Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK
Three months passed.
Hunter moved out of the Rossi mansion.
Lorenzo didn't stop her.
She rented a small apartment nearby.
Started therapy.
Returned to work part-time.
Visited Lily's grave every Sunday.
And saw Leo almost every day.
Lorenzo learned how to feed him.
Bathe him.
Change him.
Comfort him.
He was terrible at diapers.
Hunter never let him forget it.
Then one rainy afternoon, Lorenzo received a package.
Inside was Marco's cracked gold watch.
And a note.
ONE LAST TRADE.
THE LEDGER FOR YOUR SON.
Lorenzo stared.
Leo was upstairs.
Safe.
Then Hunter's phone rang.
She answered.
Silence.
Then Marco's voice.
"Hello, sister."
Hunter froze.
"Where are you?"
"Close."
"What do you want?"
"What belongs to me."
"You have the ledger."
"No."
Marco laughed.
"The one you gave me was a copy."
Hunter looked at Lorenzo.
He hadn't known.
"Rebecca hid the original somewhere else."
"And you know where."
"No."
"Then remember."
Marco hung up.
Hunter closed her eyes.
Rebecca.
Her mother.
Lily.
The wall marks.
LILY.
Hunter's eyes opened.
"I know."
They returned to Rebecca's apartment.
Hunter removed the wooden strip beside the height marks.
Inside was the original ledger.
And a cassette tape.
Rebecca's voice filled the room.
"Hunter, if you ever hear this, I'm sorry."
Hunter cried before the message ended.
Rebecca explained everything.
Marco had discovered the truth years earlier.
He believed Sophia and Hunter had stolen the family he deserved.
Rebecca tried to stop him.
Sophia tried to expose him.
Both women failed.
Rebecca's final words were simple.
"Don't avenge me."
"End it."
Hunter looked at Lorenzo.
He understood.
No executions.
No war.
May you like
They would give Marco something he feared more than death.
Exposure.
