Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO SHOULD NOT EXIST
I wanted to laugh.
Because the question was impossible.
Who was I?
I was Mara Hayes.
A waitress.
A woman who grew up in a small apartment with a mother who never talked about the past.
A woman who had never seen that photograph before.
But Adrian Viscari wasn’t looking at me like I was lying.
He was looking at me like I was a ghost.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I whispered.
His eyes stayed on my face.
“Look at the picture.”
I didn’t want to.
But I did.
The woman in the photograph was impossible.
Same hair.
Same eyes.
Same smile.
Even the small scar near her eyebrow looked familiar.
My hand slowly touched my own face.
“No…”
Adrian noticed.
“You see it too.”
I stepped back.
The baby in my arms grabbed my shirt.
Like he felt my fear.
“Who is she?”
My voice shook.
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
For the first time that night…
The mafia boss looked vulnerable.
“That was Elena Viscari.”
The name meant nothing.
But the pain in his voice meant everything.
“My wife.”
The restaurant suddenly felt colder.
I looked at Luca.
Then at the picture.
“No.”
Adrian frowned.
“No?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
Because I wanted to say:
Because she looks like me.
Because I’m alive.
Because my entire life just became a lie.
But before I could answer, the lights suddenly flickered.
One of Adrian’s men immediately stood.
“Boss.”
Everyone changed.
The softness disappeared.
The danger returned.
Adrian handed me Luca.
“Take him.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Stay here.”
The way he said it made me realize something.
He wasn’t protecting himself.
He was protecting me.
Then the sound came.
A crash outside.
People screamed.
The guards reached inside their jackets.
And I understood one terrifying thing.
The mafia boss wasn’t afraid someone would attack him.
He was afraid someone would attack his son.
And now…
His son was in my arms.
Adrian looked at me.
“Mara.”
“Yes?”
“Whatever happens…”
His eyes moved to Luca.
“Do not let anyone take him.”
Then the restaurant doors exploded open.
And a man’s voice shouted:
“VISCARI!”
Everyone froze.
Because the person standing outside…
May you like
Was someone Adrian knew.
Someone who should have been dead.
