Chapter 9 - The Last Message from Elena
Luca returned to the mansion with every available man.
The nursery was untouched.
Sophia's stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
The window was locked from inside.
There was no sign of forced entry.
Emily's room had been emptied.
Her clothes were gone.
So was her small suitcase.
On the dressing table, Luca found a handwritten note.
I'm sorry. I have to finish what Elena started.
He crushed the paper in his fist.
“Find her.”
Marco nodded.
“We're tracing her phone.”
“Every airport. Every train station. Every road out of the city.”
Within an hour, security located Emily's abandoned car outside an old train station.
The vehicle contained a second envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Elena.
She was standing beside a little girl who looked exactly like Sophia.
On the back:
THE PLACE WHERE WE FIRST DANCED.
Luca knew immediately.
The old conservatory.
He and Elena had met there at a charity gala twelve years earlier.
He arrived shortly after midnight.
The building was dark except for one room.
A piano played softly.
Emily stood near the window.
Sophia was sitting on a chair beside her.
Luca rushed toward his daughter.
Sophia ran into his arms.
“Daddy!”
He held her tightly.
“Don't ever disappear like that again.”
Emily raised both hands.
“I didn't take her against her will.”
“Then explain why you left without telling me.”
“Because Elena contacted me.”
Luca went still.
“Where is she?”
Emily pointed toward the piano.
A small recording device rested on the bench.
“She wanted you to hear this before you saw her.”
Luca pressed play.
Elena's voice filled the room.
“Luca, my love. If you're listening to this, then I have failed to come home again.”
He closed his eyes.
“I never stopped loving you. But I couldn't return while Anthony still controlled the people around us. He knew you would destroy everything to find me. He would have used that against you.”
The recording continued.
“Richard Rowan wasn't the mastermind. He was a partner. The real person who organized the clinic operation was someone who understood our family better than anyone.”
A pause.
“Someone who had access to your father's accounts.”
Luca frowned.
“My father?”
Elena continued.
“Your father didn't die naturally, Luca. He discovered the adoption records. He was preparing to expose them when someone poisoned him.”
Luca's breathing changed.
His father had died of a sudden heart attack.
The family doctor had signed the certificate.
The doctor who had also worked for the Rowan clinic.
Elena's voice softened.
“I have the original evidence. It includes the names of everyone involved. But there's one person I cannot identify. Someone who ordered the final transfer of the children.”
The recording ended.
Luca stared at Emily.
“Where did she send you?”
“To the place where she is hiding.”
“Where?”
Emily hesitated.
“An old house in Vermont. But there's something you should know.”
“What?”
“She wasn't alone when she contacted me.”
“Who was with her?”
Emily looked toward the door.
A shadow appeared behind the frosted glass.
Then came three soft knocks.
Emily opened it.
A woman stood outside.
She wore a dark coat and held a small leather bag.
Her hair was shorter.
A faint scar crossed her forehead.
But Luca recognized her immediately.
Elena.
His wife.
The woman he had mourned for seven years.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Elena whispered his name.
“Luca.”
He stepped forward.
She began crying.
He reached for her, but stopped just inches away.
“Are you real?”
Elena nodded.
He touched her face.
Warm skin.
A trembling breath.
A heartbeat.
He pulled her into his arms.
For a long moment, the two of them held each other without speaking.
Then Elena looked over his shoulder.
“Where is Vanessa?”
Luca's expression changed.
“Why?”
Elena took a photograph from her bag.
It showed Vanessa standing beside a man in a hospital corridor.
The man wore a doctor's coat.
Luca recognized him.
He was the family physician who had declared his father dead.
Elena whispered:
“Because Vanessa knows who ordered your father's murder.”
Before Luca could respond, a phone rang inside her bag.
She answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Mrs. Moretti, I believe your family reunion is over.”
Elena went pale.
The man continued.
“Your daughter has already been registered for transfer.”
Luca grabbed the phone.
“Who is this?”
A quiet laugh.
May you like
Then the caller spoke six words that made Luca's blood run cold.
“Ask your wife who Sophia's father is.”
