Chapter 1 - THE CALL THAT EXPOSED HER
Evelyn’s phone continued ringing.
Nobody moved.
The restaurant had become unnaturally quiet. Even the waiters seemed to understand that something important was happening.
Luca stared at the screen.
“Answer it.”
Evelyn swallowed.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t want to hear what he has to say.”
Nia watched her carefully.
There was something in Evelyn’s expression that frightened her more than anger would have.
Luca reached for the phone.
Evelyn pulled it away.
“Don’t.”
That single word changed everything.
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ve been hiding something from me.”
“No.”
“Then let me answer.”
Evelyn stepped backward.
The phone stopped ringing.
A second later, a text appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
SHE STILL DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT THE SECOND MESSAGE.
Luca read it.
His face went pale.
“What second message?”
Evelyn said nothing.
Nia felt her stomach tighten.
“What second message?”
Still nothing.
Luca grabbed Evelyn’s wrist.
“You told me Nia never contacted me after our divorce.”
“I thought it was better that way.”
“For who?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“For you.”
Nia almost laughed.
“For me?”
She stepped closer.
“You destroyed my family because you thought you were protecting him?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I didn’t destroy anything.”
Nia held up her phone.
“I sent him an ultrasound.”
“I know.”
The words escaped Evelyn before she could stop them.
Luca stared at her.
“You knew?”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
The twins looked between the adults, confused.
Nia felt years of unanswered questions suddenly rushing back.
“Tell us everything.”
Evelyn looked toward the restaurant doors.
Then she whispered:
“I wasn't the one who intercepted your message.”
Luca froze.
“Then who was?”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Luca’s father had died six years earlier.
Nia remembered him as a stern man who had never approved of their marriage.
But there was something else she remembered.
The last time she had visited the Moretti family office, his assistant had quietly told her:
“Mr. Moretti doesn't want you calling Luca anymore.”
At the time, she had assumed it was another cruel rejection.
Now the memory felt different.
Luca slowly sat down.
“My father was dead before the twins were born.”
“I know.”
“Then how could he have intercepted anything?”
Evelyn’s phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID appeared.
ANTHONY MORETTI.
Luca stared at it.
His father’s name.
His dead father’s name.
And then Nia realized something terrifying.
Someone wanted them to believe Anthony Moretti was still alive.
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Someone had been controlling Luca from the shadows for years.
And whoever that person was had just realized the twins had been found.
