Chapter 8 - THE SISTER HE THOUGHT HE BURIED
For twenty-nine years, Dante Moretti had believed his baby sister was dead.
Now she stood in front of him wearing navy scrubs and a dinosaur sticker.
Bethany stared at Evelyn Price.
"You're telling me I'm Sofia Moretti?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Yes."
Bethany turned toward Dante.
He looked as shaken as she felt.
"But my mother said I wasn't Vittorio's daughter."
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"Because Vittorio wasn't Sofia's biological father."
Dante went still.
"What?"
Evelyn looked at him.
"Your mother had another relationship after years of abuse."
Silence.
Bethany swallowed.
"With whom?"
"A federal investigator named James Carter."
Dante stared at the doctor.
"James Carter?"
Evelyn nodded.
"Vittorio discovered the affair shortly before the babies were born."
Bethany felt the room tilt.
"Babies?"
Evelyn took a deep breath.
"Two girls were born within hours of each other. One was Elizabeth Carter. The other was Sofia Moretti."
She looked directly at Bethany.
"To protect Sofia from Vittorio, your mother arranged for Lorraine to raise her under a false identity."
Bethany's throat tightened.
"And Elizabeth?"
Evelyn hesitated.
"Her records were altered during the same operation."
"Was she killed?"
"No."
"Then where is she?"
Evelyn looked away.
"I don't know."
Dante stepped closer.
"What happened to my mother?"
Tears filled Evelyn's eyes.
"She tried to leave Vittorio."
"And?"
"She disappeared."
Dante's jaw tightened.
His mother had supposedly died in a boating accident when he was fourteen.
Now he was learning that story might also have been fabricated.
Bethany felt as if every answer created ten new questions.
"Why didn't Lorraine tell me?"
Evelyn's voice softened.
"Because she promised your mother she'd protect you."
Bethany swallowed hard.
"By lying to me?"
"By keeping you alive."
The words hung between them.
Then Dante asked, "Where is the original hospital ledger?"
Evelyn's face changed.
She looked toward the door.
"You shouldn't be asking about that here."
"Why?"
"Because someone inside this hospital is still connected to Vittorio's network."
Bethany felt cold.
"Who?"
Evelyn hesitated.
Then reached for a small key in her desk.
"There's a storage room in the old surgical wing. Everything you need is there."
She placed the key in Bethany's palm.
"Room 314."
Bethany stared at it.
"What will I find?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"The original birth records."
Dante reached for the key.
But Evelyn caught his wrist.
"There's something else."
"What?"
She looked directly at him.
"Your mother didn't die in that boating accident."
Dante's face went completely still.
May you like
Evelyn whispered the final revelation.
"She's been alive all these years."
