Chapter 28 - The Secret Project
Emma was hiding something.
She spent hours in her studio, the door locked.
She deflected questions.
She changed the subject when asked what she was working on.
Alessandro was suspicious.
"What do you think she is doing?" he asked me one night.
"Probably just a new art project. Give her space."
But he couldn't help himself.
He was a man used to knowing everything.
One afternoon, while Emma was at school, he tried the studio door.
It was locked.
He looked guilty when I caught him.
"I was just checking to see if she left the window open," he lied poorly.
"Leave it alone, Alessandro. She will show us when she is ready."
She was ready a week later.
She called us into the studio.
She looked nervous.
"I've been working on this for a while," she said, pulling a sheet off a large canvas.
It was a portrait.
Not abstract this time.
It was incredibly detailed.
It was a portrait of Daniel.
She had painted it from an old photograph I had given her.
But she had added something.
In the background, subtle but present, was the outline of the foundation building.
"I wanted to show that he is still here," she explained quietly. "In what we do."
I burst into tears.
Alessandro stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug.
"It is magnificent, Emma," he said, his voice thick with emotion.
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It was more than a painting.
It was a bridge between the past and the present.
