Chapter 8 - THE PRICE OF A MOTHER'S LOVE|
Claire didn't scream when Anthony showed her the financial record.
She didn't throw anything.
She didn't even cry at first.
She simply sat beside my hospital bed, staring at the number on the screen.
Four hundred eighty thousand dollars.
A sum large enough to buy a comfortable house in many parts of the country.
A sum Claire would never have seen in her lifetime working two jobs.
And somehow, that money had appeared in the foundation's accounts on the same day her daughter disappeared.
"Is that what she was worth?" Claire whispered.
Nobody answered.
She looked at Leonardo.
"Is that what somebody decided my little girl was worth?"
Leonardo crouched beside her.
"No."
His voice was steady.
"No amount of money could ever measure your daughter's worth."
Claire covered her face.
Then the tears came.
I held her hand while she cried.
I wanted to tell her everything would be okay.
But I couldn't.
Because I was lying in a hospital bed with my own baby still inside me, and I had just learned that someone had already arranged a placement in her name.
I understood Claire's terror more than I wanted to.
Detective Hayes arrived an hour later.
He explained that Caroline Ashford was being questioned about the foundation's transactions.
"We need to determine whether she knew a child was being unlawfully separated from her mother," he said.
Claire wiped her cheeks.
"What if she says she didn't?"
"Then we'll compare her statement with the evidence."
"What if she really loves my daughter?"
The question made everyone pause.
Claire stared at her hands.
"I know that sounds terrible."
"No," I whispered.
"It doesn't."
She looked at me.
"I've imagined finding my little girl a thousand times."
Her voice broke.
"But I never thought about what it might mean if she'd grown up knowing someone else as her mother."
I squeezed her hand.
"Wanting your daughter back doesn't mean you want to hurt her."
Claire nodded through tears.
Leonardo turned toward Hayes.
"Do you have any reason to believe the child is currently unsafe?"
"Not at this time."
Claire exhaled shakily.
"Then please don't frighten her."
Hayes nodded.
"We'll proceed carefully."
That sentence stayed with me.
Claire had lost everything.
Yet her first thought was still about protecting her daughter.
I wondered how anyone could have looked at a woman like her and decided she didn't deserve to be a mother.
Later that day, Dr. Carter cleared me to leave the hospital with strict instructions to rest, attend follow-up appointments, and return immediately if the concerning symptoms reappeared.
Leonardo offered to take me back to the Moretti mansion.
I hesitated.
He noticed.
"You don't want to go there."
"It's not that."
"Emma."
I looked at him.
"That house is where Bianca made me feel invisible."
My voice trembled.
"I don't know if I can sleep there."
Leonardo sat beside me.
"Then you won't."
I frowned.
"What?"
"You can stay wherever you feel comfortable."
"But I don't have anywhere else."
He thought for a moment.
"Matteo kept an apartment near Lincoln Park."
My breath caught.
"The one he rented before we moved together?"
Leonardo nodded.
"He never sold it."
I stared.
"I thought it belonged to the family company."
"It did originally, but Matteo purchased it himself."
"Why?"
Leonardo smiled sadly.
"He said he wanted a place where nobody could tell him what to do."
That sounded exactly like my husband.
"Would you like to see it?" Leonardo asked.
I nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Two hours later, we arrived at a brick building on a quiet, tree-lined street.
The apartment was on the third floor.
When Leonardo unlocked the door, the smell of old wood and lemon cleaning polish greeted us.
Sunlight fell across the hardwood floor.
There was a small kitchen.
A narrow hallway.
And a living room with windows overlooking the trees.
I stepped inside.
Then stopped.
On a shelf beside the window was a photograph of Matteo.
He couldn't have been older than twenty-five.
He was laughing, his head thrown back, his eyes squeezed shut.
I covered my mouth.
Leonardo stood beside me.
"He took this apartment when he started working independently."
I touched the frame.
"He looks so young."
"He was."
I turned toward the kitchen.
And suddenly I remembered something.
"Matteo told me about this place."
Leonardo smiled.
"Did he?"
"He said the kitchen was too small."
"It is."
"He said he wanted to knock down a wall and put in a bigger table."
Leonardo looked around.
"He never got around to it."
I touched my stomach.
"He wanted a table big enough for a family."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Leonardo placed a set of keys in my hand.
