Chapter 3: The Woman From His Past
By midnight, the entire Varric estate was locked down.
Nobody entered.
Nobody left.
Every employee was questioned.
Every camera was reviewed.
Every file connected to Nico’s birth was pulled from secure storage.
But the more Matteo searched, the less he understood.
The truth was buried deeper than he imagined.
Liana sat in the guest room holding Nico while investigators moved through the mansion.
She should have been terrified.
Instead, she felt strangely calm.
Because the baby in her arms had become the center of a mystery that somehow connected her dead husband to Matteo Varric’s dead wife.
A mystery that had started before either of them knew the other existed.
Nico opened his eyes.
“You’re really attached to me, aren’t you?”” she whispered.
The baby touched her cheek.
Liana closed her eyes.
For one painful second, she imagined her own child.
The sound of tiny laughter.
The weight of a baby sleeping against her.
The future she would never have.
A tear slipped down her face.
Then a voice interrupted her.
“You loved your child very much.””
Matteo stood at the doorway.
Liana quickly wiped her face.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people.””
“I didn’t.””
“You walked quietly.””
“I’m used to being quiet.””
She looked at him.
“That sounds lonely.””
Matteo did not answer.
Because it was.
He entered the room.
“I found something.””
Liana looked up.
“What?””
“Your husband.””
Her heart stopped.
“You found him?””
“No.””
The hope disappeared.
“But I found evidence he was alive after the date we were told he died.””
Liana looked away.
“I don’t understand.””
“Neither do I.””
Matteo placed a folder on the table.
Inside were documents.
Security reports.
Photographs.
Messages.
And one name repeated over and over.
Daniel Graves.
“He worked for my organization.””
Liana stared.
“You knew him?””
“No.””
“Then why is his name here?””
“Because he was investigating someone inside my family.””
“Your family?””
Matteo nodded.
“My wife.””
Liana felt cold.
“Isabella?””
“Yes.””
“What was she involved in?””
Matteo looked toward the window.
Rain moved down the glass.
“That’s the question I never asked.””
“Why?””
“Because I trusted her.””
The answer surprised Liana.
The powerful mafia boss.
The feared man.
The man who trusted nobody.
Had trusted his wife completely.
And maybe that trust had destroyed him.
A phone rang.
Matteo answered immediately.
“What?””
A voice spoke on the other end.
His expression changed.
“Repeat that.””
Silence.
Then:
“Are you sure?””
Liana watched his face.
Whatever he heard was bad.
Matteo slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?””
He looked at her.
“The woman from the nursery footage has been identified.””
“Who is she?””
His eyes moved to Nico.
Then back to Liana.
“She was not trying to steal my son.””
“Then what was she doing?””
Matteo’s voice became barely a whisper.
“She was trying to protect him.””
“From who?””
He looked at the photograph of Daniel and Isabella.
Then at Liana.
“From me.””
The words destroyed the room’s silence.
Liana stared.
“Why would she protect him from you?””
Matteo did not answer.
Because deep inside, he already knew.
There was a secret surrounding Nico’s birth.
A secret Isabella had died protecting.
A secret Daniel had died uncovering.
And somehow…
A grieving maid who had never met his son before tonight had become the only person his child trusted.
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Before dawn arrived, Matteo Varric would discover the truth.
But he was not prepared for the truth to reveal that the biggest enemy of his family had always been standing inside his own home.
