Chapter 8 - THE DAUGHTER THEY ERASED
Elena had spent twelve years believing that the worst thing Dominic had done was steal her freedom.
Now, standing in the library, she watched her son read the letter that could destroy the last remaining pieces of their family.
"Her name is Lily," Elena said.
Sebastian looked up.
"Where is she?"
"She was five when the fire happened. Dominic told me she had died in the hospital. I believed him because I was injured, frightened, and unable to contact anyone I trusted."
Antonio covered his face.
Elena crossed the room and knelt beside him.
"You should have told him."
Her husband nodded, tears running down his cheeks.
"I know."
Sebastian could barely process the revelation.
He had grown up as an only child, the heir to a powerful family, believing his mother was dead and his father was unbreakable. Now every foundation of his life had collapsed.
"How do we find her?"
Elena opened the envelope.
Inside were a photograph of a little girl with dark curls, a hospital bracelet, and a handwritten name: Lily Grace Romano.
Beneath the photograph was an address for a children's home in Connecticut.
"Dominic told me she was adopted," Elena said. "He promised he would arrange a safe family. But when I tried to find her, every record had been sealed."
Sebastian handed the photograph to Marcus.
"Start with the address. Contact the authorities. No one approaches the child or her adoptive family without confirmation."
Clara stood quietly near the door.
Her ankle was swollen again, and exhaustion had hollowed her face.
Sebastian noticed her leaning against the wall.
"Sit down. You shouldn't be standing."
"I'm fine."
"You've been saying that since you fell."
She gave him a tired, almost disbelieving smile.
"I suppose I have."
For the first time that night, the tension eased.
Then Marcus returned with a report.
The children's home had closed fourteen years earlier. Its records had been transferred to a county archive, but the file for Lily Romano had been removed six months ago by someone presenting a court order.
The signature belonged to a judge who had died three years earlier.
"Dominic is still controlling the trail," Sebastian said.
"Or someone is using his methods," Marcus replied.
Nicholas entered the library under escort.
He had agreed to cooperate with investigators and provide access to the financial records he had stolen. He looked sick when he saw Elena.
"I'm sorry," he said.
Elena regarded him for a long moment.
"Sorry doesn't return twelve years."
"No. But I can help find Lily."
He placed a second photograph on the table.
It showed a teenage girl standing outside a private school. Her hair was dark, her expression serious, and a small crescent-shaped scar marked the skin beneath her left eyebrow.
Elena stopped breathing.
"That's her."
Sebastian studied the picture.
"How old?"
"Seventeen," Nicholas said. "The photo was taken two years ago. She was enrolled under the name Lily Grant."
"Where?"
"At a private academy in Westchester."
Marcus checked the current enrollment records.
Lily Grant had graduated the previous spring. Her last known address was a small apartment in Boston.
Sebastian ordered a team to verify the address, but he refused to send armed men to her door.
"If she's been told we're dangerous, the last thing she'll need is a convoy of black SUVs."
Clara nodded.
"She needs someone to explain the truth without demanding that she believe it immediately."
Sebastian looked at her.
"Will you come with us?"
Clara hesitated.
"Why me?"
"Because you know what it's like to be threatened into silence. And because you helped save my mother when you had every reason to protect yourself instead."
She considered the question.
Then she agreed.
They reached Boston the following afternoon.
The apartment building was old, its narrow hallways smelling of dust and cooking oil. A woman in her sixties answered the door.
When Sebastian showed her the photograph, she went pale.
"I wondered when someone would come."
"Who are you?"
"Margaret Grant. Lily's adoptive mother."
Sebastian lowered the photograph.
"Is she here?"
Margaret looked toward the stairs.
"No. She left three days ago after a man came asking questions about her birth records."
"Who?"
"I don't know. He left a message for her."
Margaret handed Sebastian a folded note.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
Your real mother is alive. If you want the truth, come to the place where the fire began.
Beneath the message was an address.
The abandoned Romano lake house.
Sebastian's phone vibrated.
A new message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph of Lily tied to a chair in a dark room.
Below it were six words.
May you like
Come alone, or she dies tonight.
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