A Secret She Took to the Grave

NARRATED BY ALESSIA.......

At the cemetery, I watched them shovel dirt over my mother's coffin — a woman who left me shattered with her final confession.

Nestor approached in his impeccable suit and dark glasses.

He walked toward me and wrapped his arms around me, but his embrace was cold, offering none of the warmth that actually comforts a person. And I'd be a hypocrite to ask for something I couldn't give him either.

My father stood off to one side with my mother's nurse, and beside her a young woman who kept staring in my direction.

I tried to ignore the way it felt to see them both holding on to my father, but he looked up, caught my eye, and walked over to hug me.

"We'll get through this, sweetheart."

He held me tight.

I nodded through my tears, knowing this wasn't the moment to ask him — especially with the nurse Mara and her daughter approaching and Nestor standing right beside me. I kept it to myself.

"I'm so sorry, Alessia. Your mother was very much loved at the hospital."

"How? She spent most of her time in a coma. How could she be loved when she was always alone? She died alone."

"Alessia, don't say that."

My father scolded me, and the nurse gave me an uncomfortable look.

"It's alright, I understand your pain. My husband passed away and I know what it feels like to resent everything around you. But when I found out I was expecting a beautiful daughter, everything turned to joy."

Mara said it, and her daughter — who had to be around twenty — looked me up and down.

"How rude of me. Alessia, this is my daughter Mina. Mina, this is Alessia, Alex's daughter."

She said his name with tenderness.

"Hi, Alessia. I hope we'll get along."

She said it and I watched them finish covering the spot where they'd buried my mother, knowing they'd just buried a secret she took to the grave.

We drove home in silence — just my father and me.

"You know your mother has been in a coma for years, and I devoted myself completely to her."

He began, and I cut him off.

"She woke up at the very end and spoke to me —"

"You imagined it, Alessia. Your mother had been in a coma for years. The doctors saw no improvement."

"I'm telling you I saw her eyes open. She grabbed my hand and spoke to me."

"Maybe, but she couldn't have spoken to you. There'd be no way."

"She did. And she told me that —"

"If this is about what happened that day, I don't want to hear it. You imagined it. You're hurting, the memories and everything you went through — your mind heard what it wanted to hear."

"That's not what happened."

I told him, and he slammed the brakes so hard I pitched forward, throwing my hands out to keep from hitting the dash.

"Alessia, you need to move on with your life. None of what happened was your fault. That miserable bastard was just an idiot who tricked you and left. He abandoned you. He's probably dead or still some pathetic nobody with ten kids."

"I was the one who wronged him, Dad. I was going to tell him that day — I swear I was going to — but I didn't expect Nestor to show up, and you all just made everything worse."

"You went looking for him and the coward ran. He was done with you."

"I said horrible things to him. I was just confused. I didn't know how to handle it — everything spiraled out of my control."

"Enough, Alessia. What's done is done. You don't owe him anything and he doesn't owe you anything either. Time passed. He's probably rebuilt his life. Now do the same. In a week you'll marry Nestor and together we'll form a partnership to start the family business back up. Travel. Clear your head. Just a few months — the faster we get back on our feet, the faster you can divorce and live however you want."

"What about the nurse? Mara?"

"What about her?"

"That's exactly what I'm asking you."

I said it straight-faced while he drove.

"She was there for me when I needed it most. That doesn't mean I'm bringing her into the house, princess."

He said it, and when we arrived I got out fast — but stopped when I saw a car pull up nearby. Mara and her daughter stepped out.

"We have nowhere to go. We were evicted."

She said it through tears, and my father looked in my direction. I ignored him and walked inside.

And I kept telling myself that what I heard was real — and that my only focus now was finding him, no matter what it took.

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