Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT HE LET HIS SISTER DISAPPEAR
Roman remembered the door.
Not clearly.
Not until Elena described it.
A large oak door at the back of the Moretti estate.
A rainy night.
His father calling him downstairs.
Two men waiting beside a black car.
And Elena crying because she didn't want to leave.
Roman sat inside the investigator's office, staring at his hands.
"I thought she was going to the hospital."
His voice trembled.
"My father told me she was sick."
I watched him.
For the first time, I understood how much guilt he carried.
He wasn't simply grieving his sister.
He was remembering the moment he'd unknowingly helped someone take her away.
"Roman," I said quietly, "you were a child."
He shook his head.
"I opened the door."
"You were ten."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I should have stopped them."
I reached for his hand.
This time, he took it.
We sat in silence.
Later that afternoon, Elena agreed to meet us.
But only after speaking privately with her advocate.
Roman waited outside.
When she entered the room, he stood.
She was thirty-six now.
Dark hair.
Serious eyes.
A faint scar above her left eyebrow.
She looked so much like Beatrice that my chest tightened.
Roman whispered:
"Elena."
She stopped.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then she signed.
You opened the door.
Roman looked at me.
I translated.
He swallowed.
"Yes."
Elena's expression hardened.
You let them take me.
Roman began crying.
"I thought they were taking you to the hospital."
Her hands stopped.
You didn't know?
He shook his head.
"No."
For several seconds, she stared at him.
Then she looked toward the floor.
Her shoulders began shaking.
I stepped back.
This moment belonged to them.
Roman approached slowly.
"Can I hug you?"
Elena hesitated.
Then nodded.
He wrapped his arms around her.
She began sobbing against his chest.
For thirty years, they'd carried different versions of the same terrible night.
Now the truth was finally allowing them to find each other.
But the reunion was interrupted when Detective Bennett entered.
"We have a development."
Roman turned.
"What?"
"Cassandra Voss has been located."
My heart tightened.
"Where?"
"At a private medical facility outside Boston."
The detective looked toward Owen and me.
"She has agreed to provide a statement."
Roman's expression hardened.
"About the adoption network?"
"Yes."
Then Detective Bennett hesitated.
"There's something else."
I swallowed.
"What?"
"Cassandra claims your biological father wasn't Thomas Hayes."
I stared.
"Then who was he?"
The detective looked toward Roman.
And said:
"Vittorio Moretti."
The room went completely silent.
May you like
Because if Cassandra was telling the truth, Roman Moretti wasn't simply helping me find my brother.
He might be my biological half-brother.
