Chapter 1 - The Bride Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
The Mafia boss was about to marry Vanessa Hart when a woman in black walked into the cathedral, placed a wedding ring in his hand, and exposed a secret that made his bride drop her bouquet.
“Tell him what you did to the real bride.”
Luca Moretti had heard threats from politicians, rival crime families, and men who knew they would never leave his office alive.
But he had never heard those words at his own wedding.
And he had never seen Vanessa look so terrified.
The cathedral in Chicago was filled with hundreds of guests.
Crystal chandeliers illuminated the marble floor. White roses covered the altar, and a string quartet played softly while Luca stood beside Vanessa in his black tuxedo.
Vanessa wore a designer wedding gown with a long train.
She smiled at the guests.
She smiled at the cameras.
And she held Luca's hand as if nothing in the world could ever separate them.
The priest began reading the vows.
“Luca Moretti, do you take Vanessa Hart to be your lawful wife?”
Luca looked at the woman beside him.
“I do.”
Vanessa smiled.
Then the cathedral doors opened.
A woman dressed entirely in black stood at the entrance.
Her face was hidden beneath a dark veil.
The music stopped.
Every guest turned.
The woman walked down the center aisle.
Slowly.
Without looking at anyone.
Two security guards moved toward her.
Luca raised one hand.
“Let her come.”
Vanessa immediately turned toward him.
“Luca, what are you doing?”
He didn't answer.
The woman reached the altar.
She stopped in front of him.
Then she opened her gloved hand.
A gold wedding ring rested in her palm.
Luca stared at it.
His expression changed.
The ring had a small diamond engraved into the band.
He knew that ring.
Six years earlier, he had placed it inside the coffin of his first wife, Elena Moretti.
He had watched the coffin being lowered into the ground.
He had watched the priest close the ceremony.
And he had personally ordered the grave sealed.
Luca slowly reached for the ring.
The woman placed it in his hand.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Security. Get her out of here.”
Nobody moved.
Luca turned the ring over.
Inside the band were two engraved initials.
L.M.
His initials.
And beneath them, a date.
The date of his first wedding.
His fingers tightened around the gold.
“Where did you get this?”
The woman didn't answer.
Vanessa grabbed Luca's arm.
“This is some kind of sick joke.”
Luca looked at her.
“Quiet.”
The word was barely audible.
But Vanessa stopped.
The woman in black slowly lifted her hands.
Then she began removing the veil.
First, the black gloves.
Then the veil covering her face.
A gasp traveled through the cathedral.
Luca stopped breathing.
The woman had Elena's face.
The same dark eyes.
The same delicate nose.
The same small scar near her left eyebrow.
Even the way she tilted her head was identical.
But there was something different.
Elena had died with a silver necklace around her neck.
This woman wore a black ribbon.
Luca stepped closer.
“Who are you?”
The woman looked at him.
Her eyes were filled with tears.
Then she turned toward Vanessa.
“Tell him what you did to the real bride.”
Vanessa dropped her bouquet.
The white roses scattered across the marble floor.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered something that made Luca turn sharply.
“You were supposed to be dead.”
The cathedral fell silent.
Luca looked at Vanessa.
Then at the woman standing beside the altar.
“Who was supposed to be dead?”
Vanessa backed away.
“I don't know what she's talking about.”
The woman in black laughed bitterly.
“You remember the night of the wedding rehearsal?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“You remember the black car outside the hotel?”
Vanessa's face changed.
Luca noticed.
He stepped between them.
“Vanessa.”
She looked at him.
“Tell me what happened.”
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The woman reached into her coat.
Luca's security guards immediately moved.
But she only removed a small photograph.
She placed it on the altar.
Luca picked it up.
The picture showed Elena standing outside a hotel six years earlier.
Beside her stood Vanessa.
And behind them was a man Luca recognized immediately.
His younger brother.
Michael Moretti.
Luca stared at the photograph.
Then he looked at Vanessa.
“You told me Michael was in New York that night.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“He was.”
The woman in black shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at the photograph.
“He was there because he was supposed to help me escape.”
Luca's face hardened.
“Escape from what?”
The woman looked at Vanessa.
“From your bride.”
Vanessa suddenly screamed.
“STOP LYING!”
The guards rushed forward.
Luca raised his hand.
Nobody touched her.
He looked directly at the woman.
“What's your name?”
She hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Elena.”
Luca stepped backward.
His dead wife's name.
His first wife.
The woman he had buried.
The woman whose funeral he had attended.
The woman whose ring he had just placed in a coffin.
He stared at her face.
Then he asked the only question that mattered.
“Why did you let me bury you?”
Elena looked toward Vanessa.
Her voice trembled.
“Because I thought you were the one who wanted me dead.”
Vanessa began shaking her head.
“No. No, that's not true.”
Luca turned toward his bride.
“Then explain the photograph.”
Vanessa looked at the altar.
At the ring.
At Elena.
Finally, she whispered:
“I didn't kill her.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
“Then who did?”
Vanessa looked toward the cathedral doors.
And for the first time that morning, she seemed more afraid of someone outside than of the man standing in front of her.
Elena slowly turned toward Luca.
“Your brother.”
The words struck him like a bullet.
Luca stared at the photograph.
Then he looked toward the empty front pew.
Michael's seat.
His brother had been invited to the wedding.
But he hadn't arrived.
Luca reached for his phone.
Before he could call, it began vibrating.
A message appeared.
From Michael.
Don't let her tell you what happened next.
Luca looked up.
Elena was staring at the cathedral doors.
Vanessa had stopped crying.
And the priest was quietly stepping away from the altar.
Luca turned toward his bride.
“Where is my brother?”
Vanessa's lips trembled.
Then she looked at Elena.
“You don't understand.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Then explain it.”
Vanessa swallowed.
And finally, she said:
“Michael wasn't the man who helped me bury you.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“He was the man who told me you were already dead.”
Elena's face went pale.
Luca slowly turned toward the woman in black.
“Dead?”
Elena shook her head.
Then she reached into her coat.
She pulled out another wedding ring.
This one had a small inscription inside.
Luca took it.
He read the words.
TO MY WIFE. UNTIL THE TRUTH BRINGS YOU HOME.
His hands began to tremble.
Because the inscription wasn't written by him.
It was written by his father.
And the date inside the ring was tomorrow.
Elena looked at Luca.
Then she whispered:
“Your father knew I was alive.”
The cathedral doors suddenly slammed shut.
A gunshot echoed from outside.
And Vanessa screamed.
“MICHAEL!”
Luca turned toward the entrance.
But Elena grabbed his arm.
“Don't go.”
He looked at her.
“Why?”
Her eyes filled with terror.
“Because the man who just shot your brother…”
She stopped.
Then she whispered:
“...is your father.”
May you like
To be continued.
---
