Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Knew His Brother
“Tell me why your name is on that bracelet.”
Luca's voice was quiet.
That frightened Vanessa more than shouting ever could.
The guests had been escorted from the dining room. Two armed guards stood outside the doors, while Emily remained beside Elena's wheelchair.
Vanessa stood beneath the chandelier, clutching her engagement ring.
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
She looked at Elena.
The old woman immediately turned away.
“Your mother is sick, Luca. She's been confused for years.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Don't use her illness to avoid answering me.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted you to discover it like this.”
“Discover what?”
She opened her mouth.
Before she could speak, Elena grabbed Luca's sleeve.
“Don't trust the woman who brings you chocolate.”
Luca looked down.
“Mother, what happened thirteen years ago?”
Elena's expression changed.
For a moment, the fear disappeared.
In its place was unbearable guilt.
“Your father said Gabriel was dead.”
“Was he?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Luca stared at her.
“Then where is he?”
Elena began crying.
“I don't know where they took him.”
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
“I do.”
Every head turned toward her.
Luca's hand moved instinctively toward the concealed weapon beneath his jacket.
“Where?”
“St. Agnes Children's Hospital. The old building on Riverside.”
Emily looked up.
“That hospital closed twelve years ago.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Officially.”
Luca grabbed his car keys.
“Come with me.”
Vanessa didn't move.
“Luca, there's something else you need to know.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“The person who arranged tonight's cake wasn't the chef.”
“Who was it?”
She swallowed.
“Your father's former private physician.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
The man who had signed his father's death certificate.
The man who had supposedly retired and disappeared after the funeral.
“Why would he return?”
Vanessa looked toward the empty cake stand.
“Because he knows Gabriel is alive.”
***
Twenty minutes later, Luca's black SUV sped through the rain.
Emily sat beside Elena in the rear vehicle. Vanessa occupied the passenger seat of Luca's car.
Neither spoke.
Finally, Luca broke the silence.
“You knew about my brother before you met me?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you still agreed to marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Was any of this relationship real?”
She turned toward him.
“I loved you.”
“That wasn't my question.”
“I was trying to protect someone.”
“Who?”
She looked through the windshield.
“Gabriel.”
Luca laughed bitterly.
“You expect me to believe you betrayed me to protect a brother I never knew existed?”
“I expect you to understand that your father was not the man you thought he was.”
“My father is dead.”
“His secrets aren't.”
The words settled between them.
They reached the abandoned hospital shortly before midnight.
Most of the windows were boarded up. The front entrance was chained, but Vanessa led Luca toward a side door hidden behind overgrown bushes.
She entered a six-digit code.
The lock clicked.
Luca stared at her.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I used to come here.”
Inside, the building smelled of dust and disinfectant.
They followed a narrow corridor to an old medical records room.
Vanessa stopped before a cabinet.
“Room 214.”
Luca opened the folder.
The first page contained two infant photographs.
One had been labeled LUCA MORETTI.
The other had been labeled GABRIEL MORETTI.
But there was a third photograph.
A newborn baby girl.
Her name was Sofia.
Luca frowned.
“Who is she?”
Vanessa's face went pale.
“My daughter.”
He turned sharply.
“You have a daughter?”
“She was born thirteen years ago.”
Luca looked at the document.
The mother's name was Vanessa Moretti.
The father's name had been blacked out.
“Why does your daughter have the same hospital records as my brother?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“Because Sofia was born in the same hospital, on the same night.”
Before Luca could respond, a noise came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Luca pulled Vanessa behind the filing cabinet and drew his gun.
A man's silhouette appeared in the doorway.
“Mr. Moretti?”
Luca recognized the voice.
“Dr. Reed.”
The physician stepped into the room.
He looked older, thinner, but unmistakable.
“Your father told me this day would come.”
Luca raised his weapon.
“Where is my brother?”
Dr. Reed glanced at Vanessa.
Then he looked at the open medical file.
“Your brother isn't the only person you've been lied to about.”
“What does that mean?”
The doctor reached into his coat.
Luca tightened his grip.
But instead of a weapon, the old man produced a photograph.
It showed a teenage girl holding two newborn babies.
The girl was Vanessa.
And standing behind her was Luca's father.
On the back, someone had written:
THE THREE CHILDREN MUST NEVER BE SEPARATED.
Luca stared at the photograph.
“Why are there three babies?”
Dr. Reed's face crumpled.
“Because your father didn't have twins that night.”
He pointed toward the third hospital photograph.
“He had three children.”
Then the corridor lights went out.
A gunshot echoed through the abandoned hospital.
When Luca turned back, Dr. Reed had vanished.
And Vanessa was no longer beside him.
***
Luca ran into the corridor.
“Vanessa!”
No answer.
At the end of the hallway, he found a door swinging slowly.
On the floor lay her engagement ring.
Beside it was a fresh smear of blood.
His phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
STOP LOOKING FOR YOUR BROTHER.
A second message arrived.
OR YOUR DAUGHTER WILL DISAPPEAR AGAIN.
Luca stared at the screen.
Vanessa had a daughter.
And someone had just threatened her.
But the next message was worse.
It contained a photograph of Elena Moretti sitting alone in her bedroom.
May you like
Taken less than five minutes earlier.
Someone was already inside the mansion.
