Chapter 171

• Alberto's grip on the locket tightened as he opened it, his heart racing with anticipation. But what he found inside shook him to his core. Instead of a single picture of the woman Carlotta claimed was his mother, there were two images. The woman's picture remained, but the second one... Alberto's blood drained from his face as he realized it was the same man from the newspapers—the Mafia Lord.
• Memories flashed back to when Carlotta first showed him the locket years ago. She had used her thumb to cover the second picture, concealing the truth. But why? Why did she lie to him? Why did she hide the Mafia Lord's picture? What connection did she have to him? Had Carlotta been truthful about the locket's origins? Was the woman in the picture really his mother?
• Still clutching the journal, Alberto immediately opened it to the page where the locket had fallen out. To his surprise, he found additional entries, but they were dated and written in Italian. Fortunately for him, Carlotta had enrolled him in language classes, and he was well-versed in reading and speaking Italian, as well as Spanish and French.