Chapter 11
Matteo returned two days later.
Older.
Bearded.
Nothing like the brother I buried.
Everything like him once he looked at me.
We stood in the Castellano garden for several seconds without speaking.
Then he said:
“You look terrible.”
I punched him.
One punch.
He took it.
Did not raise his hands.
Then I hugged him.
That was worse.
For both of us.
Evelyn watched from the terrace.
Ethan beside her.
Matteo saw the boy and broke immediately.
He covered his face.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Who?”
I swallowed.
“Uncle Matteo.”
Ethan thought.
“Dead uncle?”
Matteo laughed through tears.
“Fair.”
Later, we sat together.
No private lies anymore.
Matteo told me what exile looked like. Moving constantly. Never using his name. Watching news about Castellano from far away. Learning our father died and still being too afraid to return because Bianca remained powerful and Antonio remained inside the structure.
“Why contact Antonio?”
“To see if Evelyn was alive.”
Evelyn froze.
“You knew?”
Matteo nodded.
“I suspected Dad never released you.”
Bianca whispered, “I did.”
We all turned.
She was crying again.
“What?”
“After Father died.”
Evelyn stared.
Bianca continued.
She unlocked the hidden rooms.
Told Evelyn she could leave.
But Evelyn had been hidden for almost two years, physically weak, terrified of everyone, convinced I hated her because Bianca fed her stories about me.
Evelyn’s face changed.
“You said he married.”
Bianca nodded.
“You said Ethan called someone else Mom.”
Another nod.
“You said Raffaele ordered me kept away.”
Bianca whispered, “Yes.”
My entire body went cold.
Even after my father died, Bianca kept the lie alive without locks.
That was worse in a different way.
She did not need chains anymore.
She had built a prison inside Evelyn’s mind.
Evelyn tried to leave once.
Reached the bridal suite.
Heard footsteps.
Panicked.
Returned underground.
The veil she pushed through the floor was not an accident.
May you like
It was a signal.
She had been trying to make someone find her.
