Chapter 5 - THE CHILD WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE BORN
Lucia Moretti had been pregnant when she disappeared.
That single fact changed everything.
Nico had spent twenty-seven years believing his mother abandoned him.
Now there was evidence she'd been carrying another child.
And my father had been trying to help her escape.
“Why would Salvatore want her hidden?” I asked Evelyn.
She looked toward the records.
“Lucia discovered financial misconduct inside his organization.”
My stomach tightened.
“Like my father?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the photograph again.
Lucia.
Pregnant.
Terrified.
Holding a small overnight bag.
She looked nothing like the selfish woman Nico had described.
She looked like someone running for her life.
The forensic specialist recovered several files from my locket's memory card.
One contained financial records.
Another contained hospital correspondence.
The third was a short audio recording.
My father's voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, Margaret, please protect Hannah.”
I covered my mouth.
His voice.
I'd never heard it before.
I began crying.
He continued.
“Lucia has evidence that Salvatore is using family companies to move illegal funds. She's agreed to testify.”
A pause.
Then:
“She's carrying his child. She believes he'll take the baby if she stays.”
My hands trembled.
The recording crackled.
Then another voice spoke.
Lucia.
Soft.
Frightened.
“Daniel, please tell Nico I love him.”
I stopped breathing.
Nico's mother.
The woman he'd spent his life believing abandoned him.
She'd asked my father to tell him she loved him.
I began sobbing.
Evelyn placed a tissue beside me.
The recording continued.
Lucia whispered:
“If Salvatore finds us, he'll destroy everything.”
Then the audio ended.
For several minutes, I couldn't move.
Finally, I whispered:
“Did she have the baby?”
Evelyn nodded.
“We found a birth record.”
My heart raced.
“Boy or girl?”
“A girl.”
I stared.
“Nico has a sister?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
Then she opened the birth certificate.
Baby Girl Moretti.
Born May 14.
Mother: Lucia Moretti.
Father: Salvatore Moretti.
But the adoption record attached to it listed another name.
Isabella Cross.
I turned toward Evelyn.
“Cross?”
She closed her eyes.
I stared at her.
“Evelyn…”
Her face changed.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Hannah, Isabella is my daughter. And she's been living under my protection for twenty-six years.”
