Chapter 13 - The KeyThe Truth Had Been Hidden Inside Sophia Since She Was Seven
Sophia could hear her own heartbeat.
"A key."
Elena nodded.
"Why?"
"Because I couldn't trust anyone."
"You put something inside a child."
"I had no choice."
"You always had a choice."
Elena closed her eyes.
"I know."
Sophia turned toward Matteo.
"You knew?"
"No."
"Then why were you waiting twenty years to hear that curse?"
Matteo looked at her.
"Because your mother used it when she gave the key."
Sophia remembered.
A storm.
A cellar.
Her mother's hands.
The strange taste of metal.
A whispered curse.
Then darkness.
She had spent twenty years believing it was a nightmare.
"It isn't inside me now."
Elena shook her head.
"Not physically."
Sophia frowned.
"It was hidden in a capsule."
"Where is it?"
"I removed it later."
"Where?"
Elena looked toward Matteo.
"In a place nobody would search."
Sophia waited.
"Where?"
Elena whispered:
"Your mother's wedding ring."
Sophia stopped.
"The ring I sold."
Elena looked horrified.
"What?"
Sophia's face collapsed.
"I sold it."
"To whom?"
"A pawnshop."
Matteo grabbed his phone.
"Find the ring."
Thirty minutes later they had the answer.
A jewelry dealer.
Then a collector.
Then a private buyer.
The ring had already been sold.
The buyer's name appeared.
Sophia's breath stopped.
"Who is he?"
Matteo stared at the screen.
"Marco."
Sophia closed her eyes.
Marco had the ring.
The key.
The ledger.
Luca.
Everything.
Matteo's phone rang.
Marco.
"Found your little treasure?"
Matteo said nothing.
"You're angry."
"Where is Luca?"
"Alive."
"Bring him."
"You bring me the girl."
"No."
"Then listen."
A scream came through the phone.
Luca.
Sophia grabbed the device.
"Luca!"
His voice was weak.
"Sophia..."
"Where are you?"
"I don't know."
Marco spoke again.
"You have one hour."
"What happens if I don't come?"
"Luca dies."
Sophia looked at Matteo.
She knew his answer before he gave it.
"No."
Sophia turned.
"I'll go."
Matteo shook his head.
"Absolutely not."
"He dies if I don't."
"I'll find him."
"You've been finding people for twenty years."
Her voice cracked.
"And my mother stayed hidden. My brother got run over. Enrico died. Everyone around you keeps disappearing."
Matteo absorbed the words.
Sophia stepped closer.
"I am going."
Elena grabbed her hand.
"You cannot trust Marco."
"I'm not trusting him."
Sophia looked at Matteo.
"I'm trading myself for Luca."
Matteo stared at her.
Then, quietly:
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I spent twenty years waiting for a daughter I didn't know existed."
His voice broke.
"I'm not losing her now."
Sophia's eyes filled.
The words stunned her.
Matteo turned to his men.
"Prepare the cars."
Elena looked at him.
"You're going too."
"Of course."
"Then you know what that means."
May you like
Matteo nodded.
"Tonight, the Bellandi family ends."
