Chapter 5 - Shadows of the Past
As weeks turned into months, the tension in the house grew, but so did our bond.
Alejandro began joining us for dinner.
He asked my mother about her life before she came to the mansion.
Maria hesitated, but eventually, the walls came down.
She told him about my father.
A man who had abandoned us when I was born with severe allergies and asthma.
A man who said I was "too expensive" to keep.
She had run away to this city, taking the only job that offered immediate housing—cleaning for the mob.
As she spoke, Alejandro’s jaw tightened.
His knuckles turned white around his silverware.
“A man who abandons his family is no man at all,” he said quietly.
He looked at me, happily eating my dessert, completely oblivious to the dark world around us.
“You’ve raised a brave girl, Maria. You did it alone. You are stronger than half the men in my syndicate.”
My mother blushed, looking away.
“I just did what I had to do.”
For the first time in Alejandro’s life, he was experiencing what a real family felt like.
No betrayals. No hidden agendas.
Just a mother and daughter who saw him not as a monster, but as a man.
But peace is a luxury in their world.
Later that night, Silas entered the dining room, his face grim.
“Boss. We have a problem.”
Alejandro stood up, his face returning to the cold, hard mask of a mafia leader.
“What is it?”
“The Romanos. They’ve put a bounty on the girl.”
My mother gasped, dropping her glass. It shattered on the floor.
Just like the glass in the study all those months ago.
“They figured out who administered the antidote,” Silas explained grimly. “They view it as an insult. A four-year-old humiliated their master plan.”
Alejandro’s eyes burned with a murderous rage.
“Lock down the estate,” he ordered.
May you like
He turned to my mother, pulling her close.
“No one touches her. Do you hear me? I will burn this city to ash before I let them lay a finger on Emma.”
