Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN I HATED HAD RAISED MY CHILD
Valentina fell to her knees.
“I’m sorry.”
Sofia could not speak.
Matteo—Leo—looked between the adults.
“What’s happening?”
Valentina started crying.
Gabriel stepped backward.
Alessandro’s men moved.
“Don’t,” Sofia said.
Everyone stopped.
She looked at the boy.
He deserved truth without chaos.
“Leo.”
He stared at her.
“My name is Sofia.”
“I know. You’re Alessandro Moretti’s wife.”
Something twisted inside her.
“Yes.”
She crouched so she wasn’t towering over him.
“There are things the adults around you should have told you.”
Gabriel interrupted.
“Don’t.”
Sofia looked at him.
“You’ve controlled enough.”
Then she turned back to Leo.
“Your biological parents were told you died when you were born.”
His face changed.
Sofia’s voice shook.
“That wasn’t true.”
He looked toward Alessandro.
Then back at her.
“No.”
“I know this is impossible.”
“No.”
He backed away.
Valentina reached for him.
He flinched.
“Did you know?”
Valentina cried harder.
“Not at first.”
“How long?”
“Four years.”
The boy looked devastated.
“You lied to me.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
Sofia almost laughed at the phrase.
Everyone used it.
Everyone.
And somehow it always meant the person being “protected” lost the right to choose.
Leo ran toward the hangar.
Sofia started after him.
Alessandro caught her arm gently.
“Give him a minute.”
“I lost twelve years.”
“One minute won’t change that.”
She looked at him.
Then nodded.
Gabriel was arrested for unlawful flight, fraud, and conspiracy.
Valentina cooperated.
The truth came slowly.
Vittorio had arranged the adoption through a loyal family.
Years later, when the adoptive parents died, Valentina discovered the paperwork.
She realized Leo was Matteo.
She wanted to tell Sofia.
Gabriel stopped her.
He wanted control of the trust.
He used her son—her biological son from a previous relationship—to force her cooperation too.
Two children.
Two hostages.
Valentina had been trapped between them.
That did not erase her lies.
But Sofia’s hatred changed shape.
Later, Leo sat alone on a bench outside the hangar.
Sofia approached slowly.
“Can I sit?”
He shrugged.
She sat.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Finally, he asked:
“Did you want me?”
Sofia’s heart broke open.
“Yes.”
Immediately.
Completely.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you find me?”
“Because I believed you were dead.”
His eyes filled.
“Did he?”
He meant Alessandro.
“Yes.”
Leo looked toward his biological father.
Alessandro stood far away.
Giving them space.
“He looks scary.”
Sofia almost smiled.
“He works very hard at that.”
Leo laughed once.
Small.
Then he asked:
“Do I have to live with you?”
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
“You don’t?”
“You don’t have to do anything today except be safe.”
He studied her.
“What do you want me to call you?”
Sofia’s eyes filled.
“Whatever feels right.”
Leo nodded.
Then he whispered:
“I think I want to know you.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
“Okay.”
But the fragile hope lasted less than an hour.
Marco arrived with new information.
Vittorio Moretti had not acted alone when Matteo was stolen.
Someone else had signed the adoption authorization.
Sofia looked at the signature.
May you like
Her blood froze.
It belonged to her father.
