Page 103 of Vows of Silence

“We don’t even know if she’s alive,” Marco muttered from near the window. His words cracked halfway through the sentence.

“Don’t say that!” my mother screeched. “I would know if she were dead. I would know! I would feel it! I would! Tell him, Vittorio! Tell him our baby isn’t dead!”

Dad lifted his head slowly, and for a moment I simply stared at him, trying to work out why he looked so different. At first I blamed exhaustion. That seemed like the obvious explanation.

Then I looked closer.

My father had always felt untouchable to me. Larger than life. The sort of man who walked into a room and immediately took control of it without even trying. When I was little, I genuinely believed he could fix anything. Broken toys. School problems. Family arguments. It didn’t matter what it was. Dad always knew what to do. He had every situation in hand.

The man sitting behind the desk now looked as though life had finally caught up with him. The lines around his eyes seemed deeper than I remembered. His shoulders no longer sat quite as straight, and the confidence that had always surrounded him seemed to have worn away somehow. It wasn’t simply exhaustion. I recognised exhaustion. I’d seen it countless times growing up when business kept him working late into the night.

This felt different.

He looked like a man carrying a weight he could no longer put down.

“She’s alive.” The certainty in his voice caught me off guard.

“How could you possibly know that?” Marco barked. “You let her be taken from us, Dad. You left her with just one guard in her car. You got us involved with Adrien fucking Vescari, who is currently trying just that little bit too hard to prove he’s a heartbroken man in search of his fiancé. I’m not buying a word of it. So tell me—how the fuck do you know she’s alive?”

“I just do.”

“Then do something,” Marco barked, turning to face my dad. “Do what mother is begging for and put some of that fortune to good use. Hell, takemyfucking share of it. I don’t want it if it means Isabelle isn’t here to benefit from it! If you’re so certain she’s alive, why areyounot on every news station giving interviews like Adrien is? Why does he seem to care more than you do?”

The tension in the room immediately sharpened.

My mother lowered herself into one of the chairs without taking her eyes off either of them, as though she was too exhausted to intervene but too terrified to look away.

Marco walked over and planted both hands on the edge of the desk. “You’re sitting here acting like there’s nothing else we can do. I’m not buying it.”

“I don’t have the money for a large-scale investigation!” My father gritted, embarrassment colouring his cheeks.

“Bullshit!” Marco roared, making even me flinch, and I wasn’t in the room.

My dad probably wasn’t lying though. My mind flashed back to the conversation with Adrien, discussing my mother’s spending habits and the second mortgage on the house.

“You’re hiding something. I know you are,” Marco snapped. “When I find out what it is, I can assure you, you’ll be very fucking sorry if your secrets have hindered Isabelle’s return.”

My dad sighed heavily. “Stop being dramatic, Marco. We’ve done everything we can. What possible reason could I have for not wanting my only daughter returned home?”

“Possibly the same reason that had you throwing her out of the house in the first place and into the Vescari’s arms.”

“I didn’t throw her out! Isabelle was willingly marrying—”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“Marco—”

“No,” the interruption was immediate. His voice cracked beneath the anger, and suddenly he looked less like the older brother who spent half his life irritating me and more like someone desperately trying to stop his family from falling apart.

“You know something. And I’m not going to rest until I find out what it is. If I have to speak to Adrien myself, I’ll fucking do it.”

“Marco—” my mum tried to intervene, resting her hand on his arm. He shook her off and scowled down at her.

“Don’t even get me started on you. I can’t fucking bear to look at either of you. I’ll find Isabelle myself, and when I do, I’ll make sure neither of you get close enough to harm her again!”

He stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. And then I was left with just my mum and dad.

And I felt something unpleasant twist inside my chest.