Chapter 2 - THE MISTRESS WHO VANISHED BEFORE THE POLICE ARRIVED
Vincent Moretti had enough power to make half of Chicago afraid to say his name.
But he could not walk into my hospital room.
I refused.
Detective Bennett supported that decision.
So did hospital security.
For the first time in my marriage, Vincent Moretti was standing outside a door that money could not open.
He called again.
I turned the phone over.
Caroline sat beside me.
“Do you want me to block him?”
“No.”
She looked surprised.
“I want the messages.”
Evidence.
I hated thinking that way.
But the woman who entered the hospital wasn’t the same woman who had woken that morning planning to surprise her husband with baby socks.
That woman still believed love could repair anything.
I didn’t.
A message appeared.
Claire, please let me explain.
Then:
I didn’t know you were pregnant.
I stared at it.
As though pregnancy was the problem.
As though forcing food into my mouth would have been acceptable if I weren’t carrying his child.
I typed nothing.
Then another message came.
Sophia said the allergy wasn’t real.
My hands began shaking.
Caroline saw it.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“He took you to urgent care himself.”
“Yes.”
The memories returned.
Vincent holding my swollen hand.
Arguing with the nurse because I waited too long.
Buying three epinephrine injectors the next morning.
He knew.
He had simply chosen not to care enough in that moment.
Detective Bennett returned.
“Sophia’s apartment is empty.”
I looked up.
“Empty?”
“Closet cleared. Passport gone. Phone disconnected.”
Vincent’s mother sat across the room.
Teresa’s face had changed since arriving.
Not anger.
Fear.
“Detective,” she said quietly, “you should check the airport.”
Bennett looked at her.
“Why?”
Teresa hesitated.
“Sophia has another name.”
I stared.
“What?”
Teresa looked toward me.
“She wasn’t born Sophia Reynolds.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then who is she?”
Teresa swallowed.
“Her name is Sofia Bellini.”
Vincent’s family had worked with the Bellinis for decades.
I knew that much.
Their businesses overlapped.
Their names appeared together at weddings, funerals, and charity events.
But there was something about Teresa’s expression that told me this was worse.
“Who is she related to?”
Teresa looked at the floor.
“Victor Bellini.”
My chest tightened.
Vincent’s greatest rival.
The man who had spent years trying to take control of several Moretti businesses.
Caroline stared.
“You’re saying Vincent’s mistress was the daughter of his enemy?”
Teresa nodded.
Then Detective Bennett’s phone buzzed again.
She read the message.
Her eyes narrowed.
“Sophia used a private terminal forty minutes ago.”
I sat upright.
“Where is she going?”
The detective turned the screen.
A flight plan had been filed.
Destination:
Zurich.
But another document was attached.
A passenger name.
Not Sophia.
Not Sofia.
Claire Moretti.
I stared.
“She’s traveling under my identity?”
Detective Bennett nodded.
May you like
Then Teresa whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“She isn’t running from Vincent. She’s trying to become you.”
