"“If You Can’t Accept Her, Get Out!” the Mafia Boss Told His Pregnant Wife—So She Walked Away Without Looking Back, Taking Their Unborn Child With Her. He Never Expected Her to Actually Leave.

"Put it down, Adrian."

Vanessa's voice had lost its warmth.

Adrian ignored her.

His attention remained on Elena.

"You look like her."

Elena stood perfectly still.

"Who?"

"Your mother."

He lowered the gun slightly.

"She had the same eyes. Same habit of holding her breath when she was frightened."

"Did you know her?"

"I knew her better than anyone at Bellhaven."

Vanessa stepped between them.

"You're making a mistake."

Adrian laughed.

"You've been making mistakes for twenty years."

Elena looked from one to the other.

"What do you want?"

"The ledger."

"I don't have it."

"You have the trust documents."

"I don't have anything you need."

"Your mother kept copies. She hid them before she died. Vanessa believes the originals are in the old family vault."

Elena's stomach tightened.

"Why would you think I know where they are?"

"Because she left you something."

Adrian took a step closer.

"Your mother trusted you with a key."

Elena remembered the small brass key she had found in her mother's jewelry box years earlier.

She had kept it in a drawer at Bellhaven.

Vanessa noticed her expression.

"You have it."

Elena said nothing.

Adrian smiled.

"Good. Then we're going to Bellhaven."

"No."

His face hardened.

"That wasn't a request."

A sharp crack sounded outside.

One of the greenhouse windows shattered.

Adrian turned instinctively.

A second later, two men rushed through the entrance.

The first tackled him.

The gun fired once, striking the ceiling.

Elena stumbled backward, one hand instinctively covering her stomach.

"Elena!"

Dante appeared in the doorway.

He was pale, moving stiffly, and wearing the hospital clothes beneath a dark coat.

Two security men restrained Adrian while another rushed toward Vanessa.

Dante crossed the greenhouse and reached Elena.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Did he touch you?"

"No."

"Then let's go."

Elena pulled away.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Your security detail followed you."

"I told Margaret to keep them away."

"I didn't send them."

"Then who did?"

Dante looked at Vanessa.

For the first time, she seemed frightened.

"Vanessa," he said quietly. "What did you tell her?"

"Nothing."

Adrian began laughing.

"That's the problem with your family, Dante. You never know when you're being lied to."

Dante turned toward him.

"Get him out of here."

As the guards dragged Adrian away, he shouted:

"Ask your father why he changed the birth records!"

The greenhouse went silent.

Elena looked at Dante.

"What birth records?"

He did not answer.

"Tell me."

"Not here."

"Then where?"

Dante took her hand.

She let him hold it, but she did not move.

"Your mother left a record in the family vault," he said. "It contains the original birth certificates for several members of the Moretti family."

"And?"

"One of them was altered."

"Whose?"

Dante looked at Vanessa.

"Mine."

Elena stared at him.

"You're saying your birth certificate was changed?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because the man listed as my father may not have been my biological father."

Elena felt dizzy.

"Who was?"

Dante looked at her.

"Your mother's first husband."

The words struck harder than the gunshot.

Elena shook her head.

"No."

"Your mother was married before she met your stepfather. She had a son. The child was placed with another family after a fire at the hospital."

"That's impossible."

"I have the records."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I was trying to confirm them."

Elena pulled her hand free.

"You knew there was a possibility that we were related?"

"No. Elena, listen to me. The records suggest the opposite. If they're true, you and I may have been raised inside families that concealed our real parents."

"May have?"

"That's why I needed the ledger."

Elena looked at Vanessa.

"Did you know?"

Vanessa's expression was unreadable.

"Your mother knew."

Dante stepped forward.

"Enough."

But Elena had already seen something in Vanessa's face.

Not fear.

Satisfaction.

As if the truth was unfolding exactly as she had planned.

That evening, Margaret received the first verified copy of the birth records.

She called Elena immediately.

"There's a problem."

"What?"

"The child listed as Dante Moretti was born on November 18. But the hospital records show that the baby delivered to Dante's mother died hours after birth."

Elena gripped the phone.

"Then who was raised as Dante?"

Margaret hesitated.

"That's what we're trying to establish."

"Who was the other baby?"

"Your mother's son."

Elena's breath caught.

"Are you saying Dante might be my brother?"

"No," Margaret replied carefully. "I'm saying the records are incomplete."

Then she turned another page.

"And Elena, there's something else. The hospital recorded a third birth that night."

"A third?"