Chapter 6 - The North Side Bakery
The scent of fresh vanilla and warm yeast was a stark contrast to the damp, metallic smell of the alleyway. Bella Roma Bakery, nestled on a quiet corner in the city's north side, was exactly as Vincent had promised. It was a sunlit, bustling little shop with a spacious, secure apartment right above it.
Elena stood behind the polished glass counter, tying a white apron around her waist. It had been exactly one week since the worst night of her life, yet she felt like she had woken up in a completely different world. The ledger on the desk in the back room was meticulously kept, and the older Italian baker, a man named Giuseppe who ran the ovens, treated her with gentle respect.
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Upstairs, Sophie was getting ready for her first day at the local elementary school. For the first time in months, she wasn't waking up with a stomach ache from anxiety. She bounded down the wooden stairs, her backpack bouncing against her shoulders, wearing a bright smile and a clean, perfectly fitted dress that Marco, the stoic driver, had dropped off the day before.
As Elena watched her daughter skip out the front door toward the crossing guard, she let out a breath she felt she had been holding for years. They were safe.
