Chapter 17 - THE SHADOW AFTER THE STORM
For the first time in years, the Marchetti mansion was quiet.
Not the dangerous silence that came before violence.
Not the silence of people hiding secrets.
A peaceful silence.
The kind Enzo Marchetti never thought he would have.
But peace had a strange way of reminding people what they had lost.
One evening, Enzo stood alone in his father’s old office.
The room had barely changed.
The same wooden desk.
The same bookshelves.
The same photograph of his father sitting beside the family he believed he could protect.
Adeline entered quietly.
“You’re thinking about him again.”
Enzo looked back.
“Is it that obvious?”
“To me.”
She walked closer.
“You always look different when you think about your father.”
Enzo smiled slightly.
“Most people see the monster.”
“And I see the man.”
Those words still surprised him.
Because for most of his life, nobody had cared about the man underneath.
They cared about the name.
The power.
The fear.
Adeline sat on the edge of the desk.
“Do you ever regret becoming who you became?”
Enzo looked out the window.
“I used to.”
“Used to?”
He nodded.
“I thought being feared would keep people safe.”
“And now?”
He looked at her.
“Now I know being loved is stronger.”
Before Adeline could answer, Luca entered the room.
“Sir.”
Enzo immediately noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
Luca placed a folder on the desk.
“We found something in Victor’s remaining files.”
Enzo opened it.
Inside were documents from years ago.
Not about his father.
Not about Marco.
About Adeline.
His face changed.
“What is this?”
Luca hesitated.
“Records of a missing inheritance.”
Adeline frowned.
“My family never had an inheritance.”
Enzo looked at the papers.
“Yes, they did.”
The room went silent.
Because the truth was not finished.
Someone had spent years hiding another secret.
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And this time...
The secret belonged to Adeline.
