Carmen’s hands trembled violently as she stared at Matteo, her vision blurring with tears.
Her son. Her baby. Standing just feet away. Looking at her like she was a stranger.
“He doesn’t remember us,” she whispered, her voice shaking.
Matteo’s eyes—the same warm brown she had gazed into since the day he was born—were blank.
No fear. No love. Nothing. Just emptiness.
Carmen felt like she had been stabbed straight through the heart.
“Matteo, sweetheart,” she tried again, her voice breaking. “It’s me. It’s Mama. Look at me, baby.”
But Matteo didn’t react. Didn’t move. Didn’t even blink.
Marco’s jaw tightened, his grip on his gun shaking with barely controlled rage.
His son was right there. Yet he felt further away than ever. His chest burned with pure, unfiltered fury.
“Enough of this sht,”* Marco snarled, stepping forward. “Ella, let him go. Now.”
Ella simply smiled.
That same, infuriatingly calm smile.
“Oh, Marco,” she murmured, her voice silky smooth. “You still don’t understand, do you?”
Marco’s eyes darkened dangerously.
“Understand what?” he growled.
Ella turned back to Matteo, leaning down, her lips brushing against his ear.
She whispered something too soft to hear.
Matteo’s small shoulders tensed. He took a step back. Away from Marco. Away from Carmen.
And hid behind Ella.
Clinging to the fabric of her dress.
Carmen let out a quiet, broken sob.
“No,” she whispered, shaking her head violently. “No, no, no—”
Marco’s breathing turned ragged, his body going rigid.
His son. His flesh and blood. Hiding from him. Like he was the enemy.
“Matteo,” Marco said, his voice strained, desperate. “It’s Daddy. Look at me, son.”
Matteo didn’t. Didn’t move. Didn’t say a word. Just pressed his tiny fingers deeper into Ella’s dress.
And when Ella turned back to face Marco, her cold blue eyes locking onto his—
She smiled. But this time, it wasn’t mocking. It was haunted. Filled with something far more terrifying.
“Just like how I will never get my son back,” she whispered, her voice dripping with quiet, deadly certainty.
She tilted her head, her eyes glistening.
“You will never get yours back.”