This was Isabella's war room.
And whatever Antonio had left behind—the truth was buried somewhere in here.
The silence was thick. Almost suffocating.
Serena's pulse roared in her ears as she scanned the room, taking in the obsession Isabella had left behind.
Antonio's face stared back at them from every wall, every desk, every surface.
Lorenzo moved first.
He strode toward the vanity, his fingers trailing over the dust-laced surface before picking up a photograph. His jaw tensed as he studied it, then he turned it over.
A date.
A single word beneath it.
"Mistake."
Serena exhaled sharply, stepping closer. "What does it mean?"
Lorenzo didn't answer.
He was calculating.
Breaking it down—just like he always did.
Marco, growing impatient, shoved a pile of papers off the desk, scattering them onto the floor. "We don't have time for riddles. Either she was losing her mind, or she was onto something."
Matteo knelt, sifting through the mess Marco had just made.
Then he stopped.
"...Shit."
Serena turned instantly. "What?"
Matteo held up a newspaper clipping, aged and yellowed with time.
The headline sent a chill down her spine.
"Antonio Rossi's Empire Under Siege – Allegations Surface"
Serena's throat tightened. She remembered this.
It had been one of the last headlines before everything went to hell.
Before she had been ripped from her family.
Before she had been framed.
Lorenzo snatched the paper from Matteo's hands, scanning the article. His expression remained unreadable—but Serena could see the shift in his stance.
Then, his fingers tightened around the edge, crumpling it slightly.
Sofia peered over his shoulder, frowning. "This article doesn't make sense. It doesn't even say what the allegations were."
Because there weren't any.
Serena realized it as soon as the words left her sister's mouth.
This entire article had been a smokescreen.
A distraction.
A warning to Antonio—that someone was coming for him.
Lorenzo moved suddenly, shoving aside Isabella's perfume bottles and pulling open a drawer.
Empty.
No.
Not empty.
He reached inside, pulling out a thin, worn envelope.
The paper was brittle with age, the ink slightly faded—but it was still legible.
Serena stepped closer, reading over his shoulder.
Her blood ran cold.
Antonio's Letter – The Final Warning
"If you're reading this, it means I failed."
YOU ARE READING
The ties that bind
RandomA family that once loved her. A crime she never committed. And a past that won't stay buried. For years, Serena Rossi lived in hell, locked away in a place that felt more like a prison than a school. She was punished for a crime she didn't commit-at...
CHAPTER 47 - The Room of Ghost
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