Chapter 19 - MARISOL’S LETTER
I waited six months to open my mother’s final letter.
It sat in my desk drawer.
Victor never asked.
Caleb asked weekly.
Adrian pretended not to care.
One Sunday morning, I finally gathered all three of them.
Caleb.
Adrian.
Mateo.
Victor stayed in the kitchen with Leo.
“This is family,” he said.
I looked at him.
“You are family.”
He held my gaze.
Then sat beside me.
I opened the envelope.
My mother’s handwriting filled four pages.
My children,
If this reaches you, then secrets have lasted longer than I intended.
Elise, you were born eight years after the greatest mistake and greatest heartbreak of my life.
I glanced at Adrian.
His face went rigid.
I was eighteen when I became pregnant.
Mateo was not your father, Adrian.
Everyone froze.
Mateo closed his eyes.
Adrian looked stunned.
“What?”
I kept reading.
Your father was Daniel Russo.
Dominic’s father.
Victor turned sharply.
Adrian stared at him.
“No.”
Daniel Russo had been Anthony Romano’s closest friend.
Dominic’s father.
Killed when Dominic was a child.
My mother continued.
Daniel and I loved each other. Anthony discovered us. He believed Daniel’s loyalty belonged to him alone.
When I became pregnant, Anthony took my son and told Daniel the baby died.
Adrian put a hand over his mouth.
Mateo whispered, “I thought…”
Mom explained why everyone believed Mateo was the father.
He had helped her escape afterward.
Rumors spread.
Anthony allowed them because blaming a Salazar humiliated both families.
The DNA test connecting Adrian to Salazar blood?
Not Salazar.
Vega.
My mother and Mateo shared blood.
Adrian was still related to Mateo through Marisol.
Just not as his son.
And Dominic…
We called him immediately.
He arrived thirty minutes later.
Adrian stood in the foyer.
Neither man spoke.
Then Dominic laughed once.
“My father.”
Adrian nodded.
“Our father.”
Dominic’s face broke.
He punched Adrian in the shoulder.
Adrian punched him back.
Then they hugged.
Men.
Apparently emotions required violence first.
Victor looked at me.
“I feel surrounded by brothers.”
“You deserve it.”
Mom’s final paragraphs were for me.
Elise, I watched you spend your whole life caring for everyone.
Caleb.
Me.
People you barely knew.
Please remember that being good does not mean disappearing.
I cried.
Victor held my hand.
Do not become invisible to make others comfortable.
Do not confuse sacrifice with love.
And if you ever meet someone who loves you, make sure he loves your freedom too.
Victor lowered his eyes.
I squeezed his fingers.
I think he understood.
The letter ended simply.
Build something better than what we inherited.
That became the rule.
May you like
Not just for me.
For all of us.
