Chapter 3 - The Daughter He Never Knew
DOMINIC MORETTI HAD SPENT FOUR YEARS MOURNING A MARRIAGE. NOW HE WAS STARING AT PROOF THAT SOMEONE HAD STOLEN HIS CHILD.
He read the message again.
Ask your mother why she signed the adoption papers.
Caleb stood beside him in the storage unit.
“Boss?”
Dominic showed him the screen.
Caleb's expression changed.
“Your mother?”
Dominic called Margaret.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Dominic?”
“Did Elena have another daughter?”
Silence.
He could hear his mother's breathing.
“Mom.”
“Where are you?”
“Connecticut.”
“Oh, God.”
“Answer me.”
Margaret began crying.
Dominic felt something inside him collapse.
“You knew.”
“I knew there was a baby.”
“And you never told me?”
“Your father said the child wouldn't survive if anyone found her.”
“Who was threatening her?”
“I don't know.”
“Who signed the adoption papers?”
Margaret whispered, “I did.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
For a moment, he could hear nothing except the hum of the storage facility's fluorescent lights.
Then he said, “I'm coming home.”
He ended the call.
Caleb looked toward the open cabinet.
“There may be more.”
Together, they searched the box.
Under the hospital bracelet was a flash drive, a folded document, and a photograph of Elena holding a newborn.
Dominic lifted the photograph.
Elena looked exhausted.
Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders.
But she was smiling.
He remembered that smile.
It was the one she'd given him when Sophie was born.
On the back, Elena had written:
My beautiful Grace. Forgive me for the life you were born into.
Grace.
Their daughter's name was Grace.
Dominic sat down on the concrete floor.
For the first time in years, the man who commanded hundreds of loyal men began to cry.
Not quietly.
Not with dignity.
He bent forward, holding the photograph against his chest.
Caleb turned away.
He'd seen Dominic survive shootings, betrayals, and his father's funeral without shedding a tear.
But he'd never seen him like this.
When Dominic finally stood, his voice had changed.
“We find her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And we do it legally. No threats. No frightened foster parents. No mistakes.”
Caleb nodded.
“Understood.”
They took the contents of the locker to a private attorney, Daniel Mercer, whom Dominic trusted to handle matters outside the family's business.
Daniel examined the hospital records.
“These aren't adoption papers,” he said.
Dominic frowned.
“What are they?”
“Temporary guardianship documents. Someone petitioned for emergency custody under a sealed proceeding.”
“Who?”
Daniel studied the signature page.
“Margaret Moretti signed as the maternal family's authorized representative.”
“She's my mother.”
“I know.”
“Why would a court accept that?”
“That's what I need to investigate.”
Daniel turned another page.
“There's a physician's certification attached.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“Rebecca Shaw?”
Daniel nodded.
“Dr. Rebecca Shaw certified that Elena was medically unable to care for the child.”
Dominic stared.
“Elena was healthy.”
“Maybe she wasn't after the delivery.”
“Or someone lied.”
Daniel said nothing.
He didn't need to.
By midnight, Dominic was back at the mansion.
Margaret waited in the library.
Sophie was asleep upstairs.
Hannah sat beside Margaret, holding a cup of tea she hadn't touched.
Dominic placed Grace's photograph on the table.
“Look at her.”
Margaret covered her mouth.
“Dominic…”
“Look at your granddaughter.”
She began sobbing.
“I thought I was saving her.”
“By giving her away?”
“Your father told me Elena was dead.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
Margaret wiped her cheeks.
“He said there had been complications after the delivery. That Elena had died at the hospital.”
“Then why did you let me believe she'd abandoned us?”
“Because Antonio told me the child had to disappear too. He said someone inside the family wanted both girls dead.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Both girls?”
Margaret nodded.
“Sophie and Grace.”
Hannah stood.
“Mrs. Moretti, why didn't you go to the police?”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“Because my husband controlled everyone around us. And because he showed me photographs of Sophie at preschool. He said the people threatening us knew where she went every day.”
Dominic remembered those years.
His father had insisted on extra security around Sophie.
He'd thought Antonio was simply being protective.
Now he understood why.
“Who took Grace?”
Margaret shook her head.
“A woman from the hospital. Rebecca arranged everything.”
“Where did they take her?”
“I never knew.”
Dominic turned away.
He wanted to scream.
Instead, he asked the question that had haunted him since the wedding.
“What did Vanessa take from Elena's bedroom?”
Margaret looked at Hannah.
“I don't know.”
Hannah hesitated.
“Sir, there may be someone who does.”
Dominic turned.
“Who?”
“The former housekeeper. Mrs. Alvarez.”
Dominic remembered Rosa Alvarez.
She'd worked for the Morettis for twenty years before suddenly retiring shortly after Elena vanished.
“Where is she?”
“Living with her sister in Queens.”
“Call her.”
Hannah lowered her eyes.
“I already did.”
Dominic stared.
“She said she would only speak to you in person.”
The following morning, Dominic visited Rosa.
She opened the door wearing a faded cardigan.
The moment she saw him, she began crying.
“Mr. Dominic.”
“Rosa.”
“I prayed you'd come.”
Inside her small apartment, she brought him a metal biscuit tin.
“I kept this because your wife told me to.”
Dominic opened it.
Inside were copies of household schedules, a security log, and a handwritten note.
Rosa pointed at the log.
“Three nights before Mrs. Elena disappeared, Miss Vanessa entered the master bedroom while you were away.”
“What did she take?”
“A blue leather folder.”
Dominic remembered it.
Elena had kept personal documents inside.
“What was in it?”
“I don't know. But I heard Miss Vanessa arguing with your father afterward.”
“About what?”
Rosa's voice shook.
“She said, 'You promised me the baby wouldn't exist.'”
Dominic felt cold.
Rosa continued.
“Your father told her to be quiet.”
“Did Elena hear them?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“She came to me that night and asked for help hiding her wedding veil.”
Dominic stared.
Rosa reached beneath the table.
“There was something else.”
She produced an old phone.
“Elena gave me this the morning she disappeared. She said if anyone came asking, I should say I'd thrown it away.”
Dominic took it.
“Does it work?”
“I charged it yesterday.”
He pressed the power button.
The screen illuminated.
One audio recording remained.
Dated November 20.
The night before Elena vanished.
Dominic pressed play.
His father's voice filled the room.
“Rebecca has the child. Everything is arranged.”
Then Vanessa spoke.
“And Elena?”
Antonio answered.
“She'll be dealt with.”
A woman's voice interrupted.
Elena.
“IF YOU TOUCH MY BABY, I'LL TELL DOMINIC EVERYTHING.”
A sharp sound followed.
Then Antonio shouted:
“VANESSA, PUT THE GUN DOWN!”
The recording ended.
Dominic stared at the phone.
May you like
Vanessa had been armed the night before Elena disappeared.
And his father had known.
