Chapter 3 - THE LITTLE GIRL WITH MY WIFE'S EYES
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I could hear the clock above my fireplace.
I could hear Emily struggling to breathe.
But all I could think about was the little girl I'd carried out of the laundry room.
Nora.
The child who had apologized for getting my expensive shirt wet.
The child who believed she might lose her home if she stopped working.
Emily had just told me that little girl was my daughter.
“No,” Matteo said.
He stared at Emily.
“That isn't possible.”
Emily's expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because Nora is three.”
I looked at him.
“What does that matter?”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“Sofia died four years ago.”
I turned back to Emily.
“Explain.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your wife delivered prematurely. The baby remained in the neonatal unit for weeks. I didn't take Nora home from the hospital when she was born.”
“Then when?”
“Eleven months later.”
My stomach tightened.
Emily sat down heavily.
“The records showed that the baby had died. But I discovered she had been transferred to a private medical facility under another name.”
“What name?”
“Anna Bell.”
I looked at Matteo.
He shook his head.
“I never heard that name.”
Emily continued.
“Dr. Bellamy contacted me nearly a year after Sofia died. He said there was a little girl who needed a safe home. He told me she'd been abandoned.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
Her voice broke.
“I'd lost my husband six months earlier. My own daughter had died shortly after birth. I was barely functioning.”
I said nothing.
Emily wiped her face.
“Bellamy knew about my loss. He told me caring for this little girl might give me a reason to keep living.”
“Why would he choose you?”
“Because I'd already signed the hospital paperwork. He knew I couldn't expose him without exposing myself.”
Matteo leaned against the desk.
“That's why you changed her name?”
Emily nodded.
“Bellamy arranged the guardianship. He gave me documents saying the child's parents were unknown. I named her Nora after my grandmother.”
I looked toward the hallway.
“Does Nora know?”
“No.”
“She thinks you're her mother.”
“I am her mother,” Emily said.
It was the first time she had spoken firmly.
I looked at her.
She immediately lowered her eyes.
“I'm sorry. I know what you're thinking.”
“No,” I said. “You don't.”
She waited.
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
Four years ago, Sofia had held our daughter.
For three years, Emily had fed her, comforted her, carried her through fevers, and taught her to speak.
Whatever else was true, that mattered.
“You raised her,” I said.
Emily began crying again.
“Yes.”
“And you love her.”
“More than anything.”
“Then don't apologize for being her mother.”
Matteo watched me with an expression I couldn't read.
I turned toward him.
“You said Sofia discovered something involving Dad.”
He nodded.
“What was it?”
“Dad had created a private trust.”
“For what?”
Matteo hesitated.
“For the children of people injured or killed because of our businesses.”
I frowned.
Our father had never mentioned such a trust.
“How much money?”
“Almost forty million dollars.”
I stared at him.
“And Sofia knew?”
“She found the records after Dad died.”
“Why would that put her in danger?”
Matteo looked away.
“Because the fund wasn't being used the way Dad intended.”
Before he could explain, Daniel appeared at the open doorway.
“Luca. We have a problem.”
I turned.
“What?”
“Harland's missing.”
My eyes narrowed.
“He was downstairs.”
“He walked into the west storage room and never came back through the main hallway.”
“Seal the grounds.”
“Already done.”
“And don't let anybody near Nora.”
Daniel hesitated.
“There's something else.”
He handed me a tablet.
The screen showed a live feed from the kitchen.
Nora sat beside Mrs. Bell, eating warm soup.
Her hands were wrapped in soft bandages.
But she wasn't eating anymore.
She was pointing toward the hallway.
Daniel enlarged the image.
Richard Harland stood just beyond the kitchen doorway.
He was holding a small yellow envelope.
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Where is he now?”
“We intercepted him before he reached the kitchen.”
“Bring him here.”
Daniel nodded.
I stopped him.
“And keep Nora somewhere safe. With someone she trusts.”
“Of course.”
A minute later, Harland entered my study between two security officers.
His expensive suit was wrinkled.
He looked at Emily.
Then at Matteo.
Finally, he looked at me.
“I suppose you've heard some unfortunate allegations.”
I held up the photograph.
“Where's Sofia's letter?”
Harland's expression didn't change.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
I placed the tablet on the desk.
It showed him entering the kitchen hallway.
“What's in the envelope?”
Harland's eyes flickered.
“Personal correspondence.”
“Show me.”
He hesitated.
Daniel took the envelope from his hand.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
Pink plastic.
Faded lettering.
I picked it up carefully.
The name read:
BABY GIRL MORETTI.
Beneath it was a handwritten notation.
TRANSFER AUTHORIZED — A. BELLAMY.
Emily covered her mouth.
“Oh, God.”
I looked at Harland.
“Why were you bringing this near Nora?”
He took a slow breath.
“Because the child deserves to know who she is.”
“You spent this afternoon frightening her.”
Harland's face tightened.
“I never intended for anyone to get hurt.”
I stepped toward him.
“You deliberately stained my shirt, put a three-year-old child in freezing water, and threatened to throw her sick mother into the street.”
His eyes dropped.
“And now you expect me to believe you care about her?”
For the first time, he looked ashamed.
“No, sir.”
“Then why?”
He swallowed.
“Because someone threatened my son.”
The room went quiet.
Harland had a twenty-two-year-old son named Peter.
I'd helped pay for his college education.
“He's in trouble,” Harland whispered.
“What kind?”
“Someone found out about the money I moved from the trust. They said they'd make Peter responsible unless I obtained the folder.”
Matteo went still.
“What money?”
Harland looked at him.
“You know exactly what money.”
I turned to my brother.
“Matteo?”
He said nothing.
Harland gave a miserable laugh.
“Seven years I've worked in this house. Seven years I've cleaned up problems nobody wanted to acknowledge.”
He looked at Emily.
“I knew she recognized that photograph. I needed her frightened enough to stay quiet until I could get the folder out.”
“You could have come to me.”
Harland's eyes filled.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I shook my head.
“You never mentioned any of this.”
“Because your brother intercepted my appointment.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“That's a lie.”
Harland reached into his jacket.
Daniel immediately moved between us.
But Harland only withdrew a folded receipt.
He placed it on my desk.
A bank transfer.
Three hundred thousand dollars.
The recipient was a company I recognized.
Moretti Property Holdings.
The account belonged to Matteo.
I looked at my brother.
He stared at the receipt.
“That doesn't prove what you think.”
“Then explain it.”
Matteo opened his mouth.
Before he spoke, Emily pointed at the hospital bracelet.
“Wait.”
She stepped closer.
Her fingers trembled as she turned it over.
On the inside was a tiny engraved mark.
A five-pointed star.
Emily's face drained of color.
“I remember this.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Sofia had the bracelet specially marked.”
“Why?”
“She said if the baby was moved, the mark would prove it was the same child.”
Emily looked up.
“But this bracelet isn't Nora's.”
My heart seemed to stop.
“What do you mean?”
She turned it toward me.
“Mr. Moretti, Nora's bracelet had two stars.”
I stared at her.
“Two?”
Emily nodded.
“One for each baby.”
May you like
Then she spoke the words that shattered everything I thought I'd learned.
“Your wife gave birth to twins.”
