Silent Devotion

MATTEO

The weight of Aunt Claudia's stare is suffocating. She isn't speaking.

Isn't blinking.

Just watching me.

Her reaction confirms what I already suspect—she's been keeping something from me.

I don't like that and I'm done waiting.

I lean back in my chair, fingers drumming against the armrest as I observe her. She's nervous. I can see it in the way she clenches her hands together in her lap, in the way her eyes flicker between me and the locket I'm still holding.

For years, Aunt Claudia has been the one person I trusted with no doubt. She raised me, protected me, stood by me even when I built my empire on blood and fear.

But now, for the first time, I feel the sharp sting of betrayal.

Because I can see it written all over her face. She knows more than she's saying.

And she's been hiding it from me.

I exhale slowly, voice sharp and controlled. "You already told me how my parents died."

Aunt Claudia stiffens.

Her fingers tighten around each other.

"A car accident." I tilt my head. "That's what you told me, isn't it?"

She nods, but it's slow. Careful. Like she already knows what I'm about to say next.

"You lied to me?"

A visible tremor runs through her shoulders.

"I didn't lie," she whispers.

I scoff. "Then tell me the truth."

Silence.

The tension in the room is thick enough to suffocate.

She exhales shakily and finally lifts her eyes to mine.

"Your parents didn't die in a simple accident." Her voice is quiet, but each word is heavy.

A sharp pulse of anger ripples through me.

I already knew that much. I just needed to hear her say it.

I wait, but she doesn't continue.

She hesitates. Like she doesn't want to say more.

Like she's still protecting me from something.

I push forward. "What else?" My voice is ice. "What aren't you saying?"

Aunt Claudia swallows. I see her hands tighten even more, as if she's bracing herself.

Then she finally speaks. "There was another car, Matteo."

The world slows. A dark chill seeps into my chest, wrapping around my ribs like a vice.

I knew it.

My jaw clenches as Claudia continues, her voice brittle.

"Your parents didn't just lose control of their car. Someone else caused the accident."

The confirmation feels like a punch to the gut.

For years, I lived with the knowledge that my parents' death was an accident. I accepted it. I forced myself to move forward.

But now...

Now everything is shifting.

Claudia lowers her gaze.

"When I started looking into it," she says, "I started receiving threats." She inhales, her voice wavering for the first time. "A man called me. I don't know who he was, but he told me to stop. He said that if I didn't... he'd kill me."