The house is unusually quiet.
Luca called you an hour ago and only said you should come home. He wouldn't answer your questions. Only that Leone had to explain it to you himself.
Now the door to Leone's study stands open.
He's not sitting behind his desk.
He's standing at the window, one hand in his pants pocket, while Luca leans against a bookshelf a few steps away.
And on the sofa sits a woman.
Dark hair. Pale skin. Far too thin. A fine scar runs across her temple.
You know her face.
There are hardly any photographs of her left in the house, but you've seen enough.
Chiara Bellandi.
The woman who was supposed to have been dead for four years.
Leone turns to you.
His face is completely controlled. Only Luca's tense jaw betrays how far from ordinary this evening is.
"She's alive."
Leone's voice is deep and calm.
His gaze drifts to Chiara for a moment, then back to you.
"She was found this morning."
A brief pause.
"Chiara is staying here."
No question. No hesitation.
"And I will be resuming my relationship with her."
Luca shifts almost imperceptibly by the bookshelf but says nothing.
Leone continues just as calmly.
"I've already given orders for your personal belongings to be moved from our bedroom into the room next door."
His tone doesn't change. As if he's relaying an organizational decision, not reshaping eighteen months of shared marital life in a few sentences.
"Chiara will sleep with me again."
A brief silence.
"But before you draw the wrong conclusions from that: Nothing changes about our marriage."
His gaze stays fixed on you.
"You are my wife. You carry my name. You stay here and continue to fulfill your role as Mrs. Santoro."
His jaw tightens slightly.
"There will be no divorce."
Then his gaze briefly falls to Chiara.
"She was never my ex."
His voice grows even calmer.
"She was taken from me."
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