Chapter 9 - THE LETTER PIETRO NEVER SENT
The letter was hidden inside the cassette case.
Nora discovered it while examining the contents of Pietro's metal box.
A folded sheet of paper had been tucked beneath the plastic tray.
Her grandfather's handwriting filled both sides.
My little sparrow,
If you are reading this, then I have failed to tell you the truth while I was alive.
Nora stopped.
Her eyes filled.
She continued.
Pietro explained that he had been threatened after Agata disappeared.
Vescari told him the baby would be killed unless he agreed to raise her under a false identity.
He provided money.
False documents.
And instructions.
Pietro obeyed.
At first, he believed Agata was dead.
Later, he learned she had survived.
But Vescari threatened to expose Nora's location if Pietro tried to reunite them.
I told myself that keeping you alive was enough.
It wasn't.
You deserved your mother.
She deserved you.
I was frightened, and I made fear look like duty.
Nora began crying.
The final paragraph was written in a shakier hand.
There is one thing I need you to know.
Your mother never abandoned you.
And neither did your father.
Daniel tried to find her.
He died because he refused to stop.
Nora stared.
Her father.
Daniel Rossi.
She had been told he died in a construction accident.
But Pietro's letter suggested something else.
Rebecca reviewed the records.
Daniel had worked as an accountant.
After Agata disappeared, he began investigating the clinic and the financial transfers connected to Vescari.
Six months later, he died in what police classified as a workplace accident.
The investigation had been brief.
Several witnesses had never been interviewed.
Nora sat at the kitchen table, holding the letter.
Dante stood beside her.
She looked up.
“My grandfather knew.”
Dante nodded.
“He was afraid.”
“He let me believe my parents didn't want me.”
Dante said nothing.
Nora's voice broke.
“I loved him.”
“I know.”
“And I'm angry with him.”
Dante sat beside her.
“You can be both.”
She looked at him.
He continued.
“You can love someone and still be hurt by what they did.”
Nora began crying.
Dante didn't reach for her immediately.
He waited.
Then she leaned toward him.
He held her.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Outside, Chicago continued moving.
Cars passed.
Trains rattled.
People laughed on sidewalks.
May you like
But inside the apartment, Nora mourned a grandfather she had already buried.
This time, she mourned the truth he had carried alone.
