Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE BABY'S NAME
Vanessa had always been good at crying.
Dominic had seen her do it at charity galas, funerals, family dinners, and once in the middle of an argument about a diamond necklace she claimed had been stolen by a housekeeper. Her tears usually appeared at exactly the moment she needed someone to stop asking questions.
But these tears were different.
She wasn't looking at Dominic.
She was staring at the wedding dress as if the dead woman who had worn it forty years ago were standing behind him.
"Tell me who the baby was," Dominic demanded.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks. "I was young when my father told me about the Moretti family. I don't know everything."
"Then start with what you know."
"Your father had a brother. Edward. Everyone knew that."
"Everyone also believed he stole money and disappeared."
"That's what your father told them."
Dominic's jaw tightened. "And what did your father tell you?"
Before Vanessa could answer, Lily doubled over.
A small cry escaped her lips as she pressed both hands against her stomach.
Dominic immediately dropped the dress.
"Lily?"
"I'm all right," she whispered, although her face had gone white.
"No, you're not." He turned toward the house. "Get the car ready. We're going to the hospital."
Vanessa grabbed his arm. "Dominic, wait. We need to talk privately."
He removed her hand.
"An employee is in pain, and she's carrying a child. Whatever you have to say can wait."
For a moment, Vanessa looked genuinely startled. Dominic had always been protective of his family, but the people working inside his mansion rarely received the same consideration.
He helped Lily into the house himself.
As his driver hurried around the front, Dominic instructed his head of security, Marco Bellini, to take the dress upstairs and lock it in his private study.
"Nobody touches it," Dominic said. "Nobody photographs it, moves it, or takes it out of this house without my permission."
Marco nodded.
Then Dominic added, "And find out who was in the attic today."
Marco's eyes flickered toward Vanessa.
"Understood, boss."
At the hospital, the doctor reassured Dominic that Lily and her baby were stable. She needed rest, fluids, and a few hours of observation. The pain had been frightening, but there was no immediate sign of labor.
Dominic remained beside her bed.
"You shouldn't have been dragging that thing," he said.
Lily gave a tired smile. "I know that now."
"Why didn't you refuse?"
She looked down at her hands.
"Because Mrs. Sterling told me refusing would cost me my job."
Dominic felt shame settle heavily in his chest.
He had built a mansion with twenty-four-hour security, imported marble floors, and enough guards to frighten an army. Yet a pregnant woman had been ordered to drag a dead woman's wedding dress through the mud, and nobody had stopped it.
"You're not losing your job," he said. "And from now on, you don't take orders that put you or your baby in danger."
Lily's eyes filled with tears.
"Thank you, sir."
"Dominic."
She looked up.
"Call me Dominic."
For the first time that evening, her shoulders relaxed.
When Dominic returned to the mansion, the house was unnaturally quiet.
Vanessa was waiting in his study.
She had changed clothes, but her mascara was still smudged beneath her eyes.
"Where's the dress?" she asked.
"Locked away."
"Good."
The word came too quickly.
Dominic walked around his desk.
"You just told me not to let you take it, then acted relieved when I locked it away. Which is it, Vanessa?"
She sat down.
"My father worked for your family in the eighties. He was present when your mother married your father. He saw things that should never have happened."
"What things?"
"I don't know the whole story."
"Stop saying that."
She flinched.
Dominic leaned forward.
"My father said your father was there that night. The dress says a baby survived. And you're terrified of a message written forty years ago. I want the truth."
Vanessa looked toward the window.
"My father told me there was a woman at the wedding who wasn't supposed to be there. She was carrying a baby. Your mother tried to protect her."
"Who was the woman?"
"I don't know."
"Her name."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Dominic, please."
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he asked the question that made her go completely still.
"Was the baby mine?"
"No!"
Her answer came with such force that even she seemed surprised.
Dominic straightened.
"You answered that before I finished the question."
Vanessa rose.
"I need to go home."
"This is your home."
"Not anymore."
She hurried toward the door, but Dominic caught sight of something beneath her sleeve: a small gold locket on a delicate chain.
He had seen it once before in an old photograph of his mother.
Catherine had worn the same locket on her wedding day.
"Where did you get that?"
Vanessa covered it with her hand.
"My father gave it to me."
"Why?"
"He said it belonged to a woman who died because your family betrayed her."
Dominic stepped closer.
"Who was she?"
Vanessa's lips trembled.
"My mother."
The revelation struck him harder than he expected.
He knew Vanessa's mother had died when Vanessa was a child. He had never been told how.
"Your mother knew mine?"
Vanessa nodded.
"And she was there the night Edward disappeared."
Dominic reached for his phone.
"Then we're going to find your father."
Vanessa's expression changed instantly.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because he's been dead for eleven years."
She paused at the door, then added a sentence that left Dominic staring after her.
May you like
"But if you want to know what happened to Edward, ask why your father paid a nurse to change a baby's name before sunrise."
---
