Chapter 15 - THE BUG THAT BROUGHT THEM HOME
Two years after Sophie discovered the object in Dante's neck, the Moretti mansion looked different.
The security remained professional.
But the atmosphere had changed.
The staff no longer whispered in fear.
The library doors stayed open.
Children's drawings hung on the refrigerator.
And the room where Dante once slept through painful afternoons now contained a small reading corner.
Sophie loved it.
On a bright spring morning, Dante stood in the garden wearing a dark suit.
Anna approached in a simple ivory dress.
Sophie walked ahead of her carrying a basket of flowers.
She scattered petals everywhere.
Some landed on the grass.
Some on the chairs.
Several on Dante's shoes.
Everyone laughed.
Sophie grinned.
“Oops.”
Dante crouched.
“Perfect.”
She hugged him.
Then ran to Anna.
The wedding was small.
Family.
Friends.
A few trusted colleagues.
No extravagant display of wealth.
No political guests.
No armed men standing visibly at every door.
Just people who loved them.
Anna reached Dante.
He took her hands.
“You look beautiful.”
She smiled.
“Thank you.”
He swallowed.
“Are you ready?”
Anna looked at Sophie.
Then back at Dante.
“Yes.”
Their vows were simple.
Dante promised honesty.
Respect.
And a life where Anna and Sophie would never have to be afraid to speak.
Anna promised to stand beside him without surrendering herself.
They didn't promise perfection.
They promised to keep choosing the truth.
After the ceremony, Sophie climbed onto Dante's lap.
“Dante?”
He smiled.
“Yes?”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
She looked at the back of his neck.
“Is the bug really gone?”
He laughed softly.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
She nodded seriously.
“Good.”
Then she touched his cheek.
“Because I like you better without it.”
Dante's eyes filled.
He hugged her.
“I like me better without it too.”
That evening, after the guests had gone, Anna stood beside Dante on the terrace.
The garden lights glowed softly.
Sophie was asleep upstairs.
Anna rested her head against his shoulder.
“Do you ever think about that day?”
Dante smiled.
“Every day.”
She looked up.
“The library?”
He nodded.
“The little girl who broke every rule.”
Anna laughed.
“She certainly did.”
Dante took her hand.
“I spent three years believing I couldn't trust myself.”
His voice softened.
“Then a five-year-old child noticed something everyone else ignored.”
Anna squeezed his fingers.
“And you listened.”
He looked at her.
“Yes.”
Then he smiled.
“For the first time in a long time, I really listened.”
Inside the house, Sophie's drawings covered the refrigerator.
Butterflies.
Rainbows.
Flowers.
And one picture that Dante had framed.
A small oval with six crooked lines.
A red crayon sun above it.
And three stick figures holding hands.
At the bottom, in Sophie's uneven handwriting, were five words:
NO MORE BUGS. ONLY LOVE.
Dante looked at the drawing.
Then at Anna.
And smiled.
Because the smallest voice in the room had uncovered the greatest betrayal of his life.
But it had also led him toward something he had never believed he deserved.
A family.
May you like
A future.
And a home where nobody was afraid to tell the truth.
