Chapter 12 - THE BROTHER WHO REMEMBERED A DIFFERENT STORY|
Nico refused to leave the rehabilitation center.
He remembered pieces of the explosion, the hospital, and a man telling him that his family had abandoned him. He remembered waking alone in a room with no windows, hearing the same melody through the wall, and believing that Sophia and the baby he had never met were dead.
He did not remember who had told him.
But he remembered the fear.
Aleandro sat across from him, keeping his hands visible.
"I thought you were dead," he said. "I searched for you for months."
Nico shook his head.
"Someone showed me a newspaper article. It said you had been killed in a family dispute."
Aleandro felt sick.
"They forged the report."
"They showed me photographs of the funeral."
"My father was alive when those photographs were taken."
Nico looked down.
"Then nothing I remember can be trusted."
Sophia sat beside him.
"Not everything was a lie. You loved me. You gave me the music box. You told me that if anything happened, I should teach our daughter the family dance."
Nico turned toward her.
"Our daughter?"
Sophia nodded.
"Her name is Emma. She's three."
His face emptied.
For several seconds, he simply stared.
Then his eyes filled with tears.
"I have a daughter?"
Sophia took his hand.
"Yes."
He covered his mouth.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because they wanted you to believe you had no family."
Nico began to cry, silently at first, then with the exhausted grief of a man who had spent years mourning people who were still alive.
Aleandro looked away to give him privacy.
When Nico finally calmed, he asked to see Emma.
Sophia called the protected residence and spoke to the caregiver. Emma was excited to meet the man she knew from the photographs, but Sophia warned her that Daddy might look different and move slowly.
"Is he sick?" Emma asked.
"He's getting better."
"Will he dance with me?"
Sophia swallowed.
"Yes, sweetheart. I think he will."
They arranged the meeting for the next morning.
Before they left, Nico handed Aleandro the music box.
"Father gave this to me before the explosion," he said. "He told me never to open the bottom."
Aleandro examined the wooden base. A small seam ran along the edge, almost invisible beneath the varnish.
Marcus helped remove the panel.
Inside was a folded ledger and a tiny recording device.
The ledger listed payments to hospitals, security firms, and private guardians. Several transfers had been made under the name of the Lantern Fund.
The final entry was dated the day of the explosion.
It was signed by Richard Moretti.
Beside the signature was a note.
Nico has learned the truth. If he survives, keep him separated from the girl until the account is settled.
Nico stared at the page.
"I remember my father telling me that the family had to make a sacrifice."
Aleandro closed the ledger.
"Then the sacrifice was you."
Nico looked at him.
"No."
He pointed to the final line.
"The sacrifice wasn't me."
May you like
His voice grew stronger.
"It was Emma."
