Chapter 9 - THE CHILD WHO KNEW HIS NAME
“IS HE MY SON?”
Luca Moretti's voice cracked.
Margaret Ellis stood beside the fireplace, her eyes filled with tears.
“I can't answer that for Isabella.”
Luca stared at her.
“You know.”
“I know what Isabella told me.”
“Then tell me.”
Margaret looked down.
“She said Gabriel was the reason she couldn't come home.”
Luca felt the words like a blow.
He looked again at the photograph.
The little boy had dark curls and wide brown eyes.
There was something painfully familiar about his face.
But resemblance wasn't proof.
And after everything he had learned, Luca no longer trusted appearances.
“Was Isabella pregnant when she disappeared?”
Margaret nodded.
“She found out shortly before she left.”
Luca closed his eyes.
He remembered their last morning together.
Isabella had been unusually quiet.
She had stood in the kitchen holding a cup of tea.
He had kissed her forehead.
She had smiled.
And he had promised to be home for dinner.
He never saw her again.
“She was pregnant,” he whispered.
Margaret nodded.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She tried.”
Luca looked up.
“Someone intercepted the message?”
“Yes.”
“Vanessa?”
“Not that time.”
“Then who?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Dr. Keller.”
Luca stared.
“Keller?”
“He told Isabella you had been informed.”
Luca's hands tightened around the photograph.
“He lied.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because someone threatened his daughter. He admitted that much to Isabella later.”
Luca sat down.
The room seemed impossibly quiet.
Margaret approached him.
“Luca, Isabella never wanted you to suffer.”
He looked at her.
“Then why didn't she come back?”
“Because she believed the people hunting her would use the child to reach you.”
“Who was hunting her?”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“Sofia's network.”
Luca shook his head.
“Why would they care about a child?”
“Because Isabella had evidence.”
“The ledger?”
Margaret nodded.
“She copied portions of it before disappearing. The original was moved, but she kept proof of who controlled the accounts.”
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
Luca stared at her.
“Margaret.”
“I'm telling you the truth.”
He looked back at Gabriel's photograph.
“Where is my son?”
Margaret's eyes filled.
“He's safe.”
“Where?”
“I promised Isabella I wouldn't tell anyone until she contacted me.”
Luca stood.
“I'm his father.”
Margaret didn't move.
“You may be.”
The words stopped him.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret swallowed.
“Isabella was pregnant when she disappeared. But Gabriel was born much later than expected from the dates she originally gave me.”
Luca frowned.
“Was he premature?”
“No.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I'm saying the dates don't make sense, and Isabella refused to explain.”
Luca stared at her.
The photograph suddenly felt heavier.
“Are you suggesting someone else is his father?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I'm not suggesting anything. I'm telling you why I won't make a claim I can't prove.”
Luca looked away.
He wanted certainty.
Instead, he had another mystery.
Then Margaret said quietly:
“There is one thing I can tell you.”
He turned.
“Gabriel knows your name.”
Luca froze.
“What?”
“Isabella has shown him your photographs. She told him about you.”
His throat tightened.
“What did she tell him?”
“That you're brave.”
Luca looked down.
“That you make mistakes.”
He let out a shaky breath.
“And that you always come back for the people you love.”
Luca covered his eyes.
For the first time in three years, he cried without trying to hide it.
At sunrise, Detective Mitchell called.
“We found Eleanor Sterling.”
Luca stepped onto the farmhouse porch.
“Where?”
“In a nursing facility outside Albany.”
“Is she alive?”
“Yes. She's been living under another name.”
“Does Vanessa know?”
“Not yet.”
Luca looked toward the road.
“Bring Vanessa to her.”
Sarah hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“Vanessa deserves to know who raised her. And Eleanor may know how to identify Sofia.”
“There's something else,” Sarah said.
“What?”
“We received preliminary findings on Dr. Keller's shooting.”
Luca's stomach tightened.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes. He's in surgery, but doctors expect him to survive.”
“Did they identify the shooter?”
“Not yet. But we recovered a vehicle near the estate. It was registered to a Meridian shell company.”
Luca looked back at the farmhouse.
The same network.
The same money.
The same people.
“Sarah, I want every Meridian account frozen that you can lawfully reach.”
“We're working with federal investigators.”
“And Sofia?”
“We've issued alerts based on the photographs. But we still don't have proof the woman using her identity is actually your mother.”
Luca nodded.
“Keep looking.”
He ended the call.
Then his phone buzzed.
