Chapter 80 The Voice That Didn’t Shake
The call came when the night hadn’t fully ended.
That hour where everything was still.
Although it did not feel quiet there was something unsettling around him. Like he knew something was about to happen so he was just waiting.
Rafael saw the number first.
It wasn’t saved.
Didn’t exist.
Didn’t belong anywhere.
He didn’t answer.
He looked at Alessandro.
“Who could this be? Who knows this number?”
Alessandro didn’t move immediately.
He looked at the screen.
Then at nothing.
Then back again.
No hesitation.
No surprise.
He took the phone.
Answered.
Didn’t speak.
Silence.
Then—
“Alessandro.”
Marco.
Same voice.
Same control.
Same absence of emotion.
Alessandro stepped away slightly.
Not to leave.
To think.
“Where is she.”
No greeting.
No pretense.
No space.
Marco didn’t answer.
That was intentional.
“You were close.”
The words landed clean.
Alessandro didn’t react.
“Closer than I expected,” Marco continued.
A pause.
“But you still chose wrong.”
Silence.
Alessandro’s eyes darkened.
“You knew.”
Not a question.
Marco exhaled slowly.
“I was the one that gave you the information.”
There it was.
“I wanted to see which one you would pick and I was not disappointed. You always chose wrong..”
Alessandro said nothing.
Because anything he said—
would give Marco something.
“You always did that,” Marco continued. “You think in control. In logic. In time.”
A pause
“But she wasn’t waiting for logic.”
That line—
was deliberate.
“She waited for you once,” Marco added.
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“At the wedding.”
Silence stretched.
“You were late then too.”
That hit.
Alessandro didn’t react.
Externally.
But his grip tightened around the phone.
“Where is she.”
Marco ignored it.
“She went to that clinic alone. Not with you, but you know who was there? I was. ”
Alessandro’s eyes shifted.
“You didn’t even know. She chose not to tell you but she told me.”
Another blade.
“Did you ever stop to think why?”
Another.
“She made that decision without you.”
Silence.
Rafael watched carefully.
Didn’t move.
Alessandro closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
Then opened them again.
Colder.
“What decision.”
The question came low.
Controlled.
Marco didn’t hesitate.
“The baby.”
Silence.
“She got rid of it.”
Nothing moved.
The room—
tightened.
Alessandro didn’t speak.
Didn’t breathe differently.
Didn’t move.
But something inside him—
shifted.
“She didn’t choose you,” Marco continued. “She chose not to keep it.”
Each word—
slow.
Precise.
“She didn’t want it.”
Another pause.
“She didn’t want what came with you. You are not capable to give her the life she deserves and she realised it eventually.”
That was the knife.
Rafael took a step forward.
Stopped.
Alessandro’s voice came out lower than before.
“You’re lying.”
Not loud.
Not emotional.
Certain.
Marco almost sounded thoughtful.
“Am I.”
A pause.
“She didn’t call you.”
Another.
“She didn’t ask for you.”
Another.
“She made her choice.”
Silence stretched.
Heavy.
Alessandro’s hand tightened.
The phone creaked slightly.
But he didn’t break.
Because breaking—
would mean doubt.
And doubt—
would slow him down.
He exhaled slowly.
Controlled.
“She was moved two hours before I got there.”
A pause.
“Was she? Did you think that maybe it was her choice not to wait for you? Have you thought that maybe she is done waiting for you? that maybe she is done being disappointed..”
His eyes darkened completely.
“You’re trying to slow me down.”
Silence.
Marco didn’t respond immediately.
Then—
a quiet exhale.
“You always were smart but emotions got the best of you now. She is my family, do you think she would keep choosing feelings over family? finally she came to her senses. She realised who you truly are.”
Alessandro felt his heart breaking but didn’t give him anything else.
“Next time you call,” he said quietly, “make it worth something.”
Then—
he ended it.
No hesitation.
The room stayed still.
Rafael looked at him.
Carefully.
Alessandro stood there.
Unmoving.
For a moment—
too still.
“She wouldn’t,” he said.
Not to Rafael.
To himself.
“She wouldn’t do that.”
Silence.
Because even saying it—
meant something had tried to break through.
Alessandro lifted his head.
Eyes sharp again.
Focused again.
More dangerous than before.
“He confirmed it.”
“What.”
“She’s alive.”
Rafael didn’t ask how.
Because lies like that—
only worked—
if the truth existed underneath.
Alessandro placed the phone down.
Carefully.
“Double everything.”
Rafael nodded.
Already moving.
“No delays. No assumptions.”
A pause.
“No mistakes.”
Because now—
it wasn’t just time—
It was pressure.
And Alessandro De Luca—
was done choosing wrong.