Chapter 12 - The Hidden Past
The heavy iron gates of the nursing home loomed like a fortress in the early morning fog.
Harper walked through the sterile white corridors, accompanied by two of Vincent’s heavily armed guards.
She instructed the men to wait outside the door, claiming she needed a private, emotional moment with her sick mother.
The guards nodded respectfully and took their positions in the hallway.
Harper pushed open the wooden door, expecting to find a frail woman connected to an oxygen tank.
Instead, her mother was sitting perfectly upright in a leather armchair by the window, sipping a cup of black coffee.
Evelyn looked entirely healthy, her eyes sharp and devoid of any dementia or weakness.
She smiled a chilling, perfectly calculated smile as her daughter locked the door behind her.
Harper demanded to know what was going on and why Don Marcano had her phone number.
Evelyn took a slow sip of her coffee and praised Harper for playing the role of the innocent bait so convincingly.
She revealed that twenty years ago, she was the wife of the city's original syndicate boss.
Vincent Rossi’s father had murdered her husband and stolen their empire, leaving Evelyn completely destitute.
She had spent two decades faking her illness and building a secret alliance with the Marcano family from the shadows.
Evelyn coldly explained that Harper was nothing more than a pawn designed to exploit Vincent's only weakness.
Harper stumbled backward, her heart shattering as she realized her entire life had been a carefully constructed lie.
Her mother handed her a small, undetectable vial of clear liquid poison.
She ordered Harper to slip it into Vincent’s whiskey tonight, or the real assassins would slaughter them both.
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Harper stared at the deadly vial, realizing the woman sitting before her was no longer her mother.
She was a monster far worse than anyone in the mafia.