An unfamiliar number.
A text message.
Stop searching for Gabriel.
Luca stared.
A second message appeared.
If you want Isabella alive, come alone to the place where you first promised to marry her.
Luca felt his pulse quicken.
The place where he proposed.
An old lakeside chapel near Lake George.
He had taken Isabella there eight years earlier.
He remembered the rain.
The candlelight.
The way she had laughed when he dropped the ring.
He had never told Vanessa about that chapel.
Only Isabella knew.
And Matteo.
Luca called Caleb.
“I need you to find out who owns the property around St. Anne's Chapel.”
“Why?”
“Someone wants me there.”
“Boss, don't go alone.”
“I won't.”
Luca paused.
“But whoever sent this can't know you're nearby.”
That evening, Luca approached the chapel.
The lake was dark.
Wind moved through the trees.
The building stood exactly as he remembered.
White wooden walls.
A narrow steeple.
A bell that hadn't rung in years.
He opened the door.
Candles flickered near the altar.
Someone was waiting.
A woman stood with her back to him.
Dark hair fell over a gray coat.
Luca stopped breathing.
“Isabella?”
She turned.
For a moment, the world disappeared.
Her face was thinner.
Her eyes looked older.
But it was her.
The woman he had loved for eleven years.
The woman he had mourned for three.
Isabella Moretti.
Alive.
Luca couldn't move.
She covered her mouth.
“Luca.”
He crossed the chapel in three strides.
Then stopped.
He was afraid to touch her.
Afraid she would vanish again.
“Is it really you?”
Tears streamed down her face.
“Yes.”
He reached for her hand.
Her fingers were warm.
Real.
He pulled her into his arms.
She began sobbing against his chest.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Luca held her as though the entire world might try to take her away again.
“I thought you were gone,” he whispered.
“I know.”
“I looked everywhere.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you come home?”
Isabella pulled back.
“Because I couldn't.”
“Because of Sofia?”
She nodded.
“Because of Gabriel?”
Her expression changed.
Luca saw it immediately.
“You know about him.”
She looked down.
“Margaret told you.”
“Is he my son?”
Isabella began crying.
“Luca—”
“Please.”
His voice broke.
“After everything, don't lie to me.”
She touched his face.
“Gabriel is your son.”
Luca closed his eyes.
A sound escaped him that was half laugh, half sob.
“My son.”
Isabella nodded.
“Our son.”
He pulled her close again.
Then a question struck him.
“The dates.”
She went still.
“Margaret said the dates didn't match.”
Isabella looked toward the chapel door.
“Because Gabriel wasn't born when everyone thinks he was.”
Luca frowned.
“What does that mean?”
She took a trembling breath.
“He was born three years ago.”
Luca stared.
“But Margaret said he's two.”
“That's what I told her.”
“Why?”
“Because someone was looking for a baby born on a specific date.”
Luca felt cold.
“Who?”
Isabella reached into her coat.
She removed a small birth certificate.
Gabriel Moretti.
The date was three years earlier.
Luca stared.
Then Isabella whispered:
“Sofia knew I was pregnant. She wanted our baby because she believed he could give her access to something Antonio had hidden.”
“What?”
“The controlling interest in Meridian.”
Luca frowned.
“An infant can't control a trust.”
“No. But a guardian can control assets held for him.”
Luca's stomach tightened.
“Dad left Meridian to our son?”
“Not exactly. Antonio placed the controlling shares of a holding company into a trust for his first grandchild. He hoped to keep those shares out of Sofia's reach until the child became an adult.”
“And Sofia wanted guardianship.”
Isabella nodded.
“She needed Gabriel's identity and custody documents.”
Luca stared.
“Where is he now?”
Isabella hesitated.
“Safe.”
“Isabella.”
She looked toward the rear entrance.
“I brought him here.”
Luca's heart stopped.
“Here?”
She nodded.
“He's with someone I trust.”
Luca stepped toward the door.
Then Isabella caught his arm.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Before you see him, there's something you need to know.”
Her voice shook.
“Someone helped Sofia find us.”
Luca stared.
“Who?”
Isabella looked into his eyes.
“Your father left a second will. And the person who witnessed it was Matteo.”
At that moment, the chapel bell rang.
Once.
Then twice.
Isabella turned pale.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
Luca looked toward the door.
“What's wrong?”
She whispered:
May you like
“That's the signal that someone found Gabriel.”
Continue to Chapter 10: Will Luca save his son, expose Meridian, and finally bring Isabella home?
