Chapter 3

The noise at the door woke Michael.

The moment he saw Bella, he stood and walked toward her. The tenderness in his voice was impossible to hide.

Bella gently eased him back into his chair and said softly, “Sit. I was worried about you, so I came to check on you.”

“You definitely haven’t been eating properly. Look what I brought.”

She opened the food container. Inside were all of Michael’s favorite dishes.

I was already dead, yet watching them still hurt. It felt as if someone had plunged a knife into my chest and twisted it.

I wanted to cry. But ghosts did not have tears. All I could do was float there, helpless, and watch them love each other.

Just then, someone knocked on the door, “Don, there’s a package for you.”

“Leave it here.” Bella wiped the softness from her face, stepped forward, and took the package. After glancing at it, she handed it to Michael with a puzzled look, “That’s strange. There’s no sender.”

Michael took it and checked the label. He found it odd too, but did not think much of it. He cut the package open with a small knife.

Something fell out. A silver necklace. It carried the metallic stench of old blood. The pendant was a carved Sicilian blue stone, its surface stained dark red and brown.

Michael had seen too much blood to react strongly. But Bella turned pale at once. She threw herself into his arms and screamed: “Ah! That’s horrible!”

She looked so frightened, so fragile, that Michael immediately softened. He wrapped an arm around her and murmured comfortingly.

Her scream drew Tom from the next room.

He pushed open the door, about to ask what had happened, but stopped when he saw Bella trembling in Michael’s arms and the bloodstained necklace lying on the floor.

Michael patted Bella’s back, “Don’t be scared. It’s probably just some sick joke. Nothing serious.”

“You should go home first. I’ll have Luca take you.”

Bella seemed to want to say something. But when she met Michael’s eyes, she swallowed it.

I had to admit it. She understood Michael too well. She knew exactly when to speak and when to stop.

After Luca took Bella away, Tom finally spoke: “So that’s Bella?”

“Yeah.” Michael crouched and picked up the pendant, rubbing the blue stone between his fingers. His eyes darkened.

That necklace had been mine. Michael and I had bought it at an antique auction in Milan during our third year together. Our initials were engraved inside the pendant. I had worn it against my skin every day. I had never once taken it off.

I floated beside him, suddenly filled with hope. He was going to recognize it. He was going to remember. He was going to realize the dead woman was me.

But then he spoke. And his words poured over me like ice water.

“This is real human blood. Not fake blood.” He had not recognized it. He had not recognized the necklace we had chosen together.

Maybe he had held that back earlier because Bella was there and he did not want to scare her.

I felt so wronged it hurt.

I had overestimated myself. And I had overestimated him. I thought he still remembered the years we had shared. But he had already forgotten me. So of course, he had forgotten the necklace too. The necklace that had once meant everything.

Tom leaned in, alert, “Could this be connected to the dock case?”

Michael said nothing. His silence was answer enough.

Soon, Tom called a meeting with the family’s core members. When everyone arrived, his voice was grim: “Don received a package just now. Inside was a necklace stained with human blood. We suspect it is connected to the Long Island dock case.”

The moment the photo of the necklace appeared on the screen, whispers broke out around the room.

Tom continued, “Initial testing confirms the blood is human. The DNA sample has been sent to the lab. We suspect the blood belongs to the female victim found at the dock.”

The room fell silent.

No one had expected someone to be bold enough, or deranged enough, to send a bloodstained necklace to the Don of the Corleone family.

Michael sat to the side, his expression heavy.

From the moment the package arrived, he had sensed something was wrong. How did the sender know his private address? This was the family estate. Other than his parents, Bella, me, and a few core members, no outsider should have known this place.

He rubbed his aching temples, looking exhausted. With his eyes closed, he listened as Tom gave orders.

“Two new tasks. Tech team, trace the package. Lab team, compare the blood on the necklace with the victim’s sample. Report immediately once you have results.”

Tom was about to dismiss everyone when one member nervously raised a hand, “Don, Tom, I have an idea.”

Everyone turned to him. Michael opened his eyes and nodded for him to speak.

“That necklace is from Capell Antique Auction House in Milan. Every item sold there has a detailed buyer record. If we get the archive, we can find out who bought it.”

Hope flared inside me. As long as they went to Capell and saw my name, they would know. They would learn the victim was me. They would see Bella for what she was. They would avenge me.

Tom looked around and was about to assign someone when Luca suddenly raised his hand: “I’ll go! I’ll check the buyer records!”

Tom shook his head, “You have other work. This isn’t your task.”

Luca had no choice but to lower his hand. In the end, Michael sent one of his trusted men with the member who had suggested the idea. The suggestion had come from him, so he was the right person to go. And Michael’s man would be there to make sure nothing went wrong.