Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN AT THE GATES: WHEN THE DEAD RETURN TO CLAIM WHAT IS THEIRS
The blood rushed in Matteo’s ears like a roaring freight train.
“Elena?” he whispered to the empty air, the name sounding foreign and impossible on his tongue. “That’s impossible. I buried her. I signed the death certificates. I watched the casket lower into the family mausoleum.”
“Gate cameras can be hacked, or illusions can be staged,” Liana said urgently, shifting Nico as the baby stirred again at the raised voices. “Don't go down there alone, Mr. Varric. It could be a trap to draw you out of the mansion.”
“A trap?” Matteo’s face hardened into a mask of pure fury and desperate hope. “If someone is playing a sick game with my dead wife’s face, they are going to wish they were never born.”
He didn't wait for Liana’s reply. He strode out of the nursery, slamming the heavy wooden door behind him. Through the glass panels of the hallway, Liana watched as he summoned four armed guards from the corridor and sprinted down the grand staircase toward the main foyer.
Left alone in the silent nursery, Liana felt a shiver run down her spine. Nico whimpered softly in her arms, his small hands clutching her red uniform tighter, as if sensing the approaching storm.
Liana walked over to the security tablet left active on the desk. She tapped the multi-feed camera icon, bringing up the live feed of the front estate gates.
On the screen, a thick layer of night fog rolled across the wrought-iron gates. Standing directly under the harsh amber glow of the security floodlights was a woman.
She wore a long, charcoal wool coat. Her blonde hair fell in wet strands around her pale face. Water glistened on her cheekbones. She didn't look like a high-tech assassin or a corporate spy. She looked exhausted, freezing, and utterly heartbroken.
And as the camera zoomed in, Liana felt her breath hitch.
The woman looked identical to the framed portraits hanging in the Varric grand hallway. It was Elena Varric.
On the live audio feed, the woman’s voice drifted clearly through the intercom speaker.
“Matteo,” she called out, her voice cracking with emotion as the estate guards pointed their weapons at her. “I know you’re watching. Put the guns down. I didn't come to hurt my son. I came to take him back before it’s too late.”
From the bottom of the screen, Matteo stepped into view, flanked by his guards. He raised his hand, signaling the guards to lower their weapons, though their safety catches remained off.
“Who are you?” Matteo’s voice boomed through the intercom, shaking with suppressed rage. “Elena is dead! Show your face or my men will open fire!”
May you like
The woman at the gate raised her hands slowly, stepping closer to the camera lens until her eyes filled the screen.
“I died on paper, Matteo, because staying alive was the only way to keep our son safe from the men you brought into our lives,” she wept openly. “And if you let that maid hold him a moment longer, you won't have a son left to protect.”
