Chapter 21 - THE LAST SHADOW
One rainy evening, Matteo received a message from his attorney.
Vincent wanted to appeal.
The news stirred old anger, but Matteo refused to let it consume him.
Sophia noticed immediately.
“You're thinking about the past again.”
“I am.”
“You don't have to carry it forever.”
He looked at her.
“I spent half my life believing revenge would make everything right.”
“And now?”
“I know it won't.”
Before they could say more, Emma entered carrying a photograph.
“I found this in the library.”
Matteo took it.
It showed his father standing beside Sophia twenty years earlier.
Behind them stood another man.
Matteo recognized him immediately.
Richard Cole.
But there was something else.
In the corner of the photograph, Vincent's gold ring was visible.
The photograph proved Vincent had been present that night.
For the first time, Matteo felt no rage.
Only relief.
The truth no longer frightened him.
It belonged to the past.
Not the future.
He folded the photograph carefully and smiled at Emma.
“Thank you.”
She grinned.
“I told you I find things.”
May you like
Matteo laughed.
“Yes, you do.”
