Chapter 3 - The Child in the Photograph
The wedding ballroom emptied under armed security.
By midnight, the guests had been escorted outside, the musicians had packed their instruments, and the magnificent wedding cake remained untouched.
Luca sat in his private study with the wedding dress spread across his desk.
Emily stood near the door.
Marco placed a folder in front of him.
“We identified the photograph.”
“Go on.”
“It was taken at the Rowan family's old estate in Connecticut. October 14, seven years ago.”
“And the photographer?”
“Dead. He was killed in a boating accident six months after Elena disappeared.”
Luca studied the photograph.
“Convenient.”
“There's something else. The estate was sold three years ago, but the original property records show a private medical room in the basement.”
“Medical room?”
“Registered under a company owned by Richard Rowan.”
Luca leaned back.
“Find the company records.”
Marco nodded.
Emily stepped forward.
“Mr. Moretti, may I ask something?”
Luca looked at her.
“Go ahead.”
“Did Elena have a favorite lullaby?”
His expression softened for half a second.
“Why?”
Emily swallowed.
“Because the message mentioned a daughter. And because I once heard a little girl singing something in the east wing.”
Luca frowned.
“What little girl?”
“I don't know. It was several months ago. I was cleaning the upstairs corridor when I heard a child behind the locked nursery door.”
“There's no child in this house.”
“I know, sir.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Emily lowered her eyes.
“Because Mrs. Rowan told everyone that the sound came from a television.”
Luca stood.
“Vanessa?”
Emily nodded.
“She said the room was being renovated and that nobody was allowed inside.”
Luca grabbed his jacket.
“Take me there.”
The east wing had been closed since Elena's death.
Luca hadn't entered it in years.
The nursery door was locked, but Marco opened it within seconds.
Inside, everything remained exactly as Elena had arranged it.
White curtains.
A wooden rocking horse.
A small bed.
A music box shaped like a moon.
Luca stood motionless.
He had once imagined bringing his daughter into this room.
Instead, he had buried the future he thought he had lost.
Emily walked toward the bookshelf.
“Something's missing.”
“What?”
“There were children's books here when I started working. I remember dusting them.”
Luca examined the shelves.
Behind a row of old photographs, he found a small wooden panel.
He pulled it open.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
The handwriting was unmistakably Elena's.
My darling Luca,
If you are reading this, something has happened to me. Please don't believe everything they tell you.
His fingers tightened.
He continued.
Our daughter is alive. Her name is Sophia. I gave her to someone I trusted because the people around us were watching. If I cannot return, find the woman who carries the other half of the moon.
The letter ended there.
No signature.
No explanation.
Luca stared at the paper.
“Other half of the moon?”
Emily looked at the music box.
It had a small silver moon attached to its lid.
When she opened it, a melody played.
Luca immediately recognized it.
Elena used to hum that tune while they danced in the kitchen.
Beneath the velvet lining was a tiny photograph.
A little girl, perhaps six years old, stood beside a woman wearing a nurse's uniform.
On the back, Elena had written:
Sophia — June 3.
Luca looked at the woman's face.
“Do you recognize her?”
Emily took the photograph.
Her hands began trembling.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“I know that woman.”
“Who is she?”
Emily looked at him.
“Her name is Margaret Hayes. She worked at the private clinic where I gave birth to my son.”
Luca stared at her.
“You have a son?”
Emily nodded.
“His name is Daniel. He's eight.”
“And you know this woman?”
“She helped deliver him. She disappeared from the clinic shortly afterward.”
Luca looked at the photograph again.
Seven years ago.
A secret child.
A missing nurse.
A locked nursery.
Everything was connected.
Then his phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A little girl's voice came through.
“Daddy?”
Luca froze.
“Who is this?”
“Mommy said you would come.”
“Where are you?”
The child began crying.
“Please don't let Vanessa find me.”
A man's voice suddenly shouted in the background.
The line went dead.
Luca stared at his phone.
Then another message appeared.
It contained a photograph of a little girl standing outside a hospital.
May you like
And beneath it was a warning.
IF YOU WANT YOUR DAUGHTER ALIVE, COME ALONE.
