Chapter 3: The Letter My Wife Left Behind
The paper trembled between my fingers.
Not because of the words.
Because of the handwriting.
I had seen that handwriting on grocery lists stuck to the refrigerator. On birthday cards hidden under my pillow. On notes left beside my coffee cup when Isabella had to leave for work before sunrise.
I knew every curve of every letter.
It was hers.
My wife’s.
The woman I had buried three years ago.
The woman whose voice I could still hear when the house became too quiet.
“Alessandro?””
Matteo’s voice sounded distant.
I couldn’t answer.
My eyes stayed locked on the sentence.
*“Do not let her become Livia’s mother.””*
I read it again.
And again.
My mind refused to accept it.
Isabella had trusted Bianca.
At least, that was what I thought.
When Bianca entered our lives eighteen months after Isabella’s death, she had seemed like a miracle.
She wasn’t trying to replace Isabella.
She always said that.
“I could never replace Livia’s mother,” Bianca had told me during our first dinner together.
“I only want to be someone who loves her.””
I believed her.
I wanted to believe her.
Because raising a child alone was exhausting.
Because every night after Livia fell asleep, I sat in our empty house and wondered if I was failing her.
Because I missed having someone beside me.
Someone who understood the weight of being responsible for another human being.
Bianca arrived at the exact moment I was most vulnerable.
And I let her in.
“Did Isabella know something?”” I finally asked.
Matteo looked at me carefully.
“I don’t know.””
“You found this two weeks ago?””
“Yes.””
“And you waited until today?””
His expression tightened.
“I tried to tell you.””
“You tried?””
“You wouldn’t listen.””
I looked away.
The anger I felt toward him was easier than the anger I felt toward myself.
Because maybe he was right.
Maybe I had ignored every warning.
Maybe I had been so desperate for my family to feel whole again that I refused to see the cracks.
“Why didn’t you give me this earlier?””
Matteo sighed.
“Because I wasn’t sure what it meant.””
I looked back at him.
“What?””
“I found another thing with the letter.””
My stomach dropped.
“What thing?””
He reached into his pocket again.
This time, he pulled out a small flash drive.
“I found it in the same box.””
I stared at it.
“What is on that?””
“I don’t know.””
“Then why didn’t you open it?””
“Because it wasn’t mine.””
I almost laughed.
“Matteo, we’re talking about my dead wife warning me about the woman I’m about to marry.””
“I know.””
“Then why are we standing here?””
He handed it to me.
“Because I thought you deserved to see it yourself.””
I took the flash drive.
My wedding day had started with excitement.
With flowers.
With music.
With Livia running through the house in her little dress, asking if she looked like a princess.
Now I was standing in a hallway holding evidence that my future wife might have entered my life with a hidden agenda.
A voice suddenly came from behind us.
“Alessandro?””
I turned.
Bianca stood at the end of the hallway.
She had changed.
Not physically.
But something about her was different.
Her perfect wedding smile was gone.
Her eyes were sharp.
“You’re causing a scene,” she said.
I looked at her.
“Am I?””
She glanced at the envelope in my hand.
Then at Matteo.
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
“You found that.””
It wasn’t a question.
I felt my chest tighten.
“You know about this letter?””
Bianca didn’t answer.
That was enough.
“You knew Isabella wrote this.””
“Alessandro, you don’t understand.””
“No.””
I stepped closer.
“I understand perfectly.””
“You don’t.””
Her voice became urgent.
“She was angry. She was confused. She didn’t know everything.””
My heart pounded.
“What did she not know?””
Bianca looked around.
People were starting to notice us.
The wedding guests.
The staff.
Everyone.
She lowered her voice.
“Not here.””
I almost smiled.
Again.
Not here.
Everyone wanted secrets hidden today.
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You wanted this wedding to happen in front of everyone. So we’re going to talk here.””
Bianca’s jaw tightened.
“You’re humiliating me.””
I looked at her.
“My daughter was crying because of you.””
“She’s a child. She doesn’t understand—”
“Don’t.””
My voice stopped her.
“Do not use that excuse.””
For the first time, Bianca looked genuinely angry.
“You’re acting like I’m some monster.””
“I’m acting like a father.””
The words hit her.
She looked away.
Then she whispered:
“Is that what you think Isabella would want?””
My hands curled into fists.
“Don’t use her name.””
“Why?””
“Because you don’t get to.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You think she knew everything?””
I stepped closer.
“Tell me the truth.””
Silence.
“Who is Daniel?””
Her face went pale.
Again.
That name.
It meant something.
Before she could answer, Matteo interrupted.
“Who is Daniel, Bianca?””
She looked between us.
Then she did something I didn’t expect.
She laughed.
A quiet, bitter laugh.
“You really have no idea.””
My stomach twisted.
“No idea about what?””
She looked directly at me.
“About what Isabella did before she died.””
The hallway went silent.
I felt like the ground had shifted beneath me.
“What are you talking about?””
Bianca took a breath.
“She wasn’t the person you thought she was.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“She kept things from you.””
“No.””
“She lied to you.””
“Stop.””
My voice cracked.
But Bianca continued.
“You spent three years mourning someone who never told you the truth.””
I wanted to believe she was lying.
I wanted to believe she was manipulating me.
But there was one thing I couldn’t ignore.
The letter.
The letter from Isabella herself.
My wife had warned me about Bianca.
Why?
What had happened between them?
And why had Isabella left a message only to be found after her death?
I turned away from Bianca and walked toward the family lounge.
I needed to see my daughter.
I needed something real.
Something that hadn’t been twisted by secrets.
When I opened the door, Livia was sitting beside Rosalie.
She looked up immediately.
“Daddy.””
I forced a smile.
“Hey, princess.””
She studied my face.
Children always knew more than adults wanted them to.
“Are you sad?””
I sat beside her.
“A little.””
“Because of Bianca?””
I didn’t answer.
Livia looked down at her hands.
Then she whispered something.
Something that made my heart stop.
“Daddy…”
“Yes?””
“Bianca told me not to tell you.””
I froze.
“What did she tell you not to tell me?””
Livia’s eyes filled with fear.
“She said if I loved you, I would keep her secret.””
My entire body went cold.
“What secret?””
Livia looked toward the closed door.
Then she whispered:
“She said she was the reason Mommy’s last day was so terrible.””
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t breathe.
“What did she mean?””
Livia opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, the lights in the hallway suddenly flickered.
A second later, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman’s voice came through.
A voice I hadn’t heard in three years.
A voice I knew better than my own.
“Alessandro…”
My blood froze.
Because it was Isabella.
And then she said the words that destroyed everything I believed.
“Please don’t marry Bianca.””
The call went silent.
Then another voice whispered from the other end.
A man’s voice.
“Isabella, you shouldn’t have called him.””
The line disconnected.
I stared at my phone.
May you like
Because my dead wife had just called me.
And someone was standing beside her.
