Chapter 14 - THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEADThe mansion alarm continued screaming.
Red lights flashed across the walls.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Everyone was staring at the security screen.
At the two figures standing outside the gates.
Lorenzo.
And my mother.
The woman I buried in my memories.
The woman I cried for.
The woman whose death shaped my entire life.
She was alive.
My hands slowly lowered.
"No..."
The word escaped before I could stop it.
Matteo looked at me.
His face had lost all color.
"I don't understand."
For the first time in years, Matteo looked genuinely afraid.
Not of enemies.
Not of death.
Of the truth.
The woman who had entered the mansion stepped closer to the screen.
"She was never supposed to return."
I turned toward her.
"What do you mean?"
She avoided my eyes.
"Your mother made a deal."
My chest tightened.
"A deal with who?"
Nobody answered.
Then the security screen changed.
The camera zoomed closer.
My mother's face appeared clearly.
Older.
Different.
But unmistakable.
She looked directly into the camera.
Almost like she knew we were watching.
Then she smiled.
Not a happy smile.
A warning.
The speaker crackled.
And her voice filled the mansion.
"My son..."
Everyone froze.
"I know you found the recording."
My breathing stopped.
She knew.
She knew everything.
"I know you found the documents."
The room became colder.
"And I know Matteo told you the truth."
Matteo stepped back.
"She knew..."
My mother continued.
"But there is one thing you still don't understand."
The camera moved slightly.
Showing Lorenzo standing beside her.
Not as a prisoner.
Not as a victim.
As an ally.
"He didn't steal your life."
Her voice became quieter.
"He saved it."
I stared at the screen.
"What?"
Lorenzo looked at the camera.
His expression wasn't cruel.
It was exhausted.
Like a man who had carried a secret too heavy for too long.
My mother's voice continued.
"The man you called father was never the villain."
A pause.
"The villain was the person who made everyone believe he was."
My heart raced.
Everything I knew was changing again.
"Then why did he disappear?"
The screen remained silent.
Until Lorenzo stepped closer.
And answered.
"Because I was trying to keep you alive."
His voice shook.
"I watched them destroy my name."
"I watched them make you hate me."
"But I couldn't come back."
"Because every time I got close..."
"They threatened you."
The mansion fell silent.
I looked at Matteo.
At the woman beside me.
At the screen.
My entire family had been built on secrets.
But one question remained.
"If you were protecting me..."
My voice trembled.
"Why did you let me believe you were dead?"
Lorenzo looked away.
And my mother answered.
"Because the person hunting us..."
"Was someone you loved."
The screen froze.
Then a new image appeared.
A photograph.
A family gathering.
Years ago.
Everyone was there.
My mother.
My father.
Matteo.
Lorenzo.
And me.
But someone had been removed from the picture.
A person whose face had been scratched away.
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Under the photo was one sentence.
"The enemy has always been sitting at your table."
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