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Chapter 6
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Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 9
The following morning, I called my attorney.“Proceed with the divorce.”Several weeks later, Adrian and I met at my attorney’s Manhattan office to sign the final uncontested affidavits. He had waived his right to contest the settlement and signed every remaining document before I arrived.We sat on opposite sides of the conference table without speaking.My attorney reviewed the papers, then looked at each of us.“Do both of you wish to proceed?”“Yes,” I said.Adrian lowered his eyes.“Yes.”The court entered the final judgment two weeks later.After leaving the attorney’s office, I placed my copies inside my bag.Adrian stopped several feet away.“Can I visit your mother’s grave?”His voice was careful.“I don’t expect you to come with me. I only want to apologize.”I raised my hand for a taxi.“She needed you while she was alive.”He went still.“You don’t need to visit her now.”The taxi pulled to the curb. I entered without looking back.My life in Boston gradually became ordinar
Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 8
ELENA’S POVAutumn arrived late in Boston.The city felt unfamiliar enough to let me breathe.On my first day at the new office, my supervisor asked why I had left New York after so many years.“I wanted somewhere new.”I wanted a city where no street carried memories of Adrian or Bianca, somewhere far from my mother’s grave and the nursery I had prepared for a child who would never use it.I rented a small apartment near the office and filled my days with reports, meetings, and long walks. At night, I unpacked one box at a time.I kept the baby’s memory box in the bedroom closet.The heartbeat player remained broken.I had no intention of returning to New York or seeing anyone from my former life.A week after I started work, I left the office after nine and found Adrian waiting beneath a streetlamp.“Elena.”I stopped.He looked thinner. His coat hung loosely from his shoulders, and exhaustion shadowed his face.I turned away. My Boston address had been included in the divorce filing
Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 7
ADRIAN’S POVAdrian did not remember leaving the hospital.When he returned to the estate, lights glowed behind the front windows.For one impossible second, hope rose inside him.“Elena?”He opened the door.Bianca hurried across the entrance hall and reached for him.“Adrian, you’re finally back.”He stepped away before she could touch him.Her expression faltered.“I came here because I was frightened. The guards said you left Long Island without telling anyone.”She began describing the tightness in her chest and the panic she had felt while waiting. In the past, the sight of her tears would have made Adrian reassure her. Now he could only see Elena’s ninety-nine messages and the cartoon cat waving beneath each one.Bianca glanced toward the portrait in the living room.“That photograph scared me. Why would Elena put something so upsetting in the center of the house?”Adrian looked at her.“Elena’s mother is dead.”Bianca lowered her eyes.“I know that now. I thought Elena was tryi
Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 6
ADRIAN’S POVAdrian’s knees struck the floor.He stared at the portrait on the wall. Elena’s mother had treated him like a son. She had cooked for him, defended him when Elena’s relatives distrusted the Moretti name, and said her daughter had never felt safer than when he was near.Now she was dead, and he had not known.“Mom.”The word broke in his throat.Any hope that the documents were false disappeared. Elena would never use her mother’s death to punish him.Adrian took out his phone and opened his conversation with Elena.He returned to the afternoon of her surgery and began reading.3:07 p.m.“Adrian, something is wrong. My stomach hurts. Can you come home?”His phone had answered immediately.“Got it.”A cartoon cat waved cheerfully beneath the words.3:21 p.m.“I’m bleeding. I called you, but you didn’t answer. Please tell me where you are.”Another automatic response followed.“Got it.”The same cat continued waving.Adrian’s breathing became shallow.At that time, he had bee
Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 5
ADRIAN’S POVAdrian’s private phone vibrated on the dining table.He had spent several days at the Long Island house with Bianca, expecting Elena to calm down as she always had before. In seven years, a quiet dinner and an apology had repaired every conflict between them. He believed this time would be no different.Bianca carried a small shopping bag into the room and placed it beside him.“I found something for Elena in town. Do you think she’ll like it?”Adrian glanced at the wrapped box.“She will.”He spoke with complete confidence.Elena never remained angry with him for long.He picked up his phone and noticed two images waiting in their conversation.For the past week, the automatic replies had kept their conversation looking active, although Adrian had not opened Elena's messages. He assumed she was still angry about Bianca staying in the nursery. If he answered now, they would have the same argument again. He would take Elena to dinner when Bianca was settled, give her whate
Ninety-Nine Messages, One Goodbye Chapter 4
After Adrian followed Bianca out, I gathered the scattered items alone.The heartbeat player would no longer turn on. I smoothed the creased ultrasound and returned it to the memory box with the baby’s identification bracelet.Less than half an hour later, my phone rang.“Is this Elena Moretti? Your mother has suffered an acute heart attack. She is being treated now. Please come immediately.”The light above the emergency room was already red when I reached the medical center.Mom’s doctor had warned me that her condition was complicated. If an emergency occurred, Dr. Russo, the head of the cardiac unit, needed to supervise her treatment.I stopped a nurse.“Where is Dr. Russo? He knows my mother’s entire case.”The nurse stiffened.“He was called to another emergency room.”“Who called him away?”She lowered her voice.“Don Moretti.”My body went cold.“Miss Bellini took too much sedative medication and then developed chest pain and difficulty breathing. Mr. Moretti ordered Dr. Russo
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