Rain poured over them as they lay on the soaked grass, gasping for air.
Elena's hands trembled — from cold, from fear, from everything they had just seen.
Daniel pushed himself up first, scanning their surroundings.
"We're on the north ridge," he said, breathing hard. "Near the old Bellini vineyard."
Elena sat up slowly.
The storm blurred everything, but one thing was clear—
They had made it out.
Alive.
But not safe.
"We need to tell someone," Elena said, her voice shaking.
Daniel looked at her.
"And say what? That one of the most powerful families in town buried a murder and ran an underground operation for decades?"
Elena's jaw tightened.
"It's the truth."
"And we have what to prove it?" Daniel asked gently. "A flooded tunnel, a hidden chamber no one can reach now, and a story people won't want to believe?"
The words stung.
Because they were right.
The evidence was disappearing beneath water and stone.
Elena clutched the rusted pendant still in her hand.
Lucia's pendant.
"We have this," she said quietly.
Daniel nodded.
"And the tape."
"And the records," Elena added.
"And Bellini's confession," Daniel finished.
Elena looked up at him sharply.
"He admitted everything."
Daniel shook his head slightly.
"Not in a courtroom. Not in front of witnesses."
Silence fell between them, broken only by thunder.
For the first time, Elena understood the real weight of what they were facing.
Truth wasn't enough.
It had to be proven.
And believed.
Headlights suddenly cut through the rain.
Both of them froze.
A car approached along the narrow dirt road.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Daniel's voice dropped.
"That wasn't random."
The car stopped a few meters away.
The engine turned off.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then the door opened.
A figure stepped out into the rain.
Tall.
Still.
Watching them.
Elena's heart began to pound again.
"Daniel…" she whispered.
The figure moved closer.
Not rushing.
Not threatening.
Just walking toward them with quiet purpose.
As the lightning flashed across the sky—
Elena finally saw the face.
And her breath caught.
Because this person—
Was supposed to be gone.