An eerie atmosphere settled over the Corleone family’s manor.
Lisa was placed in the master bedroom suite… the room that had originally been meant to be Ron’s and my future bedroom.
After examining her, the doctor said she had only suffered minor abrasions and shock, but Ron insisted that she stay in bed and rest.
“Ron, Wendy will be safe, right?” she asked, clutching Ron’s hand, her eyes swollen and red. “This is all my fault… if I hadn’t insisted that she go with me to my piano lesson…”
“It’s not your fault.” Ron stroked her hair. “It’s Wendy’s fault… she shouldn’t have abandoned you when you were in danger.”
Those words spread through the family.
In less than six hours, everyone knew. The Don’s fiancée had escaped alone during the kidnapping, leaving behind his sister who the Don had just found.
Caitlin Corleone arrived at dawn on the third day.
She was Ron’s older sister, my closest friend since childhood.
She stormed straight from the airport into Ron’s study.
“Wendy would never abandon anyone,” that was the first thing she said. “Especially Lisa… she knows how important Lisa is to you.”
“People change,” said Ron.
“Wendy doesn’t.” Caitlin stepped closer to him. “Where is she?”
“She’s missing.” Ron turned away, his eyes were bloodshot. “Maybe she ran. Maybe the kidnappers took her away. Who knows?”
“You didn’t look for her?”
“I am looking!” Ron suddenly raised his voice. “The whole Sicily is looking for her! But it’s like she vanished into thin air! Who could ever find the Marino family’s daughter if she doesn’t want to be found?”
Caitlin stared at him for a long time, then asked softly, “Ron… have you ever considered that she might already be dead?”
The air froze.
Looking at Caitlin, I almost burst into tears.
I saw Ron’s fingers curling tightly, his knuckles turning white. But he shook his head, slowly and firmly.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s smart,” Ron said. “Smart enough to know how to survive in a situation like this. Smart enough…” He paused, his voice dropping even lower. “Smart enough to punish me this way.”
Caitlin frowned. “Punish you?”
“For Lisa.” Ron gave a bitter smile. “She is jealous of Lisa. She has been jealous ever since the day Lisa came back. She was jealous of how caring I am to Lisa. She is just too proud to admit it.”
I wanted to scream that it was not true. I had never been jealous of Lisa. I pitied her. I felt sorry for her for having lived away from her family for twenty-three years.
I wanted to say that I was even willing to be kind to her, because she was his sister.
But the dead have no voice.
Caitlin took a step back in disbelief, as if this was the first time she had known her brother.
“Ron Corleone, you’ve lost your mind. Wendy loves you enough to take a bullet for you, and you think she’d disappear out of jealousy?”
“Then why won’t she show herself?” Ron snapped back, his voice vibrating with suppressed fury. “If she’s still alive, if she’s innocent, why is she hiding? Why is she making me look like a fool, searching everywhere?”
“Maybe she can’t come out!” Caitlin raised her voice as well. “Maybe she’s injured! Maybe she’s locked up somewhere! Maybe she’s already…”
“Dead?” Ron cut in with a scoff. “Caitlin, stop the nonsense. Wendy isn’t that easy to kill. That is her trick. She wants me to be anxious. She wants my attention diverted from Lisa. I know her too well.”
He turned to face the window, and his back stiffened.
“When she’s done playing, she’ll come back and then…” He did not finish the sentence.
Though I knew exactly what he wanted to say.
‘Then, I’ll make her pay.’
How ironic.
I was already dead. Did it still matter how you planned to “make me pay”?
