The next morning, the house was filled with her family's usual hustle and bustle. Her brothers had arrived early, like they always did, bringing with them their jokes, laughter, and chaotic energy. Francesco was talking business with Matteo, while Paolo teased Alessia about her new art supplies, joking that she was "one step away from becoming a full-fledged artist."

Alessia couldn't help but smile at his antics, even as she wondered what the future held. She felt safe in the warmth of her family, but there were still questions that lingered unanswered. She had distanced herself from them during the worst parts of her recovery, but now she was realizing that they had been right beside her the entire time.

"Everything okay?" Francesco asked, glancing up from his conversation with Matteo.

Alessia hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Just... thinking."

"Thinking is dangerous," Paolo joked, plopping beside her with a grin. "Don't let it get to your head."

She laughed softly but couldn't shake the feeling that something was brewing beneath the surface. As much as she had begun to reclaim her life, she still felt like a part of her past—her history with the family and Giovanni—had yet to be fully resolved. It was as if the pieces of her life were scattered, and she hadn't yet found a way to fit them together.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Luca walked into the room, his expression serious. "Alessia," he said, his voice calm but with an underlying urgency. "I need to talk to you."

She looked at him curiously, wondering what was on his mind. Luca was usually the one who kept to himself, more reserved than the others, but when he spoke, people listened.

"Is everything okay?" Alessia asked, standing up.

"It's about Dad," Luca replied, his brow furrowing. "I think he's hiding something from us. And it's not good."

Her heart skipped a beat. She had long suspected there was more to the story about her family's business than she had ever known. But the idea that her father might be involved in something darker was a revelation that unsettled her.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice low.

"I'm not sure yet," Luca said, "but I've been hearing things. Things that don't sit right. And I think we need to find out what's really going on."

Alessia felt a chill run down her spine. The past was never truly gone, was it? No matter how far she tried to distance herself from the shadows of her family's legacy, the darkness seemed to always find a way to catch up with her.

Over the next few days, Alessia's life took a sudden turn. Luca's suspicions about their father's involvement in the family business had not been unfounded. As they dug deeper into the matters that had been hidden for years, secrets began to surface, and they were darker than any of them had anticipated.

It wasn't just about the mafia—it was about betrayal, manipulation, and the depths of their father's involvement in a world that none of them had fully understood.

Alessia sat in the living room, staring at the papers in front of her. They had uncovered bank records, messages, and names, each leading them further into a tangled web of lies and deceit. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized the truth that had been hidden from her all this time.

Her family wasn't just involved in the mafia—they were entrenched in it. And their father, the man she had always looked up to, was at the centre of it all.

The weight of the discovery was heavy, suffocating. Alessia had thought that her past was something she could outrun and forge a new life free from the shadows of the mafia. But now, it seemed that the past was not finished with her. It was pulling her back in, whether she was ready or not.