Chapter 3 - The Little Girl in the Yellow Coat
Luca had spent two years believing he had lost everything.
His wife.
His unborn child.
And the last piece of his father's legacy.
Now he was discovering that none of the stories he had been told were true.
“Marco, find that SUV.”
His security chief was already moving.
“I'm tracking the camera network. We have three possible exits.”
“Get every available man on the road.”
Elena grabbed Luca's arm.
“Don't send your men everywhere. That's what they want.”
He looked at her.
“Someone has my daughter.”
“I know.”
“And you want me to sit here?”
“No. I want you to understand that Sofia has been used as bait before.”
Elena's voice broke on the last word.
Luca stared at her.
“What happened to her?”
Elena lowered her eyes.
“When I escaped the clinic, I was separated from her. A nurse helped me get out, but someone had already moved Sofia. I spent months searching. I finally found her six weeks ago.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
“I didn't know whether you were involved.”
He looked wounded.
“You thought I would hurt my own child?”
“I thought the man who controlled this family had been replaced by someone I didn't recognize.”
Luca stepped away.
For two years, he had filled his grief with anger. He had become more ruthless, more suspicious, and more powerful.
Perhaps Elena had been right to fear what he had become.
But there was no time to argue.
Marco returned with a location.
“An abandoned medical facility outside the city. The SUV was spotted entering the property.”
Luca reached for his jacket.
Elena stopped him.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“She knows me. If Sofia sees you surrounded by armed men, she'll run.”
“She's my daughter.”
“And she's been told you abandoned her.”
That stopped him.
They drove through the night with Marco and two trusted guards.
The facility stood behind an old iron gate. Its windows were boarded up, and weeds covered the entrance.
Luca noticed a light moving behind an upstairs window.
He raised his hand.
Everyone stopped.
“Two men inside,” Marco whispered. “Possibly more.”
Luca drew his weapon.
Elena caught his wrist.
“Wait.”
A small figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Yellow coat.
Dark hair.
A little girl holding a stuffed rabbit.
“Sofia?”
The child looked up.
For one unbearable moment, she stared at him without moving.
Then she ran.
“Daddy!”
Luca dropped to his knees and caught her.
He held her so tightly that she buried her face against his shoulder.
“I thought you were dead,” he whispered.
Sofia began crying.
“Mommy said you didn't want me.”
Elena knelt beside them.
“I'm here, sweetheart.”
The girl reached for her.
Luca closed his eyes.
For the first time in two years, his family was in his arms.
Then a man stepped out of the shadows.
He held a phone in one hand and a gun in the other.
“That's a touching reunion.”
Marco raised his weapon.
The stranger smiled.
“Put those down. Unless you want the little girl to see another funeral.”
Luca slowly stood, keeping Sofia behind him.
“Who sent you?”
The man glanced at Elena.
“Ask her.”
Elena went pale.
The stranger continued.
“Your wife knows exactly why the child was taken.”
“She's not my wife,” Luca said coldly.
“Interesting. You married her once, though.”
Elena stared at him.
“Who are you?”
The man smiled.
“Someone who was there when your daughter was born.”
He tossed a small envelope onto the floor.
Luca opened it.
Inside was a hospital photograph of Sofia as a newborn.
Beside her stood Elena.
But there was another woman in the photograph.
Vanessa.
And she was holding a second baby.
Luca looked at the stranger.
“Who is the other child?”
The man raised his eyebrows.
“You mean the baby Vanessa told everyone she lost?”
Elena covered her mouth.
The stranger backed toward the exit.
“Your family has been keeping a much bigger secret than a fake funeral, Mr. Moretti.”
Marco moved to intercept him.
A gunshot shattered the corridor lights.
When the emergency lighting returned, the stranger was gone.
And the photograph had disappeared from Luca's hand.
Sofia began trembling.
“Daddy?”
He knelt.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
She pointed toward the doorway.
“The man said I wasn't the only baby.”
Luca looked at Elena.
She couldn't meet his eyes.
Then Sofia whispered the words that changed everything.
May you like
“Mommy told me I had a twin brother.”
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