The Mafia Don’s Graveyard Bride Chapter 09
Washington State. The San Juan Islands.
Morning fog rolled off the sea and crept past the corner where a small flower shop stood, carrying the briny wind with it.
I bent over a bunch of white daisies, trimming the stems. The old scars on my fingertips had long since healed—only a few faint traces remained.
I don’t go by Willa Shaw Moretti anymore.
Now I’m Evelyn Cole. A woman who runs a quiet little flower shop in a coastal town in the Pacific Northwest.
That name—along with the seven controlled years inside the Oyster Bay estate—was buried together in Westchester Eternal Memorial Park.
That grave is empty. But it holds the past I nearly didn’t survive.
When Dr. Vance realized something was wrong, she brought people to the estate and pulled me back from the edge.
But I refused to have anything more to do with Adrian. So Dr. Vance used everything in her power to help me fake my death and escape the cage I’d been locked in for seven years.
In the beginning, I couldn’t sleep through a single night. The sound of running water made me tremble.
Later, I learned to go to the grocery store by myself. Learned to cook myself a proper dinner. Learned that when I dreamed of my baby, I didn’t have to cry until dawn.
I still miss my baby.
But now, that missing no longer drags me down into the dark.
One afternoon, while sorting old newspapers to wrap flowers in, I spotted a familiar surname in the corner of the finance section—Moretti.
The article said the Moretti family had established a trauma relief foundation, dedicated to helping women who had suffered family control and the loss of a child. The funding was substantial.
Apparently, it had been named after the late Mrs. Moretti.
I stared at it for a long, long time.
In the end, I simply folded the newspaper shut and placed it in the recycling bin.
I turned and walked to the back of the shop, took a small bunch of freshly delivered white daisies from the cooler, and carefully trimmed the leaves.
Under my breath, I whispered:
“Baby, Mommy did a good job staying alive today, too.”
(The End)