Chapter 6 Paper Ghost

Today was the first day Aria went to the library, though nothing much happened.

The box was sitting on the edge of the bed when Aria returned from the library. No note or explanation. The lid was slightly open and the edge of a cloth sticking out. Aria approached slowly, uncertain who had left it or why now. She sat down and pulled the box onto her lap.

Inside were carefully arranged items she hadn't seen in years. Her mother's old scarf, a framed photo of them at a beach when she was five, a pair of earrings she vaguely remembered, and a worn leather-bound journal sealed with a thin elastic band. There was no dust, everything was clean and seemed untouched since her mother's death.

Her hands paused over the journal. It looked old but intact. She removed the band and opened the cover. On the first page, written in familiar cursive, was a name: Isla Romano.

Aria stared at it, trying to process what she was reading. That wasn't her mother's name. Her mother had been Isla Vale or so Aria had believed. She flipped the page. The handwriting continued in careful, detailed lines.

The entries began with dates, some from years before Aria's birth. She skimmed quickly as names that were mentioned weren't ones she recognized. A few had been crossed out. Others were circled in red ink. But one stood out.

SILVIO ROMANO.

The same surname, the same man she had heard mentioned in the meeting room. A powerful rival to Leon and it seemed that somehow, he's related to her late mother.

Aria read more carefully. Her mother's words described events Aria didn't understand at first. Mentions of family orders, marriage negotiations and betrayals. There was a clear tone of caution, even fear, though her mother's writing remained controlled. Aria flipped to the final pages. The entries became shorter and more rushed. A note on the second-to-last page caught her eye.

They want me gone. If anything happens, she must never know who I was to them and she must grow up free.

Aria stared at the sentence as her chest tightened. Her mother had lied or maybe protected her from something much larger than a broken marriage. She wasn't just married to a Mafia king now. She was the daughter of someone who had once belonged to the very world Aria was trying to understand.

She turned the pages again, going back to the start. Each date lined up with timelines she had never thought to question before. Her mother had changed her name, left the Romano family, and married Giovanni Vale. But if Silvio Romano was her blood relative, either father or uncle, maybe then Aria's connection to this world wasn't through marriage. It was through birth.

A knock interrupted her reading. She quickly closed the journal and shoved it under the bed before standing.

The door opened, and Anna stepped inside. She glanced at the now-closed box on the bed.

"You received the belongings earlier?"

"Yes," Aria said carefully.

"You'll be expected at lunch downstairs in two hours. Formal seating."

Aria nodded, not asking anything further.

Anna left without saying more.

Alone again, Aria sat down at the edge of the bed. Her hands were steady, but her thoughts were not. The information inside the journal changed everything. If Leon found out, would he use it against her? Would others see her as leverage? Or would they remove her before she became a problem?

She retrieved the journal again and read the next section in full. Her mother mentioned a man named Marco, described in softer language. Aria knew that name..... Marco De Luca. That was Leon's younger brother, the one who had died. Her mother had known him and that meant there had been a direct connection between the Romano and De Luca families, long before Aria was born.

She tried to follow the sequence of events, but several pages were missing, it seems they were torn. She flipped to the back and found two folded sheets tucked into the rear pocket. One was a family tree, partially completed, with branches leading back to Sicily. The name Isla Romano was listed under Silvio's lineage. The second sheet was a small map. It appeared to show part of the estate, though the markings were faint. A corridor, a door, and a location labeled south library wall.

Aria stared at it, trying to match the markings to what she had seen earlier during her one hour visit to the library. That room had several bookshelves, but she hadn't looked closely at the structure itself. Maybe the mark referred to a hidden space, or a passage. If her mother had marked it, it had to mean something.

She folded the papers again and slid them back into the journal. She placed it inside her closet behind a stack of folded sweaters, then shut the door. She just hoped whoever brought that box didn't read any of that stuff in that journal..

The lunch that followed was formal, quiet, and short. Aria sat beside Leon, but no conversation passed between them. The men at the table discussed business, routes, names, and partnerships. No one addressed her.

After the meal, Leon stood and left the room without looking back and Aria returned to her suite.

She spent the next hour organizing the box. She made note of anything that might hold additional information, but nothing else stood out. The earrings were simple. The scarf was familiar but plain. The photo gave no clues. Everything pointed back to the journal.

Later that evening, she asked Anna if she could visit the library again.

"Not tonight," Anna said. "You'll be escorted back tomorrow morning, an hour only..."

Aria nodded as she didn't push further.

That night, she lay awake reviewing the information. Her mother had once been Isla Romano, part of the very family that Leon viewed as an enemy. Marco De Luca, the dead brother, had crossed paths with her mother. Silvio Romano had tried to erase Isla's past. And now Aria, born from that silence, was caught in the aftermath.

She didn't know yet who else knew the truth. But she understood one thing clearly: her place in this house, in this marriage, and in this world was not an accident.

And whatever she could find next in that library could prove it.