Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn't Supposed to Exist
The hospital corridor was silent at three in the morning.
Leo sat outside Lily's room.
He hadn't slept.
He hadn't moved except to answer the occasional call.
Inside the room, machines monitored his daughter's breathing.
Every beep reminded him that she was alive.
Every beep also reminded him how close he'd come to losing her.
Mateo stood beside the window.
"You need to go home."
Leo didn't look at him.
"No."
"You've been awake for twenty-three hours."
"No."
"Leo."
"I said no."
Mateo sighed.
"Fine."
He sat beside him.
For several seconds, they watched the rain.
Then Leo said,
"Tell me everything."
Mateo knew what he meant.
He opened the file.
"The bombing happened two years ago."
"I know."
"Officially, it was a targeted attack against you."
Leo nodded.
His wife had died that night.
He had spent two years hunting the people responsible.
Two years.
And still hadn't found the person who ordered it.
"The investigators believed there were three attackers," Mateo continued.
"Two died."
"The third disappeared."
Leo finally looked at him.
"Who?"
"We don't know."
"Then how do you know there was a third?"
Mateo placed several photographs on the bench.
Security images.
Blurry.
Grainy.
But one figure appeared repeatedly.
A woman.
Standing near the service entrance.
Wearing a maid's uniform.
Leo stared.
His heart began beating faster.
"That's impossible."
Mateo said nothing.
Leo looked closer.
The woman was younger.
Her face was partially obscured.
But there was something familiar about her posture.
Something in the way she stood.
"Who is she?"
"We don't know."
Leo's fingers tightened around the photograph.
"Then why show me this?"
"Because the uniform matches the Rossi estate."
Leo looked toward the hospital room.
Then back at the image.
"Beatrice?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe isn't good enough."
"I know."
Leo stood.
"Where is she?"
"At the mansion."
"Alone?"
"With six guards."
"Take me there."
Beatrice sat in the servants' dining room.
She hadn't eaten.
She couldn't.
The photograph was still in her mind.
A woman.
A baby.
A house.
And her younger self.
But the strangest part wasn't that she didn't remember.
It was that somewhere deep inside her mind...
she did.
A sound.
A smell.
A voice.
Something had been buried.
And now it was clawing its way back.
She closed her eyes.
A memory flashed.
A hallway.
Smoke.
Someone screaming.
A baby crying.
Then a man's voice.
"Take her."
Another voice:
"What about the mother?"
A gunshot.
Beatrice opened her eyes.
She was breathing hard.
"No..."
She stood.
The room spun.
She grabbed the table.
Another memory came.
A woman kneeling.
Blood on her white dress.
A little girl crying.
Someone pressing a hand over Beatrice's mouth.
"Don't speak."
Then darkness.
Beatrice covered her ears.
"Stop."
The door opened.
Victoria stood there.
Beatrice froze.
Victoria's face was no longer elegant.
Her makeup was streaked.
Her eyes were swollen.
But the fear remained.
"You remember."
It wasn't a question.
Beatrice stared at her.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Victoria stepped inside.
"You remember the night."
Beatrice backed away.
"What night?"
"The night your life disappeared."
Silence.
Victoria closed the door.
"You were never supposed to be here."
Beatrice's heart pounded.
"Why?"
Victoria smiled.
It wasn't kind.
"Because you were supposed to die."
Beatrice couldn't breathe.
Victoria continued.
"Your mother knew too much."
"My mother?"
"Yes."
"Who was she?"
Victoria's smile vanished.
"Someone your master spent years trying to forget."
Beatrice shook her head.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
Victoria stepped closer.
"Ask Leo who your mother was."
Beatrice stared at her.
"Why won't you tell me?"
"Because if I tell you..."
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"...Leo will kill me."
The door suddenly opened.
Leo stood there.
Victoria went white.
Leo looked at Beatrice.
Then Victoria.
"What did you just say?"
Victoria couldn't speak.
Leo stepped inside.
"What did you tell her?"
Nothing.
"Victoria."
She backed away.
"You weren't supposed to hear that."
Leo's face became terrifyingly calm.
"Hear what?"
Victoria looked at Beatrice.
Then at Leo.
And finally whispered,
"Ask her about the name Elena."
Beatrice froze.
The name struck something inside her.
Elena.
A woman's voice.
Soft.
Warm.
"Bee, don't be afraid."
Beatrice's knees buckled.
Leo caught her before she hit the floor.
"Beatrice?"
She stared at him.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I know that name."
Leo's arms tightened around her.
"Who is Elena?"
May you like
Beatrice whispered,
"My mother."
