Chapter 9 - THE NAME ON THE FINAL PAGE
Vanessa was taken into custody, but she refused to make a complete statement until Dominic agreed to protect her from Matteo.
He refused to bargain.
Instead, he gave the police everything: the recordings, the medical documents, the original DNA results, and the financial records that connected Matteo to the kidnapping and the falsified death certificate.
For the first time in years, the investigation was moving faster than Matteo could control.
But the revelation about Dominic's mother haunted him.
He returned to the mansion and searched the family archives himself.
At the bottom of a locked cabinet, he found an old hospital photograph of his mother, Eleanor Moretti, standing beside a nurse.
On the back, someone had written:
THREE CHILDREN. ONE FAMILY. NEVER LET THEM MEET.
Dominic sat down hard.
His father had never mentioned another child.
He called the family lawyer, who confirmed that Eleanor had suffered complications during a pregnancy before Dominic's birth. The official record listed one infant who had died.
But the lawyer had never seen the original hospital documents.
Dominic sent the photograph to the detective.
Then he focused on finding Grace.
The adoptive parents in Boston agreed to meet after the police explained the situation. They had raised Grace since she was an infant and knew nothing about the alleged kidnapping.
Dominic arrived with Isabella and Lucas.
Grace was a quiet little girl with dark curls and brown eyes. She stood behind her adoptive mother, holding a stuffed rabbit.
Lucas stepped forward.
“Hi. I'm Lucas.”
Grace watched him.
“You look like me.”
He smiled.
“Mommy says we're twins.”
Grace looked at Isabella.
“Are you my first mommy?”
Isabella knelt, tears streaming down her face.
“Yes, sweetheart. But you don't have to call me anything until you're ready.”
Grace considered that.
Then she stepped forward and touched Isabella's cheek.
“I've seen you in my dreams.”
Isabella pulled her into a gentle embrace.
Dominic stood nearby, unable to speak.
The family had lost three years, but for the first time, it had a chance to become whole.
Grace's adoptive parents agreed to cooperate with the investigation and allow the children to build a relationship with their biological family at a pace that felt safe for everyone.
On the drive back, Lucas held Grace's hand.
“Can you come live with us?”
Grace looked at her adoptive mother.
“Maybe we can visit first.”
Lucas nodded solemnly.
“That's okay.”
Dominic watched them through the rearview mirror.
He had once believed power meant making people obey.
Now he understood that love meant giving them room to choose.
But the peace did not last.
That night, Anthony called from the security office.
“Boss, we intercepted a message from Matteo.”
“What does it say?”
“He wants a meeting. Tomorrow night. The old family estate.”
“Why?”
“He says he'll surrender if you come alone.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“Matteo doesn't surrender.”
“No, sir. But he attached something.”
Anthony sent a photograph.
It showed a man sitting in a dark room.
Older. Gray-haired. His face bruised.
Dominic recognized him instantly.
His father had died eight years earlier.
Yet the man in the photograph looked exactly like him.
On the back of the photograph was a message.
ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO WAS BURIED IN YOUR FATHER'S GRAVE.
Dominic felt the blood drain from his face.
He called the cemetery and demanded the original burial records.
The records showed that his father's coffin had been sealed after an emergency transfer from a private medical facility.
No independent identification had been recorded.
Dominic stared at the document.
All his life, he'd believed his father was dead.
Now he wasn't sure.
Isabella took his hand.
“Whatever this is, we face it together.”
Dominic nodded.
He would not walk into Matteo's trap alone, no matter what the message demanded.
The following evening, he arrived at the old estate with police watching from a distance and Anthony coordinating the operation.
The house stood dark except for a single light in the library.
Dominic entered.
Matteo sat behind their father's desk.
“You came.”
“You said you'd surrender.”
Matteo smiled.
“I said I'd meet you.”
Dominic kept his hands visible.
“Where is the man in the photograph?”
Matteo leaned forward.
“Which man?”
“Our father.”
Matteo's smile disappeared.
“You still believe he was the good one.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“What did you do?”
Matteo reached into a drawer and removed a sealed envelope.
“Before I tell you, there's something you should know about your birth.”
Dominic stared at him.
Matteo slid the envelope across the desk.
Inside was a hospital record bearing Eleanor Moretti's signature.
The record listed three male infants born on the same night.
Dominic.
Matteo.
And a third child.
The name had been blacked out.
But beside it was a handwritten note.
TRANSFERRED TO THE CARE OF ADRIAN VALE.
Dominic looked up.
“Adrian raised our brother?”
Matteo laughed.
“No. Adrian was the one who sold him.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Then a man's voice spoke from the darkness.
“That's enough, Matteo.”
Dominic turned.
A tall, gray-haired man stepped into the library.
He had Dominic's eyes.
His father's jaw.
And the same small scar above the left eyebrow.
The man looked at Dominic and smiled sadly.
May you like
“Hello, little brother.”
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