The sky above Palermo was the color of wet stone, heavy and gray, as Aria stood before the crumbling villa that once belonged to her father. The house loomed over the sea like an unspoken confession, its cracked windows reflected the waves below, its empty halls whispering stories too old to forget. She hadn't been here since she was a child. Back then, the gates had seemed enormous, the gardens alive. Now, everything felt smaller, quieter, as if time had folded in on itself.
Luca had wanted to come with her, but she told him no. This was something she had to face alone. The truth about her father's death had been a constant shadow, the unspoken wound that shaped her choices, her fear, even her love. Now, with the last battles fought and her future finally her own, she needed answers. She needed to look the past in the eye and end it once and for all.
