Chapter 7 - THE SECRET HIDDEN IN SOPHIA'S BIRTH
Elena Vasquez had never been so frightened.
Not when her husband abandoned her during pregnancy.
Not when she worked double shifts to afford diapers.
Not when she moved into the Moretti estate with a baby on her hip and less than two hundred dollars in her bank account.
But hearing that someone was challenging her motherhood made her knees weaken.
"That's impossible," she whispered.
Dante took the phone gently from her hand.
"This is Dante Moretti. Explain the petition."
Dr. Ellis hesitated.
"Mr. Moretti, I can't discuss confidential records without authorization."
"Elena is standing beside me. She authorizes it."
Elena nodded frantically.
"Please. Tell us."
The doctor explained that Isabella's attorney had requested Sophia's hospital records, claiming evidence of a mistaken identity at birth.
The petition had not been approved.
No records had been released.
But the application contained something disturbing.
A photograph.
A newborn girl wearing a pink hospital bracelet.
The bracelet bore the name Sophia Vasquez.
And beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.
Wrong baby. Wrong mother.
Elena covered her mouth.
"No."
Dante took her hand.
"Listen to me. A petition doesn't make something true."
"But why would she do this?"
"Because she wants leverage."
Dante ended the call and ordered Marco to investigate.
Within an hour, the hospital confirmed that Sophia had been born on March 14, three years earlier.
Elena had delivered her daughter after a difficult eighteen-hour labor.
There had been no recorded infant mix-up.
But one unusual detail emerged.
A nurse had been dismissed shortly after Sophia's birth for accessing records without authorization.
Her name was Patricia Wells.
And three weeks after losing her job, she received a payment of seventy-five thousand dollars from a company controlled by Victor Costa.
Dante stared at the report.
"Find her."
Marco nodded.
"Already have."
"Where?"
"She died two years ago."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"How?"
"Officially, an overdose."
"Unofficially?"
Marco looked grim.
"Her family says she never used drugs."
Elena sat on the sofa, holding Sophia against her chest.
The little girl slept peacefully.
She had no idea powerful strangers were trying to turn her life into a weapon.
Dante crouched beside them.
"Elena, I need to ask you something."
She looked up.
"Who is Sophia's father?"
Her expression changed.
For a moment, Dante thought she would refuse.
Then she spoke.
"His name was Daniel Reyes."
"Was?"
"He died before Sophia was born."
"How?"
"A car accident."
Dante felt something tighten.
"Where?"
"Outside Providence."
"When?"
"September, four years ago."
Dante looked at Marco.
Marco was already typing.
Within minutes, the accident report appeared.
Daniel Reyes.
Age thirty-two.
Investigative accountant.
Employed by a private auditing firm.
Died after his vehicle left the road.
Dante stared at the name of the firm.
Costa Financial Holdings.
Elena saw his expression.
"What?"
Dante looked at her.
"Daniel worked for Victor Costa."
She shook her head.
"No. He told me he worked for a consulting company."
"He did. One owned by Costa."
Elena's eyes filled.
"Daniel said he'd discovered something terrible at work."
Dante leaned closer.
"What did he discover?"
"He never told me. He just said we needed to leave town."
"When?"
"Two days before he died."
Dante stood slowly.
Daniel Reyes had been investigating Victor Costa.
He had died under suspicious circumstances.
And now Victor's daughter was targeting Daniel's child.
The pattern was impossible to ignore.
"Did Daniel leave you anything?" Dante asked.
Elena frowned.
"Just his old watch."
"Where is it?"
"In my bedroom."
She retrieved it ten minutes later.
A silver wristwatch with a scratched leather strap.
Dante examined it.
The back was unusually thick.
He turned it over.
There was a tiny indentation near the clasp.
Using a pocketknife, he carefully opened the compartment.
Inside lay a microSD card.
Elena gasped.
"What is that?"
Dante stared at the tiny piece of plastic.
"Something Daniel wanted you to keep safe."
Marco brought a secure laptop.
They inserted the card.
A single video file appeared.
Dante pressed play.
Daniel Reyes appeared on the screen.
His face was pale.
His voice trembled.
If you're watching this, I'm probably dead.
Elena began crying.
Daniel continued.
Victor Costa has been stealing from the Moretti family for years. But that's not the worst thing he's done.
He looked over his shoulder.
I found proof that Antonio Moretti didn't order his wife's murder.
Dante leaned forward.
Daniel swallowed.
Victor did.
A pause.
May you like
Then he spoke the words that changed everything.
And the woman who helped him is still living inside the Moretti mansion.
