Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF KEEPING QUIET
VANESSA HAD BEEN CONNECTED TO ISABELLA'S DISAPPEARANCE BEFORE SHE EVER MET DOMINIC. BUT WHEN SOPHIE'S BROTHER VANISHED FROM HIS REHABILITATION CENTER, DOMINIC DISCOVERED VANESSA STILL HAD ONE PERSON SHE COULD USE TO SILENCE THE MAID.
At 6:12 the next morning, Sophie received a phone call.
She was standing outside Emma's bedroom.
The voice on the other end belonged to a nurse at Noah's rehabilitation center.
“Miss Bennett, your brother didn't return to his room after his appointment yesterday.”
Sophie gripped the phone.
“What do you mean?”
“He signed out with an authorized visitor.”
“Who?”
There was a pause.
“A woman named Vanessa Sterling.”
Sophie's knees nearly gave way.
“No.”
The nurse continued speaking.
But Sophie barely heard her.
She hurried downstairs.
Dominic was in the study.
“Mr. Moretti!”
He stood immediately.
“Sophie?”
Her face was white.
“Vanessa took Noah.”
Dominic reached for his phone.
“Caleb. Now.”
Within fifteen minutes, Caleb had obtained the rehabilitation center's visitor records.
Vanessa had arrived at 4:30 the previous afternoon.
She presented a signed transportation authorization.
Noah had left voluntarily, believing she was taking him to a specialist.
But the authorization wasn't Sophie's.
It was another forgery.
Dominic stared at the signature.
“She's getting reckless.”
Caleb shook his head.
“Or desperate.”
Sophie sat on the couch, shaking.
“It's my fault.”
Dominic turned.
“No.”
“She warned me.”
“What did she say?”
Sophie looked up.
“Two days before the engagement, she told me that if I embarrassed her, Noah would pay for it.”
Dominic crouched in front of her.
“Listen carefully. Vanessa made these choices. You didn't.”
Sophie's tears fell.
“He can't walk without help. He still gets dizzy. What if she leaves him somewhere?”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“We're going to find him.”
At 9:20, Sophie's phone rang.
Unknown number.
Dominic nodded for her to answer on speaker.
“Hello?”
Vanessa's voice filled the room.
“Good morning, Sophie.”
Sophie went rigid.
“Where's my brother?”
“Safe.”
“Let me talk to him.”
“Not yet.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Vanessa.”
A brief silence.
Then a laugh.
“Dominic. How predictable.”
“Where is Noah?”
“You threw me out of my own engagement party. Now you want favors?”
“He needs medical care.”
“He's receiving it.”
Dominic kept his voice steady.
“Tell me what you want.”
Vanessa sighed.
“Finally. A reasonable question.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“Please.”
“I want Sophie to make a statement.”
Dominic frowned.
“What statement?”
“That she manipulated Emma. That she falsified the notebook. That she lied about me.”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
Vanessa's voice sharpened.
“Then your brother can find out how difficult recovery becomes without proper treatment.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
“If Noah is harmed, the police will have this recording.”
Vanessa laughed.
“You think your reputation will survive an investigation into your household?”
Dominic said nothing.
“Remember who you are, Dominic. Remember what people believe about you.”
The call ended.
An hour later, Daniel Brooks arrived.
He listened to the recording.
Then looked at Dominic.
“This is extortion and potentially kidnapping. We need law enforcement involved.”
Dominic nodded.
“Make the call.”
Caleb looked surprised.
Dominic noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing, sir.”
“Say it.”
Caleb hesitated.
“You've always handled threats privately.”
Dominic looked toward the staircase.
Upstairs, Emma was playing with her dolls.
“That's part of how I ended up not knowing what was happening in my own house.”
He turned back.
“We do this properly.”
By noon, investigators had traced the vehicle that collected Noah.
It was a black SUV rented through a company affiliated with Sterling Family Holdings.
The vehicle had last been seen entering a private medical facility outside White Plains.
Dominic recognized the name.
Hawthorne Recovery Center.
He had heard it before.
Four years earlier.
After Isabella's supposed accident.
His wife had been scheduled to attend a medical consultation there.
She never arrived.
Or at least that was what Dominic had been told.
Caleb studied his expression.
“Sir?”
Dominic pointed at the facility name.
“Find out who owns this place.”
That afternoon, Sophie sat beside Emma in the sunroom.
The little girl was coloring a picture.
“Are you sad?” Emma asked.
Sophie forced a smile.
“Just worried about my brother.”
Emma looked up.
“Noah?”
“Yes.”
“Is he sick again?”
“A little.”
Emma put down her crayon.
“When I was scared, you stayed with me.”
Sophie swallowed.
“I remember.”
Emma reached for her hand.
“So I'll stay with you.”
Sophie began crying.
Emma climbed into her lap.
“It's okay. Daddy fixes things.”
Sophie hugged her tightly.
She wanted to believe that.
At 5:40, Caleb returned with the ownership records.
Hawthorne Recovery Center belonged to a holding company.
That company belonged to another.
And that company was controlled by—
Sterling Family Holdings.
Dominic stared at the paperwork.
“Vanessa owns it?”
“Not directly. But she controls the parent company.”
“Since when?”
“Four years and eight months ago.”
Dominic did the calculation.
Before Isabella disappeared.
Before Vanessa entered his life.
Before their first dinner.
He slowly sat down.
“She's been involved in this longer than I thought.”
Caleb nodded.
“And there's something else.”
He placed a photograph on the desk.
A woman stood outside Hawthorne Recovery Center.
Dark hair.
Sunglasses.
A beige coat.
The photograph had been taken that morning.
Dominic recognized her immediately.
Isabella.
Alive.
Standing outside a facility owned by Vanessa.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood Noah Bennett.
Sophie's missing brother.
And according to the security footage, Noah wasn't being held against his will.
He was smiling.
Talking.
Then he handed Isabella a small blue envelope.
Dominic stared at the image.
“Why would Noah know my wife?”
Caleb looked grim.
“That's what we need to find out.”
Then Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
One photograph.
Isabella holding Emma as a baby.
And beneath it, seven words.
DON'T TRUST THE GIRL WHO KEPT THE NOTEBOOK.
May you like
END OF CHAPTER 5
Chapters 6–10 continue the same storyline, with the mystery of Isabella, Vanessa's long-term conspiracy, Noah's involvement, and Sophie's loyalty still unresolved.
