Chapter 13 - THE LETTER THAT CHANGED TWO LIVES
My hands trembled as I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter written by my grandmother and a photograph of a young woman holding a newborn baby. The woman was my mother, who had died when I was very young.
Lucia explained that before becoming my guardian, she had worked as a cook in Isabella's household. The two women had become close friends, and when Isabella needed help escaping Adrian, Lucia had risked everything to protect her.
Years later, Lucia learned that my mother's hospital treatment had been mishandled because our family couldn't afford the specialist care she needed. Isabella had quietly arranged assistance through a charitable foundation, but Lucia refused to accept money that could place us back under someone else's control.
The letter didn't reveal some secret fortune or hidden inheritance. It revealed something more personal.
My grandmother had chosen to raise me on her own terms because she wanted me to grow up believing that love wasn't something powerful people could purchase.
She had also kept records of the threats made against Isabella, hoping that one day the truth could be exposed without endangering the children involved.
I looked at Roman.
His mother had spent thirty-four years believing distance was the only way to keep him alive. My grandmother had spent her final years protecting a secret she hoped would someday reunite them.
Neither woman had stopped loving the people she lost.
Roman placed his hand over mine.
“I'm sorry you had to carry this without knowing why.”
“I'm sorry you spent your whole life believing you were abandoned.”
For a moment, we simply sat together while Isabella rested beneath a tree.
Then Roman asked whether I would help him turn his family's company into something that could no longer be used to hurt innocent people.
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Before I could answer, Isabella spoke.
“First, my son must decide what kind of man he wants to be when nobody is afraid of him.”
