Chapter 7 - The Secret Sofia Found Before Giving Birth|
Sofia arrived in Chicago the next afternoon.
She was thinner than in her photographs.
Her dark hair had been pulled into a loose braid.
And when she stepped through the mansion doors, she looked like someone who had forgotten how to feel safe.
Teresa saw her first.
“Sofia!”
The younger woman stopped.
Then her face crumpled.
“Mom.”
She hurried forward.
Teresa reached for her.
They embraced in the center of the entrance hall.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Sofia began sobbing.
“I thought you hated me.”
Teresa shook her head.
“Oh, my darling girl.”
“Vanessa said you didn't want to talk to me.”
“She told me you wanted nothing to do with us.”
Sofia cried harder.
“I called every week.”
Teresa held her tightly.
“I know now.”
I stood nearby, wiping tears from my cheeks.
Then Luca approached.
Sofia looked toward him.
For a moment, she hesitated.
“Luca?”
He crossed the room.
And pulled his sister into his arms.
“Come here.”
She began crying again.
“I thought you were angry.”
He held her tighter.
“Never.”
She shook her head.
“Michael said you'd never forgive me.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“For what?”
Sofia stepped back.
Her expression changed.
“For what I found.”
The room became silent.
Luca gently guided her into the sitting room.
Teresa sat beside her.
I brought tea.
Detective Ramirez arrived shortly afterward to take Sofia's statement.
Sofia held her cup with trembling hands.
“Two months before Isabella was born, I visited Michael's office.”
Luca listened.
“He'd asked me to review a charity proposal. I thought he wanted my help.”
She swallowed.
“But when I arrived, he wasn't there.”
“What did you find?” Ramirez asked.
“A folder on his desk.”
Sofia looked toward Luca.
“It contained trust documents and transfers from accounts Dad established.”
Luca's expression hardened.
She continued.
“Some of the funds were supposed to be protected for future grandchildren.”
Teresa nodded.
“Yes.”
Sofia's voice broke.
“But Michael had been moving money out of the larger family fund.”
Luca stared.
“How much?”
“Millions.”
The room went silent.
Sofia continued.
“When I confronted him, he said I didn't understand the family business.”
“What happened next?” Ramirez asked.
“He told me to forget what I'd seen.”
“And you refused?”
Sofia nodded.
“I told him I'd speak to Luca.”
Her hands began shaking.
“He grabbed my arm.”
Luca's face hardened.
Sofia continued quickly.
“He didn't hurt me badly. But he frightened me.”
She looked down.
“Then Vanessa came into the office.”
My stomach tightened.
“Vanessa was there?”
Sofia nodded.
“She told Michael to calm down. Then she said we could discuss everything after the baby arrived.”
Luca stared.
“What did that mean?”
Sofia shook her head.
“I didn't know.”
She began crying.
“Three weeks later, I went into labor early.”
Teresa took her hand.
Sofia continued.
“Michael arranged for me to deliver at a private clinic. He said it would be safer.”
Her voice trembled.
“Vanessa was there when Isabella was born.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“I remember calling you that morning.”
Sofia nodded.
“I wanted you to come.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Vanessa said you were overseas.”
Luca went still.
“I was in Chicago.”
Sofia looked up.
“What?”
“I was at the downtown office.”
Her face crumpled.
“Then she lied.”
Ramirez gently asked her to continue.
Sofia swallowed.
“I heard Isabella cry.”
The room became painfully quiet.
“She was alive. They placed her near me for a moment.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“She had dark hair. Tiny fingers. She was beautiful.”
Teresa began sobbing.
Sofia continued.
“Then a nurse took her away for observation.”
She looked toward Ramirez.
“Later, Vanessa came back with Michael and a doctor.”
Her voice broke.
“They said Isabella had died.”
Nobody moved.
“I asked to see her.”
Sofia covered her face.
“They wouldn't let me.”
Luca's hand closed into a fist.
Ramirez asked, “Did anyone provide documentation?”
Sofia nodded.
“Vanessa brought papers for me to sign. She said they were necessary.”
“Did you sign?”
“I was exhausted. I was crying. I didn't understand everything.”
She looked toward Luca.
“I trusted them.”
Her voice cracked.
“I trusted my brother.”
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Sofia took a folded paper from her handbag.
“I kept one thing.”
She placed it on the table.
A copy of a hospital bracelet.
The name printed across it read:
BABY GIRL MORETTI.
Beneath it was a date of birth.
And an identification number.
Ramirez examined it carefully.
Then her expression changed.
“This number may let us verify the original clinical records.”
Luca leaned forward.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the hospital system may have an audit trail showing whether the child's records were changed.”
Sofia's eyes filled.
“Can you find her?”
Ramirez nodded.
“We're following every lead.”
Then Luca's phone rang.
Marco.
He answered.
Listened.
His expression changed.
“What?”
A pause.
Then he looked toward Sofia.
“Isabella?”
Sofia stopped breathing.
Marco's voice came through the speaker.
“Boss, the pediatric practice in Wisconsin confirmed the child was brought in by a woman using the name Emma Reed's guardian.”
Luca leaned forward.
“And?”
“The woman wasn't Vanessa.”
The room fell silent.
Marco continued.
“She identified herself as Evelyn Brooks.”
Sofia gasped.
“The nurse?”
“Yes.”
May you like
Then Marco delivered the words that changed everything.
“And she told investigators she'd been hiding the baby from Michael for three days.”
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