Lahat ng Kabanata ng Blood and Badge : Kabanata 71 - Kabanata 80

Geneva, SwitzerlandHours after the bankThe hotel where they were staying was anonymous, gray, just as they needed it to be.Elena sat on the edge of the bed, holding the photograph of Dante with Di Stefano. She had been staring at it for an hour, trying to find an explanation, an angle, a lie other than the one her eyes saw.Dante was at the window, his back to her, looking out at the street."Why didn't you tell me?" Elena asked."Because there's nothing to say. It's a setup. Di Stefano framed me.""How? When?""I don't know. But I never worked for him. Never.""Then why are you in that photo? Why are you smiling?"Dante turned around."Do you think I could smile next to a man who killed your sister? Who destroyed my father?" What ruined the lives of everyone we love?Elena felt the blow.No. I don't think so.Then what is it?Please help me understand. Because if I don't, this doubt is going to destroy us.Dante sat down next to her.That photo has to be from before all of this. B

Villa Isabella, Sabine MountainsSix months after Riccardo's captureWinter had painted the mountains white.Elena was in the library, reviewing Sofia's documents once more. She wasn't looking for anything in particular. She just needed to feel her close, in those long, silent afternoons where the past weighed more heavily than the present.Dante came in with two cups of tea.Thinking?Always.About what?About my father. About whether he'll ever come back.Do you want him to come back?I don't know. But my mother does. And that's enough.Dante sat down beside her.Love is sometimes stronger than resentment.I know. But it hurts.It always hurts.Bruno came closer and rested his head in her lap. Outside, the snow continued to fall.The CallThat night, Elena's phone rang.It was a number I didn't recognize.Elena?The voice was weak, tired, but unmistakable.Dad?Yes. I'm in Rome. I need to see you.What happened?I can't tell you over the phone. But it's important. Can I come to the

Villa Isabella, Montes SabinosTwo years after Carla's weddingTime had passed, as always, without asking permission.Elena was in the library, organizing the documents Carla had left behind after moving. The house was quieter now. Carla's children came over on weekends, filling the place with laughter and running around. Valentina had married a baker from the village and lived a few kilometers away. Antonio and Andrea still argued about soccer on the terrace.Matteo was no longer a child. He was fifteen, his voice changed, his gaze serious, like someone who had seen too much. He spent his afternoons reading or walking with a new dog, a young Labrador named Leo who had come to fill the void left by Bruno.Dante had aged, but his eyes remained the same. Elena sometimes saw him gazing at the horizon, as if waiting for something. Or someone."What are you thinking about?" she asked him one afternoon.Because peace is fragile.Do you think someone will come and break it?I don't know. But

Villa Isabella, Sabine MountainsTen Years LaterAutumn painted the mountains red and gold.Elena was in the garden, pruning the roses that were now blooming beside the graves of Bruno and Leo, the Labrador who had been Matteo's faithful companion for a decade. The dog had died of old age, surrounded by those who loved him, like Bruno before him.Dante approached with two cups of tea. His pace was slower now, his gray hair more visible, but his eyes were still the same."What are you thinking about?""That time passes too quickly.""But also that we lived well."Elena smiled. "Yes. That too."They sat together on the stone bench, where they had shared so many silences and words.Matteo, now a thirty-year-old man, lived in Rome with his wife and their young daughter, whom they had named Sofia. She came on weekends, filling the village with laughter and running.Little five-year-old Sofia chased a butterfly while her mother watched from the terrace.Elena watched her, her heart full.Li

Villa Isabella, Montes SabinosTwenty Years LaterThe garden was in full bloom.The red roses Elena had planted decades ago now formed a thick, fragrant wall bordering the driveway. The tall, dark cypress trees swayed in the wind like silent sentinels. The villa, witness to so many wars and so many peaces, seemed to be at rest at last.Elena sat on the stone bench, the same one where she had so often shared silences with Dante. Now she was alone.Dante had died the previous winter. A quick heart attack, without suffering. They found him in his favorite armchair in the library, an open book in his lap and a cup of cold coffee in his hand. Elena had cried, but she had also smiled. She had had time. She had had love. She had had everything she never thought she deserved.Matteo, now 45, had moved to the villa with his family. His wife, Clara, tended the garden. His children, Sofia and Bruno, ran through the hallways just as he had so many years before. Little Elena, the youngest, was lea