Chapter 3 - THE LAST NIGHT
Dominic did not touch Adrian.
That required more discipline than violence would have.
He simply closed Mara’s bedroom door.
Then stood between his cousin and the hallway.
“Start talking.”
Adrian looked tired suddenly.
Not afraid of being hit.
Afraid of finally saying something aloud.
Mara died eighteen months earlier after driving away from the Bellini estate during a storm.
Her car left the road near Blackwood Bridge.
Dominic had always believed she left after an argument with him.
That part was true.
They fought.
Dominic had canceled a family trip because Lenora demanded his presence at an emergency meeting.
Mara said he had spent their entire marriage choosing Bellini obligations over their son and wife.
Dominic said something cruel.
Then Mara left.
He expected her back.
She never returned.
Adrian now told him what happened between the argument and the bridge.
Mara drove to Adrian’s apartment.
Dominic stared.
“Why you?”
“She needed someone from the family who would actually listen.”
That hurt because Dominic knew exactly what it meant.
Adrian continued.
Mara wanted to leave the Bellini estate permanently.
Not Dominic.
The estate.
The family hierarchy.
Lenora’s interference.
She believed Eli was already being shaped into another Bellini boy who would learn fear before kindness.
“She wanted you to go with her.”
Dominic looked sharply at him.
“What?”
“She didn’t plan to take Eli and disappear.”
Adrian’s voice became quieter.
“She planned to ask you one last time.”
Dominic had spent eighteen months believing Mara drove away because she had given up.
Adrian shook his head.
“She was coming back.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Then why was she at the bridge?”
Adrian hesitated.
That was the wrong hesitation.
Dominic saw it.
“Adrian.”
His cousin swallowed.
“I followed her.”
“Why?”
“Lenora called me.”
Dominic went still.
Lenora had known Mara went to Adrian.
She ordered him to stop her from leaving the property permanently.
Adrian drove after Mara.
He caught up near Blackwood Bridge.
He flashed his headlights.
Mara pulled over before the bridge.
They argued beside the cars.
Rain was heavy.
Mara accused Lenora of destroying Dominic piece by piece.
Adrian told her she was being dramatic.
Then Mara said something Adrian had never repeated.
“She said Lenora had been poisoning you against her.”
Dominic frowned.
“Poisoning how?”
“Not literally.”
Adrian looked embarrassed.
“She said Lenora would tell you Mara mocked your family when you weren’t there.”
Dominic remembered.
Little comments.
Lenora saying Mara rolled her eyes during family traditions.
Mara supposedly complaining about Eli carrying the Bellini surname.
Dominic believed enough of it to become defensive.
“Was it true?”
“No.”
Adrian looked down.
“Lenora made most of it up.”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
Mara had argued against a ghost.
Adrian continued.
At the roadside, Mara told him she had proof.
She had recorded several conversations with Lenora.
Not secret criminal plans.
Something more personal.
Lenora telling Mara that Dominic would never truly choose a wife over blood.
Lenora telling Ruthie that Eli should spend less time with Mara because women made Bellini boys soft.
Lenora calling Mara temporary.
“Where are the recordings?” Dominic asked.
Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“She had them that night?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
Adrian’s face changed.
Mara returned to her car.
Adrian grabbed the driver’s door.
She pulled away from him.
He slipped.
Mara panicked and accelerated.
He followed.
Ten minutes later her car went off the bridge approach.
Dominic stared.
“You saw it happen?”
“Yes.”
“Did you call for help?”
“Immediately.”
That part was true.
Adrian’s emergency call had always been part of the record.
Dominic had never questioned why Adrian was nearby.
Lenora told everyone Adrian happened to be driving home.
Another lie.
“Why hide it?”
Adrian looked toward the floor.
“Because Lenora said if you knew Mara was coming back to ask you to leave the estate, you’d blame yourself.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“So instead she let me believe Mara died leaving me.”
Adrian said nothing.
Dominic moved toward the door.
Then Adrian caught his sleeve.
“There’s more.”
Dominic looked at his hand.
Adrian immediately released him.
“Mara said one thing before she drove away.”
“What?”
“She said if anything happened to her, I had to protect Eli from Lenora.”
Silence.
Dominic stared.
“You remembered that.”
“Yes.”
“And then helped her starve him.”
Adrian’s face collapsed.
“I thought discipline was different.”
Dominic’s voice became cold.
“That is how cowards describe the line after they cross it.”
Adrian looked away.
Then Dominic asked:
“Why now?”
“What?”
“Why is Lenora teaching Eli to blame me now?”
Adrian hesitated again.
Because Dominic had recently begun discussing leaving the estate.
Mara’s old request had somehow repeated itself.
Dominic had considered moving Eli to a smaller house near his school.
Lenora heard.
She panicked.
“She thinks if Eli distrusts you, he’ll want to stay with her.”
Dominic stared.
A three-year-old child turned into an anchor.
Then Adrian said:
“She also thinks Mara left something for Eli.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“But Lenora does.”
Adrian nodded.
“She’s been searching Mara’s room for months.”
Dominic looked toward the closed door.
Then remembered the empty jewelry box.
“What exactly is she searching for?”
May you like
Adrian’s answer came quietly.
“A recording Mara made for her son.”
