Chapter 81 What Was Taken
The call ended.
But it didn’t leave.
The number disappeared first.
Rafael tried to trace it immediately.
Laptop open.
Connections running.
Signals bouncing.
Nothing.
“It’s not registered,” he said after a moment.
Alessandro didn’t look at him.
“It doesn’t exist.”
Of course it didn’t.
Alessandro stood still.
The phone still in his hand.
“She wouldn’t.”
The words came out the same.
But something—
had changed.
Rafael didn’t answer.
Because now—
this wasn’t certainty.
It was resistance.
Alessandro placed the phone down slowly.
“Track it anyway.”
“I am.”
Minutes passed.
Then more.
Nothing.
“It’s clean,” Rafael said finally. “No origin. No route. No location.”
Alessandro nodded once.
Which meant—
Marco didn’t just control the situation.
He controlled the communication.
That mattered.
"Why did he call just to tell me that she chose him instead of me?" Alessandro said.
"Is he trying to mock me? Is this his payback for everything that has happened until now?"
"Maybe he just wanted to show you that he won but we still can't be sure" Rafael answered quietly.
Alessandro thought for a few minutes and then “Expand everything,” he said at last.
Rafael didn’t ask what that meant.
He already knew.
The days that followed blurred again.
But differently this time.
Not confusion.
Precision.
Every lead followed.
Every location checked.
Every contact pushed.
No hesitation.
No delay.
Alessandro stopped looking for patterns.
He started forcing them.
People talked.
More than before.
Not because they wanted to.
Because staying silent—
had become more dangerous.
Still—
nothing.
No confirmed location.
No sightings.
No movement.
Only absence.
And the echo of Marco’s voice.
She didn’t choose you.
Alessandro shut it down every time it surfaced.
Immediately.
Violently.
But it came back.
Not loud.
Quiet.
Persistent. He heard him in his sleep, in his thoughts. In every moment that he was trying to figure out how to move next.
Weeks passed.
Then—
months.
Time changed again.
Not something that moved forward.
Something that built.
Layered.
Heavy.
The city adapted to him completely now.
No resistance left.
No hesitation.
Doors opened before he reached them.
Calls were answered before they rang twice.
Names were given before he asked.
Fear had replaced delay.
But even fear—
couldn’t give him what he needed.
The lead came without warning.
A location.
Not hidden.
Not ever controlled enough for the secrets that their family had hidden.
New ownership.
New staff.
Old structure.
Too clean.
Alessandro didn’t wait.
He went himself.
The house stood in the suburbs.
Not isolated.
Not exposed.
Placed carefully.
Like it belonged there.
That made it worse.
No guards at the gate.
No visible security.
Just—
quiet.
Alessandro stepped out of the car.
Looked once.
Wrong.
But not empty
He walked to the door.
Didn’t knock.
Opened it.
Inside—
warm.
Lived in.
Controlled.
A man stepped forward.
Not afraid.
Expected.
“Mr. De Luca.”
Alessandro didn’t stop.
“Where is he.”
No denial.
No confusion.
“This way.”
That was worse.
Marco was sitting when Alessandro entered.
Relaxed.
Not staged.
Not defensive.
Comfortable.
That was the most dangerous thing in the room.
Alessandro stopped in front of him.
“Where is she.”
Marco didn’t stand.
“She’s not here.”
Silence.
“Where.”
“Out of the country.”
A pause.
“Back at her university.”
Alessandro didn’t react.
“She wanted distance,” Marco continued. “A normal life.”
The words were calm.
Measured.
Controlled.
“She made that decision.”
There it was again.
Alessandro stepped closer.
“You expect me to believe that.”
Marco looked at him.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
No shift.
That was the problem.
Alessandro turned.
He had heard enough.
Or—
not enough.
He started walking toward the door.
Then—
A sound.
Soft.
Small.
A baby.
Alessandro stopped.
The entire room—
shifted.
He turned.
Slowly.
“Stay where you are,” Marco said calmly.
Alessandro didn’t listen.
He followed the sound.
Down a short hallway.
One door.
Half open.
He pushed it.
Inside—
a woman.
Young.
Holding a baby.
The room was warm.
Quiet.
Normal.
Too normal.
The baby moved slightly.
Soft sound.
Alive.
Alessandro stepped closer.
His eyes locked on the child.
Everything else disappeared.
Time.
Sound.
Thought.
Only one question remained.
“Is it mine.”
The words came out before he could stop them.
The woman froze.
Didn’t answer.
Didn’t move.
Marco stepped into the room.
Calm.
Controlled.
“No.”
Silence.
“She’s my wife.”
Alessandro didn’t look at him.
“And the child is mine.”
If that was a lie—
it was perfectly placed.
“I left everything for them,” Marco continued. “The business. The war.”
A pause.
“I chose a family.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
But he didn’t move.
Didn’t react.
He looked at the baby once more.
Then—
away.
“Where is your mother.”
Marco didn’t hesitate.
“With her.”
A pause.
“They left together.”
Of course they did.
Everything—
lined up too cleanly.
Too perfectly.
Too controlled.
Alessandro stepped back.
The room felt smaller now.
Tighter.
Like it had been built—
for this moment.
He turned.
Walked out.
Marco didn’t stop him.
Didn’t follow.
Didn’t need to.
Outside—
the air felt different.
Not cold.
Empty.
Rafael stepped forward.
“What happened.”
Alessandro didn’t answer immediately.
Then—
“She’s not here.”
Rafael studied him.
Something had changed.
“What do you think.”
Alessandro looked back at the house.
Once.
Long enough.
“I think it is over.”
A pause.
“I lost her.”
"But I still need the truth."
Even if it confirmed everything Marco said he still needed to see her. To see her moving on with her life..
Alessandro turned.
“Find out where she is.”
Rafael nodded.
Already moving.
As the car pulled away—
Alessandro leaned back.
Closed his eyes.
Just once.
And in that moment—
he allowed it.
The thought.
The possibility.
The loss.
Then—
it was gone.
When he opened his eyes—
there was nothing left of what he had been.
Only direction.
Only truth.
And whatever waited at the end of it—
he would face it.