Chapter 5: The Letter Isabella Hid
For ten minutes after Bianca left, I didn’t move.
I stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the closed door.
Her final words kept repeating in my mind.
Ask yourself why Isabella never told you the truth about Livia’s birth.
It was cruel.
It was calculated.
But the worst part was that it worked.
Because there was one thing Bianca knew about me.
I spent years protecting Isabella’s memory.
And if there was even the smallest possibility that she had hidden something from me, I needed to know.
Not because Bianca deserved answers.
Because Livia did.
I went upstairs and opened the wooden box carefully.
The damaged lock bothered me, but everything inside appeared untouched.
Isabella’s favorite scarf.
A small bracelet.
Old photographs.
Birthday cards.
Things that belonged to a woman who was gone but still filled every corner of our home.
Then I found it.
A white envelope tucked beneath a stack of photographs.
My name was written across the front.
Not printed.
Written.
In Isabella’s handwriting.
My heart stopped.
I had never seen it before.
I sat down on the floor.
For several seconds, I couldn’t open it.
Because a part of me was afraid.
Afraid that whatever was inside would change the way I remembered her.
Finally, I unfolded the paper.
Alessandro,
If you are reading this, then something happened that made you look for answers.
I swallowed hard.
First, I need you to know one thing. Everything I did was to protect Livia.
My hands shook slightly.
The letter continued.
There is something I should have told you before he was born.
I stopped.
Before he was born?
I read faster.
When I was pregnant, the doctors warned me that my pregnancy would be difficult. They told me there was a chance I would not survive the delivery.
My breathing became heavier.
I remembered that time.
The fear.
The hospital visits.
The nights Isabella held my hand and told me everything would be fine.
But there was another reason I was scared.
I turned the page.
Then I saw the sentence that made the entire room disappear.
Livia was not the only child I was carrying.
I froze.
My fingers went cold.
No.
I read the sentence again.
Twice.
Three times.
There was no mistake.
I continued.
I was pregnant with twins.
I stopped breathing.
Twins.
My mind raced through memories.
The hospital.
The birth.
The day I first held Livia.
The doctors telling me Isabella had complications.
But nobody had ever mentioned another baby.
Alessandro, I lost the second baby before delivery. I never told you because you were already falling apart, and I didn’t know how to tell you that our son’s first breath came with another goodbye.
Tears blurred my vision.
I remembered that day.
I remembered holding Livia while doctors rushed around Isabella.
I remembered thinking my world was ending.
But I never knew there was another loss.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
Someone else knows about this. Someone who was at the hospital. Someone who promised me they would keep this secret.
I looked at the bottom of the letter.
There was no name.
Only one sentence.
Be careful who you trust.
The sound of my phone ringing made me jump.
It was my attorney.
I answered immediately.
“Alessandro, I checked the information you sent.””
“Did you find something?””
There was a pause.
“Yes.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
“The box lock wasn’t damaged recently.””
I frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“It was scratched months ago. Someone had tried opening it before yesterday.””
I looked at the box.
“Who?””
“We’re checking that now.””
I stood up.
“Find out.””
“I also found something else.””
“What?””
“The envelope you discovered.””
My grip tightened.
“How do you know about it?””
“Because there was a copy of the same letter in Isabella’s medical records.””
My heart stopped.
“Why would there be a copy?””
Another pause.
“Because Isabella gave it to someone.””
“Who?””
The answer came quietly.
“The same person who signed as a witness on Livia’s birth documents.””
I stared at the letter.
A person connected to my son’s birth.
A person who knew Isabella’s secret.
A person who might know why Bianca knew something she should never have known.
“Send me the name.””
The attorney hesitated.
“Alessandro…”
“What?””
“I think you already know her.””
My blood ran cold.
Because only one woman came to mind.
And she was standing in my memories as someone who had always been there.
Someone I trusted.
Someone who had comforted me after Isabella died.
The call ended.
And the message arrived seconds later.
May you like
One name appeared on my screen.
A name I never expected to see.
