All Chapters of The Silence Between Our Vows: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Zara stood outside the house, staring at the black glove in her hand.The night was silent.Too silent.A few seconds ago, she had been surrounded by people who claimed to know the truth about her life.Now, somehow, she felt more alone than ever.She turned the glove over.Old leather.Worn at the edges.A tear across the right palm.And beneath the tear, a faint scar on the skin of the hand that had worn it.The same scar Leonardo had described.Her heart raced.“Zara.”Adrian’s voice came from behind her.She didn’t turn.“It’s his.”“Whose?”“The man Leonardo was talking about.”Adrian came closer.“You don’t know that.”“The scar.”“It could be someone else.”She finally looked at him.“How many people do you think walk around with a scar in exactly the same place?”Adrian took the glove from her.He examined it carefully.“There’s something inside.”Zara frowned.“What?”He turned the glove over and shook it.Something small fell into his palm.A tiny brass button.Zara stared a

The door opened with a slow, metallic groan.Nobody moved.For a moment, Zara thought the sound was coming from somewhere deeper in the tunnel, but then she saw it.A narrow door had opened behind them.Darkness waited on the other side.Alessandro stared at it.His face had lost what little color remained.“Who is behind that door?” Adrian asked.Alessandro didn’t answer.Zara kept her eyes on him.“My grandfather?”Alessandro finally looked at her.“Yes.”The word landed heavily.Zara’s fingers tightened around the photograph Eva had given her.“You told me your father was dead.”“He is.”“Then how…”“He died twenty one years ago.”Zara frowned.“Then why are you afraid?”Alessandro looked toward the open doorway.“Because some men die once.”He paused.“Others leave something behind.”A faint sound came from the darkness.Footsteps.One.Two.Three.Everyone instinctively moved closer together.Daniel stepped in front of Zara.Leonardo reached inside his jacket.Adrian pulled Zara

The baby cried again.A thin, desperate sound that seemed to travel through the walls.Zara stood frozen.For a moment, her mind refused to accept what she was hearing.There was no baby here.There couldn’t be.Yet the cry came again.Closer.Louder.Adrian reached for her hand.“Zara.”She barely heard him.“That sounds like me.”Nobody corrected her.Because everyone in the room knew it.The same frightened cry.The same sharp, breathless rhythm.Daniel looked toward the wall.“She used to cry like that.”Zara turned to him.“You said you know the woman on the phone.”Daniel swallowed.“I do.”“Who is she?”He looked at Isabella.“I need to tell her.”Isabella nodded slowly.“You do.”Daniel turned back to Zara.“Her name is Clara.”Zara frowned.“Who is Clara?”“She worked for your mother.”Isabella’s expression changed.“She wasn’t supposed to be involved.”“She was,” Daniel said.“More than you knew.”Zara’s stomach tightened.“What did she do?”Daniel took a breath.“She gave y

The gunshot tore through the estate.Zara flinched.Adrian pulled her against him instinctively, shielding her with his body.“Everyone down!”Another shot echoed above them.Dust rained from the ceiling.Gabriel grabbed Eva’s old files and shoved them into the nearest box while Matteo pulled Isabella behind one of the stone pillars.Leonardo had already drawn his weapon.“There’s someone upstairs.”Daniel looked toward the ceiling.“How many?”“Don’t know.”Alessandro stared at the doorway.“It’s not one person.”Zara looked at him.“How do you know?”“Because the first shot was a warning.”A third shot exploded.This one sounded closer.The old telephone fell from the desk and smashed against the floor.Zara stared at it.Clara.She was still on the other end when the gunfire started.“Clara.”She reached for the phone.Adrian stopped her.“Don’t.”“She could be in danger.”“So could you.”“She knows what’s happening.”“And whoever is shooting knows that too.”Zara pulled her hand a

The passage narrowed as they moved deeper beneath the Bellini estate.Zara kept one hand against the cold stone wall and the other wrapped around Adrian’s. She could hear everyone behind them; the uneven footsteps, the occasional whisper, the sharp breathing of people who had spent too many years running from the same secret.Ahead, Rafael carried an old brass lantern Clara had found inside the passage. Its weak flame threw trembling shadows across the walls.“We’re close,” Rafael said.“Close to what?” Zara asked.“The chapel.”Zara frowned. “There’s a chapel under the estate?”“There used to be.”“Used to be?”Rafael glanced over his shoulder. “The estate above ground has been rebuilt more times than you can imagine. Rooms were demolished. Walls were moved. Entire sections disappeared from official records.”“Of course they did,” Zara muttered.Adrian squeezed her hand.She looked at him.For the first time since entering the tunnels, his face softened.“You okay?”Zara almost laugh