Missing for Twenty Years, I Found My Mafia Father in a Nightclub Chapter 10
Once the Family council officially confirmed myÂ
bloodline and inheritance rights, no one daredÂ
question my identity to my face again.Â
When Vincent took me to dinner at Carbone, heÂ
apologized with complete sincerity.Â
“Little Star, this was my fault. I’ve made everythingÂ
clear to Bianca. She will no longer be allowed to useÂ
the Moretti name. I’ll give her enough money toÂ
live on, but she will never be allowed near you.Â
again.”Â
“If I had cut ties with her the moment I recognizedÂ
you, you wouldn’t have suffered everything thatÂ
came after.”Â
Looking at the exhaustion on his face, I suddenlyÂ
felt tears sting my eyes.Â
I believed those twenty years had not been easyÂ
him either.Â
Maybe it was time for both of us to let go of theÂ
forÂ
past.Â
That weekend, Vincent said he wanted to take meÂ
somewhere.Â
The car left Long Island and eventually stoppedÂ
outside Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.Â
He took two bouquets of white roses from theÂ
trunk.Â
“Let’s visit your mother. Once she knows you’reÂ
home, she can finally be at peace.”Â
I paused before following him.Â
We walked along a quiet path until we reached.Â
Isabella’s grave.Â
Vincent crouched and placed the white rosesÂ
beside the headstone.Â
“Isabella, Little Star came to see you.”Â
I knelt beside him and gently wiped the dust fromÂ
her photograph.Â
“Mom, I’m home.”Â
Wind swept through the trees, sending the leaves.Â
rustling overhead.Â
As I spoke those words, I remembered the home weÂ
had shared twenty years ago.Â
I remembered my mother’s smile whenever sheÂ
looked at me and the words she had always said.Â
“You’re home now. That’s all that matters.”Â
Vincent dropped to his knees beside me andÂ
pressed his forehead against the headstone, hisÂ
shoulders shaking uncontrollably.Â
Through his tears, he said, “Isabella, I didn’t lie toÂ
you.”Â
“I really found her.”Â
As we left the cemetery, he wiped away his tears.Â
and struggled to regain his composure.Â
‘Little Star, Dad will make you chicken soupÂ
tonight.”Â
I gently took his hand.Â
“Let’s go home.”Â
That evening, he spent a long time working in theÂ
estate’s kitchen.Â
I leaned against the doorway and watched himÂ
prepare beef ribs for the oven, an apron tiedÂ
around his waist.Â
Twenty years ago, I had stood outside the kitchenÂ
and waited for him just like this.Â
Twenty years later, I was once again waiting for myÂ
father to make dinner.Â
The next day, Bianca came to the estate.Â
She wore a black dress without the Moretti crest,Â
and without makeup, her badly swollen eyes wereÂ
impossible to hide.Â
She and Vincent spoke in the sitting room for aÂ
long time.Â
In the end, he instructed one of his advisers toÂ
hand her a cashier’s check.Â
Bianca gripped it tightly.Â
Before leaving, she turned and looked at me.Â
“You won. From now on, he’s only your father.”Â
I did not answer.Â
I simply watched her walk through the estate.Â
gates.Â
Vincent closed the door behind her, visiblyÂ
relieved.Â
Then he turned to me and smiled.Â
“Come on. Dad’s making you dinner.”Â
I walked over to him.Â
After hesitating for a moment, I finally wrappedÂ
my arms around him.Â
He went still for a beat, then wrapped his armsÂ
tightly around me.Â
“Little Star, welcome home.”Â
Sunlight poured through the windows and spreadÂ
across the wooden floor.Â
The kitchen smelled of roasted meat andÂ
rosemary.Â
Standing in my father’s arms, I believed for theÂ
first time that the fear that had ruled my life forÂ
twenty years would never control me again.Â
Once again, I remembered the lullaby he hadÂ
written for me.Â
“Sleep now, my little star. Daddy is right here. EvenÂ
when morning comes, I won’t go away…”Â
At last, I no longer had to wonder where my fatherÂ
was.Â
I no longer had to worry whether he stillÂ
remembered me.Â
Because I had finally found him.
