Chapter 10 - The Mother Who Came Back From the Dead|
I had imagined this moment a thousand times after finding that first note.
Sometimes, I pictured running into my mother's arms.
Sometimes, I imagined screaming at her.
Sometimes, I thought I would simply collapse.
But when Elena Bennett stood before me, alive and breathing, I did none of those things.
I stared.
That was all.
She looked so familiar.
And so heartbreakingly different.
Her hair had turned gray.
There were deep lines beside her eyes.
Her hands trembled as though she were afraid I might disappear.
"Avery?"
I swallowed.
"You're alive."
She nodded.
Tears slid down her cheeks.
"Yes."
I looked at the woman who had taught me to tie my shoes.
The woman who had held me through my first heartbreak.
The woman whose grave I'd visited for seven years.
Then I asked the only question that mattered.
"Why didn't you come home?"
Her face crumpled.
"I wanted to."
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
I stepped backward.
"Do you have any idea what happened to me?"
She pressed a hand against her mouth.
"I tried to find out."
"You weren't there."
My voice rose.
"When I graduated, you weren't there."
She flinched.
"When I got my first apartment, you weren't there."
"Avery—"
"When I was sick and couldn't afford medicine, you weren't there."
Tears blurred my vision.
"And when I needed somebody to tell me everything would be okay, I went to a cemetery."
My mother began crying openly.
I hated seeing her cry.
I hated that I still wanted to comfort her.
Most of all, I hated that seven years of missing her couldn't disappear just because she'd finally returned.
"I don't know how to forgive you," I whispered.
She nodded.
"I'm not asking you to."
That answer hurt.
Because part of me had desperately wanted her to beg.
Luca stood near the doorway, his expression unreadable.
Then he quietly touched Iris's arm.
They stepped into the hallway.
He closed the door behind them.
He gave us privacy without being asked.
I was grateful for that.
My mother moved toward a little wooden chair.
"May I sit?"
I nodded.
She lowered herself carefully.
"I tried to report Vincent Moretti."
Her voice trembled.
"Not just the stolen money."
I stared at her.
"What else?"
"Payment records showing that witnesses had been threatened, hospital contracts had been manipulated, and people were being paid to keep quiet."
"Who?"
"Anyone who discovered where the money was going."
She looked at me.
"I thought I could expose him."
"What happened?"
"Vincent came to my hospital room."
Her hands tightened around each other.
"He told me he'd arranged for an accident."
My stomach dropped.
"What accident?"
"He showed me photographs of your college campus."
I stopped breathing.
"He knew your class schedule."
She looked toward the window.
"He told me that if I disappeared quietly, you'd live."
I shook my head.
"You could have told me."
"He threatened anyone I contacted."
"That doesn't explain seven years."
"No."
She closed her eyes.
"It doesn't."
For the first time, she sounded as angry with herself as I was with her.
"I believed someone would eventually stop him."
"Nobody did."
"I know."
"And you stayed hidden."
"Yes."
I looked away.
"Where?"
"Different places."
She swallowed.
"Safe apartments, shelters, homes belonging to people who were willing to help."
"North Star?"
She nodded.
"I kept working through people I trusted."
I stared at her.
"You were still helping other families."
"Yes."
"While your own daughter thought you were dead."
She bowed her head.
The silence lasted a long time.
Then I asked about Sofia.
My mother's expression changed.
"She was a wonderful young woman."
"You knew her before Luca?"
"Long before."
She smiled through her tears.
"Sofia came to North Star when she was seventeen."
My heart tightened.
"She needed help?"
"She needed someone to believe she deserved a future."
I thought about Sofia's photograph.
Her bright smile.
The golden stars in Leo's nursery.
"She found one."
My mother nodded.
"She did."
Elena explained that Sofia had discovered evidence of Vincent's financial crimes years later, after joining the Moretti family.
She had quietly begun comparing the foundation's public accounts with old records.
Then she'd found someone who could help.
My mother.
"Sofia located me four months before she died," Elena said.
"Did she know what Vincent had done?"
"Not all of it."
My mother wiped her eyes.
"But she knew enough to be afraid."
I swallowed.
"Why didn't she tell Luca?"
"She wasn't sure how much control Vincent still had over the family businesses."
I thought about the fraudulent shipping records bearing Luca's company name.
"She was protecting him."
"And Leo."
My mother's voice broke.
"She was especially frightened for the baby."
I looked down at my necklace.
"Did she have a star like mine?"
Elena nodded.
"I gave Sofia my pendant when she was young."
I stared at her.
"The first star."
"Yes."
"Iris has a photograph of you wearing it when you disappeared."
"I was wearing it that night."
She swallowed.
"After I escaped, I kept it hidden until Sofia found me again."
I tried to understand.
"Then you gave it back to her?"
"Yes."
My mother smiled sadly.
"She said she wanted her son to grow up knowing that family was something people built through love."
I thought about Leo gripping my necklace.
The way he reached for the star every time he saw me.
Suddenly, his attachment felt less mysterious.
The silver star had become part of the world his mother had created for him.
And mine had once been part of the world my mother created for me.
I touched the pendant.
"Why come to the restaurant?"
Elena's eyes filled again.
"Because Sofia was gone."
She looked directly at me.
"And I learned that Vincent had started searching for you."
My stomach tightened.
"Did you see me?"
She nodded.
"From the service hallway."
"Why didn't you speak to me?"
"Daniel Cross was watching the building."
She began crying again.
"I hoped the note would make you cautious without revealing where I was."
I shook my head.
"You could have written more."
"I should have."
"You could have called."
"I know."
I stared at her.
"I was right there."
Her voice broke.
"I know, sweetheart."
I covered my face.
For a long moment, neither of us could speak.
Then my mother whispered something that made me look up.
"I went back the following night."
"What?"
"I couldn't stay away."
She reached into her pocket and produced a small photograph.
It showed Belladonna's entrance.
In the background, Luca stood beside his SUV.
Leo was in his arms.
I was smiling at the baby.
My mother touched the picture.
"I watched him reach for you."
My breath caught.
"Why take a photograph?"
"Because you looked happy."
She smiled through tears.
"And because I hadn't seen you smile in seven years."
I lowered my eyes.
Something inside me shifted.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But the first fragile possibility of understanding.
I moved toward her.
She stood slowly.
I stopped inches away.
"I don't know what we're supposed to be now."
Her lips trembled.
"Neither do I."
I nodded.
"Then we'll have to figure it out."
She began to cry again.
This time, when she reached for my hand, I let her take it.
We stood that way for a long moment.
Mother and daughter.
Strangers.
Family.
Both grieving years we could never recover.
Then the door opened.
Luca appeared, his face grim.
"I'm sorry to interrupt."
I turned.
"What happened?"
He looked at my mother.
"Vincent knows we found the ledger."
Elena went pale.
Luca held up his phone.
A message glowed across the screen.
May you like
Bring me the originals before midnight.
Or the Moretti heir becomes the next casualty.