"Stay here."
I looked up.
"I can't accept an apartment."
"You're not accepting it from me."
"What?"
He nodded toward the photograph.
"Matteo owned it."
My eyes filled.
"And the estate attorney will determine the proper transfer of ownership."
I stared at the keys.
"So it might belong to me?"
"It may be part of what you're legally entitled to inherit."
I began crying again.
Leonardo gave me time.
Then he said, "I'll arrange security outside and make sure nobody enters without your permission."
I shook my head.
"I don't want to be watched all the time."
"Then we'll agree on reasonable precautions together."
I looked at him.
"And you'll ask before sending anyone inside?"
"Always."
For the first time, I felt like someone was giving me back control over my own life.
That evening, Claire came to visit.
She brought soup, fresh bread, and a bag of groceries.
I laughed.
"You didn't have to do all this."
She shrugged.
"Matteo once brought me enough food for a week."
My chest tightened.
"He did?"
"He said grieving people forget to eat."
I smiled through tears.
"He was right."
We sat at the little kitchen table, eating soup while the sun disappeared behind the buildings.
For a while, we talked about ordinary things.
The weather.
The neighborhood.
The tiny bakery across the street.
Then Claire looked around.
"Your husband would have loved seeing you here."
I nodded.
"He always wanted a quiet life."
She studied me.
"Do you think Leonardo wants that too?"
I looked toward the window, where one of Leonardo's security officers stood across the street.
"I don't know."
Claire smiled sadly.
"Maybe your husband is still helping him find one."
After dinner, my phone rang.
It was Detective Hayes.
"Emma, I wanted to update you directly."
My heart began racing.
"Did you find something?"
"We've recovered additional records from Bellweather."
I sat down.
"What kind?"
"Documents connected to your scheduled medical transfer."
My hand moved to my stomach.
"Do they say who requested it?"
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
"Bianca?"
Hayes hesitated.
"Her name appears on the paperwork."
A terrible silence followed.
"But that's not the only signature."
I stared at the wall.
"Who else?"
"The receiving organization's representative."
"Who?"
Hayes took a breath.
"Caroline Ashford."
My mouth went dry.
"Claire's daughter?"
"We haven't yet established the child's identity conclusively."
I pressed a hand against my chest.
"Then why is Caroline involved with me?"
Hayes's voice became careful.
"The documents suggest she was coordinating another placement."
I could barely breathe.
"Another family?"
"Yes."
"Do you know who?"
"We're investigating."
I looked down at my stomach.
Matteo's daughter kicked softly.
I imagined someone carrying her out of a hospital while I lay in bed being told she had died.
I couldn't bear it.
"Detective?"
"Yes?"
"Please tell me something."
"What is it?"
"Is my child still listed for transfer?"
Hayes paused.
"The proposed arrangement is being investigated, and we've notified the relevant facilities that you have not consented."
I exhaled.
Then he added, "But Emma, there's one document you should know about."
My heart sank.
"What?"
"A separate agreement was signed three months ago."
"By whom?"
"Richard Romano and Dr. Voss."
"What agreement?"
He hesitated.
Then answered.
"An agreement concerning the transfer of a child before birth."
I stared at the wall.
"And the parents?"
"That's the troubling part."
"What?"
"The intended recipients were never told who you were."
I closed my eyes.
Hayes continued.
"They were reportedly told that the child's mother had voluntarily agreed to a private adoption."
My chest tightened.
Somewhere, a family might be preparing a nursery.
Buying tiny clothes.
Choosing a name.
Believing a desperate mother had asked them to raise her baby.
I opened my eyes.
"Detective, please find them."
"Why?"
"Because they need to know the truth before somebody hurts them too."
Hayes was silent for a moment.
Then he said, "That's exactly what Matteo told Claire's attorney."
I froze.
"What?"
The detective's voice softened.
"We found an old note from the investigation."
I could barely speak.
"What did it say?"
"He wanted the families informed."
My eyes filled.
Then Hayes read Matteo's words aloud.
The mothers deserve their children, and the families deserve the truth.
I pressed the phone against my ear.
May you like
For a moment, it felt as if Matteo were speaking from somewhere beyond the silence.
And I knew that whatever happened next, I had to finish what he'd started.
