Miracles were never something Jessica's mother believed in. To her, they were merely fairy tales concocted by men who had nothing but hope. She firmly believed that extraordinary events didn't happen out of the blue without mortal effort and hard work. This conviction drove her to handle her dirty work personally, always taking matters into her own hands to ensure things went according to plan. There was much she had kept hidden from her daughter, not only now that Jessica had lost her memory but also before, when she knew her true identity. Mrs. Hayman's schemes had always been self-serving rather than for Jessica's benefit. However, this truth would never come to light, as she was still Jessica's mother and believed she alone knew what was best for her daughter.
Now, Mrs. Hayman inhaled deeply, trying to convince herself that what she was seeing wasn't real, that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
"It cannot be," Mrs. Hayman whispered, her voice trembling.
She nearly lost her balance as she watched the scene unfolding on the screen before her. Who would have thought that the demons of her past would come barging into her life, threatening to steal the one investment she had been cultivating for the past 24 years? Jessica's accident and subsequent memory loss had seemed like a second chance granted by fate, an opportunity to redeem herself and make things right. Mrs. Hayman had seized that opportunity wholeheartedly, ensuring she trained Jessica to the best of her abilities. However, she hadn't anticipated that her plan to sell Jessica should have come after teaching her self-defense.
"Do you understand what we're seeing? This is far more significant than I thought," Mrs. Hayman said as she ordered the security team to replay the video repeatedly. She couldn't believe the face she was seeing, couldn't accept that it was him—that he had returned to their lives to claim what he believed was rightfully his.
"I know. We thought we'd killed him. This is a dead man walking," Mr. Gonzalez said, equally shocked to see the Italian-American Mafia King carrying Jessica over his shoulder.
"What do you think he intends to do with her?" Mrs. Hayman asked, panic evident in her voice. Her fingers shook despite Mr. Gonzalez's constant encouragement and reassuring pats on her back. She had never been so frightened, except for the day she learned of Jessica's accident.
This man was one of the most dangerous individuals Mrs. Hayman and her late husband had dealt with 30 years ago.
"He hasn't aged a day. How is that possible?" Mr. Gonzalez wondered aloud. They were facing a crisis far beyond anything they had ever expected.
"Do you think he'll tell her the truth?" he asked once more.
"This isn't about telling Jessica the truth," Mrs. Hayman replied, her voice strained. "It's about figuring out how the hell this is possible. Did Romano have any children? Perhaps he had offspring who grew up to be just like him, not only in behavior but also in facial features." Her mind was lost in thought, circling back to the last time she had seen her husband—when he died in that airplane, taking down Mr. Phillip Romano with him. She had never imagined that the bastard would come back to life and kidnap her daughter in the process. Jessica was far too valuable for Mrs. Hayman to stand by and watch her suffer, not with all the money she was worth.
True to form, Mrs. Hayman was more focused on business than on people. She needed to ensure that her legacy would continue in her absence, and the best way to accomplish that was to train her daughter in her ways. As she glared at the footage with unbridled anger, her fists clenched, relishing the desire to bring this villain pain.
"No, Mr. Romano," she seethed, "you will not take away my daughter as you did her father!"