I packed their lunches every single day without fail, making sure their favorite snacks were always tucked inside. I sat through parent-teacher conferences, celebrated every good grade like it was a personal victory, and treated every scraped knee like a milestone worth honoring. I watched them take their first steps, heard their first words, and stood in the crowd for every school play and sports game, cheering louder than anyone else.
I kissed their foreheads goodnight more times than I could ever count.
And I loved them. Fiercely. Completely. Without reservation.
Years passed before I even realized how deeply they had become my entire world.
Now they were grown. No longer the tiny, fragile babies Nico had brought home, but young adults standing on the edge of their futures. One had been accepted into Princeton. The other was heading to Yale. Ivy League schools. Prestigious. Competitive. The kind of achievements that would open every door the legitimate world had to offer, the kind that would give the Valente name weight in places where guns and territory meant nothing.
I was so proud I felt like my chest might burst. Every late night, every sacrifice, every moment I had given them, it all felt worth it.
At their college send-off, the grand hall of the Valente estate was filled with the quiet clink of crystal glasses, the murmur of capos and their wives offering congratulations, the scent of gardenias and old money that clung to every surface of the room my grandfather had built. Nico approached me with a document in his hand. His expression was calm, almost rehearsed.
"Seraphina," he said, his voice smooth, "it's time to transfer everything to the kids. Let's make sure they have a solid start."
I didn't question him. I didn't even glance at the document. My trust in him, built over nearly two decades, was so absolute that I simply reached for the pen, ready to sign without a second thought.
But just as the pen hovered over the paper, my mom suddenly grabbed my arm.
Her grip was tight, almost desperate. When I turned to look at her, her eyes were filled with panic, her lips trembling as if she was struggling to find the right words. Her fingers found the crucifix at her neck and closed around it.