Chapter 16 - Shadows in the SnowThe first heavy snow of the winter blanketed New York City by late December, turning the chaotic concrete jungle into a quiet, shimmering wonderland. Inside our brownstone, the scent of cinnamon, pine, and baking cookies filled the air, wrapping around us like a warm embrace.
The twins were busy stringing popcorn for the tree while Christmas carols played softly on the vintage record player in the corner.
I stood by the kitchen island, pouring hot cocoa into mugs, watching Luca sitting cross-legged on the floor with Noah and Amara, helping them piece together an impossibly complex Lego castle. The fierce, untouchable corporate titan was entirely gone, replaced by a man who laughed freely, his dark eyes bright with a warmth I had never thought possible.
My phone, resting silently beside my coffee cup, suddenly lit up.
A silent, flashing notification. An international number.
I frowned, picking up the device. I swiped to open the encrypted message, my thumb hovering over the screen.
From: Interpol Liaison Office, Zurich. Subject: Status Update – Subject: Evelyn Shaw Moretti.
My breath caught in my throat. I tapped the message open.
“We regret to inform you that Evelyn Shaw Moretti passed away peacefully this morning at 04:15 CET following a sudden cardiac arrest. Her legal representatives have requested notification of next of kin.”
The room around me seemed to tilt slightly. The laughter of the children playing with Luca felt distant, muffled beneath a sudden rushing sound in my ears.
Luca must have noticed the sudden change in my posture. He gently handed Noah a plastic brick, stood up, and walked over to the kitchen counter, his brow furrowing with concern.
"Nia? What is it? You're white as a sheet."
I slowly turned the phone screen toward him, letting him read the notification.
Luca froze.
The color drained from his face, leaving him staring at the glowing glass in absolute silence. For a long, suspended moment, neither of us moved. The woman who had orchestrated our destruction, who had poisoned a marriage and weaponized her own flesh and blood for the sake of an empire, was gone.
"She's... she's gone," Luca whispered, the words sounding hollow and strange in the festive room.
"I'm sorry, Luca," I said softly, stepping closer and placing a gentle hand on his forearm.
He looked down at my hand, then up into my eyes. There was no grief in his expression—only a profound, heavy sense of finality, like a heavy iron gate slamming shut on a chapter that could never be reopened.
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"She built a prison out of gold," Luca murmured, shaking his head slowly. "And she died inside it, completely alone. All for a name that meant nothing in the end."
He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair, holding me tightly as if anchoring himself against the sudden storm of ghosts. And for the first time, I didn't pull away. I held him back, knowing that the past was finally, truly, buried beneath the snow.
