Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN BEHIND TWO FAMILIES
Sophia felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
Evelyn Brooks.
The gentle woman who had welcomed her into the lake house.
The woman who had cried over Clara Conti's photograph.
The woman who had helped her read Margaret's letters.
She was Victoria Romano.
Dante's mother.
And she'd been lying to both of them.
"Why?" Sophia whispered.
Dante stood before the fireplace, staring at the passport photograph.
"I don't know."
But he looked devastated.
For years, he'd believed his mother died after a long illness overseas.
He remembered the funeral.
The closed casket.
His father's silence.
Now the same woman had been hiding in Wisconsin under another name.
Rebecca contacted investigators handling the Conti case.
Within an hour, authorities arrived at the lake house.
Victoria was gone.
Daniel Mercer was unconscious in the kitchen.
He had suffered a blow to the head but was breathing.
A handwritten note lay on the table.
Tell Dante I'm sorry.
Dante read it without expression.
Sophia watched him.
"She's your mother."
He nodded.
"That doesn't excuse what she's done."
His phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Mother?"
A long silence.
Then a woman's voice.
"Hello, Dante."
His jaw tightened.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere you can't reach me."
"Why did you fake your death?"
Victoria sighed.
"Because your father discovered what I was doing."
"What were you doing?"
"Protecting the family."
Dante's voice hardened.
"By helping Marcus steal from innocent people?"
"Your father was going to destroy everything."
"He was going to expose you."
Victoria said nothing.
Dante looked toward Sophia.
"Did you know who she was?"
A pause.
"Yes."
Sophia felt sick.
Victoria continued.
"I knew Margaret had taken Clara's daughter. I knew where she lived. And I knew she eventually came to work for you."
"Then why didn't you warn me?"
"Because I needed to know whether Sophia had the documents."
Dante closed his eyes.
"You used her."
"I used an opportunity."
Sophia stepped forward.
"Put her on speaker."
Dante hesitated.
Then he did.
"Victoria?"
The woman fell silent.
Sophia's voice remained steady.
"Margaret Bennett raised me with almost nothing. She worked herself sick keeping me safe from people like you."
Victoria laughed softly.
"Your mother was sentimental."
"No," Sophia replied. "She was brave."
Another silence.
Then Victoria said something unexpected.
"She was also hiding a final piece of evidence."
Sophia stared.
"What evidence?"
"A letter Clara wrote after she learned she would never be allowed to leave the clinic."
Sophia's heart pounded.
"Where is it?"
Victoria's voice softened.
"Ask Dante what happened to the woman he loved before you."
The line disconnected.
Sophia turned slowly.
May you like
Dante looked stricken.
And for the first time, she realized Isabella might not have been the first woman whose life was destroyed by the Romano family.
