Chapter 217: My mother

It was the thing that had been worrying Aria all night, sitting quietly underneath everything else, the fear that she would have to smile at the man who had killed her parents, forgive him, because he is her best friend’s father, and because Aria loved her so much she might do it anyway. That would have been very hard to do.

"Besides, you have your own money," Aria went on, brighter now, "and you have my uncle’s money as well, we can tell him to transfer all of the Kessler company over to your name."

Sienna shook her head slowly.

"Come on," Aria said, sitting up a little, some of her old energy coming back into her voice. "He needs to be punished for lying to you, and as a woman, you need security. I mean, you have money, but still,"

She kept talking, excited now, listing reasons, but Sienna only smiled and let the words pass over her, because underneath the smile she was holding something back.

As much as she wanted nothing to do with Don Konstantin, as much as she now knew her father was a monster, some small part of her wished neither of those things were true. It’s a thought she could not put down, no matter how many times she tried, the maybes, that maybe, just maybe, her father was the other twin, the other Ivanov brother it was entirely plausible.

And under that thought was another one, sharper, harder to look at directly a need to know what had happened to her mother. She had searched the internet, and it had given her nothing, no records. It was as though everything was wiped clean, as if her mother had never existed on paper. And only one person might know the truth.

But looking at the relief on Aria’s face, the way her shoulders had finally loosened, Sienna could not bring herself to say any of this out loud. She could not tell her that some part of her wanted to speak with the Don, not for revenge, not for money, but because she needed to know if her mother was alive.

"What are you thinking about?" Aria asked, the silence stretched too long.

Sienna did not answer right away. She looked down at her own hands resting on the desk, at the small blue light from the screen falling across her fingers, and for a moment she only breathed. In, then out slowly.

"Ah," she finally whispered. It was more like the sound a person makes when they are trying to decide whether to open a door they have kept closed for a long time.

Aria did not push, she simply waited, watching her friend’s face, the way you watch someone standing at the edge of something, giving them the room to step forward on their own.

"I know you, Sienna," Aria said gently, after a while. "Something is on your mind."

Sienna let out a long breath and turned her chair a little, so she was facing Aria fully now, her voice was almost careful, like she was handling something fragile.

"My mother," she said. "I keep wondering if she’s alive or not and what might have happened to her?" She paused, and her eyes moved away, somewhere past Aria, somewhere far off.

"I searched everything I could find on her, and there was nothing, not one record. And the thought just keeps bothering me. It won’t leave me alone."

The room was quiet for a moment. Outside, the dog Blossom barked once and went silent again.

Aria leaned forward slowly, resting her elbows on her knees, her eyes narrowing the way they always did when a puzzle was forming in front of her. "That tells us something," she said.

"No, it doesn’t," Sienna said, shaking her head. But even as she said it, some small part of her was not so sure.

"Think about it," Aria said, and now she was sitting up straighter, her tiredness pushed aside for the moment by the shape of an idea taking hold in her mind.

"Why would someone go to such lengths to hide the existence of a dead person?" She let the question sit there for a second before answering it herself.

"If the invisible shadow hacker can’t find any information on a person, it only means one thing. The person is alive. And someone, somewhere, is working very hard to make sure she stays hidden."

Sienna looked at her for a long moment, and slowly, a smile spread across her face, small at first, then wider, the first real smile that had reached her eyes all night. "Yes, girl," Aria added softly. "Your mother is alive."

"And that also means two things," Aria went on, holding up two fingers, counting them off one by one, her old sharpness fully back now.

"Either she loves your father so much that she was willing to stay hidden, so the Don’s enemies don’t come after her the way they came after you. Or..." she paused here, letting the weight of the second option settle in the room, "the Don is holding her captive."

Sienna laughed, a short, tired laugh, but a real one. She had always loved the way Aria’s mind worked, the way it turned a small strange fact over and over until it found the shape hiding inside it.

"What," Aria said, half smiling herself now, though something serious sat underneath it. "It could be true. I hope your mother is alive, Sienna. And if she’s being held captive, then we have to save her from your father. I don’t know how, but we have to find a way."

"Aria, that’s ridiculous," Sienna said, shaking her head. "If she’s alive, why hasn’t she found me? Why hasn’t she looked for me?" She paused, and a different worry crossed her face, one that had teeth in it. "And if she’s held captive, how do I save her without the Don knowing who I am?"