Chapter 3 - The Daughter Hidden in the Shadows
Luca stared at the photograph until the screen went dark.
Five years old.
A little girl with dark eyes, soft brown hair, and a silver necklace resting against her chest.
He knew those eyes.
He had seen them every morning in the mirror.
“Is she ours?” he asked.
Elena nodded.
Her lips trembled.
“Her name is Sofia.”
Luca swallowed.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I told you. I tried to call you that night.”
“Then why didn't you escape with her?”
Elena looked at the cathedral floor.
“Because I wasn't given the chance.”
Six years earlier, Elena had been taken from the hotel after her rehearsal dinner. Antonio's men had driven her to a private medical facility outside the city.
She had been told that Luca was dead.
Then she had been told that the baby she was carrying had died during an emergency operation.
She had spent months believing she had lost everything.
But one nurse had secretly helped her escape.
Elena had been weak, frightened, and nearly unconscious when she left the facility. She later discovered that her baby had survived.
Sofia.
The nurse had hidden the child with a family in Wisconsin, promising to keep her away from the Morettis.
But two years later, the nurse disappeared.
And so did Sofia.
Elena had spent the next three years searching.
Until a month ago, when she received an anonymous package containing a photograph of her daughter.
The message inside contained only one sentence.
Your daughter is alive, but your husband must never find her.
Luca looked at her.
“Why would anyone tell you to keep her away from me?”
“Because they knew what your father would do.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Antonio doesn't want Sofia dead.”
Elena glared at her.
“How would you know?”
“Because I saw her.”
Luca turned sharply.
“When?”
“Two weeks ago.”
Vanessa explained that Antonio had summoned her to a private meeting at an abandoned hotel. He had shown her a photograph of Sofia and told her that the child was the key to everything.
He wanted Vanessa to marry Luca because he needed legal access to the Moretti estate and the family's remaining assets.
The wedding wasn't simply a marriage.
It was a transaction.
“Why did you agree?” Luca asked.
“Because he told me my younger sister would die if I refused.”
Vanessa reached into her purse and pulled out a folded photograph.
It showed a young woman sitting in a hospital bed.
“My sister, Rachel. Antonio's men have been watching her for months.”
Luca took the photograph.
“Where is she now?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic approached.
“Boss, we found something.”
He handed Luca a phone.
It belonged to Michael.
There was one saved voice message.
Luca pressed play.
His brother's voice emerged, breathless and frightened.
“Luca, if you hear this, don't trust Father. Don't trust Vanessa. And whatever happens, don't let Elena open the room beneath the chapel.”
The message ended.
Luca looked at Elena.
“What room?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Vanessa looked down.
Then she whispered, “I do.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“When I was nineteen, Antonio took me to that chapel. He showed me a room beneath the floor. There were files, photographs, medical records. He called it the family archive.”
“What was inside?” Luca asked.
“Everything he had ever done.”
Elena's face tightened.
“Then why would he want us there?”
Vanessa looked at Luca.
“Because he doesn't intend to give you anything. He wants you to discover something.”
Luca's jaw hardened.
“Then we'll discover it.”
They left the cathedral through a service corridor.
Outside, the city was swallowed by cold November rain. Dominic had arranged two armored SUVs, and the remaining guests were being escorted away.
Luca sat in the rear vehicle with Elena.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Finally, Elena whispered, “You look older.”
He gave a humorless smile.
“Six years will do that.”
“I used to imagine what you'd say if we ever met again.”
“What did you imagine?”
“That you'd be angry.”
“I am.”
She nodded.
“I deserve that.”
“No.” Luca turned toward her. “You deserve answers. I deserve to know why I didn't find you.”
Elena looked at him.
“Your father made sure every trail led to a grave.”
Luca lowered his eyes.
Then he noticed something.
The black ribbon around Elena's neck had a tiny metal clasp.
“What is that?”
She touched it.
“The nurse gave it to me.”
Luca examined the clasp.
A small number was engraved inside.
714.
Before he could ask, Dominic's voice came through the radio.
“Boss, we've got a problem.”
“What?”
“The road to the chapel is blocked.”
“By whom?”
“Police.”
Luca looked through the windshield.
Three patrol cars stood across the road.
An officer approached, holding a flashlight.
“Mr. Moretti, step out of the vehicle.”
Luca opened the door.
“What is this about?”
The officer held up a photograph.
It was a picture of Luca standing over a man's body outside a nightclub.
“This morning, a murder warrant was issued in your name.”
Luca stared at the photograph.
He had never seen the victim before.
Then the officer turned toward the second vehicle.
“Vanessa Hart, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Elena Moretti.”
Vanessa stepped out slowly.
Her face went white.
Elena looked at Luca.
“It's a setup.”
But before Luca could respond, a second officer approached with a sealed document.
“There's something else, Mr. Moretti.”
He handed Luca a court order.
A temporary guardianship order.
For Sofia Moretti.
The child's legal guardian was listed as:
ANTONIO MORETTI.
Luca's phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
May you like
Your daughter is waiting at the chapel. But she's not the only child your father has hidden.
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