The same date Nora had been born.
Dominic looked at the photograph.
Then at Nora.
His face was devastated.
“This changes everything.”
Nora couldn't breathe.
Elena whispered:
“Because Marco wasn't the person who ordered your mother's murder.”
“Who was?”
Elena looked toward the road.
A black SUV stopped outside the gate.
Its headlights illuminated the entire house.
Then the rear door opened.
An elderly woman stepped out.
Dominic's expression turned to horror.
“Mother?”
Elena began crying.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That isn't our mother.”
The woman smiled.
And even from the distance, Nora could see the scar beneath her left ear.
The same scar Elena had.
The woman lifted one hand.
Every light in the house went out.
Dominic grabbed Nora's hand.
“Run.”
Outside, engines roared.
Men surrounded the property.
Nora squeezed his hand.
“Where?”
Dominic looked at the hidden passage behind the fireplace.
“Anywhere but here.”
They ran.
Behind them, the front windows exploded inward.
And as Nora disappeared into the tunnel beside Dominic, she heard a woman's voice echo through the darkness.
“You wanted the truth.”
A pause.
“Now you're going to learn what your mother really built.”
The tunnel door slammed shut.
Darkness swallowed them.
And somewhere beneath the city, a phone began ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Dominic stopped.
He knew that ringtone.
He hadn't heard it since he was seventeen.
He pulled an old phone from his pocket.
The screen displayed a name he had believed dead for twenty years.
ELIAS ROSSI.
Dominic stared at it.
Nora whispered:
“Who is Elias?”
Dominic didn't answer.
The phone rang again.
He finally picked up.
A man's voice spoke from the darkness.
“Hello, son.”
Dominic's face went completely white.
The voice continued:
“I believe you have something that belongs to me.”
The call ended.
Dominic looked at Nora.
For the first time, she saw genuine fear in his eyes.
Not fear of death.
May you like
Fear of the truth.
And above them, the Rossi estate burned.
