Chapter 1 - THE BABY IN THE LAUNDRY BASKET
“Why does this baby have my eyes?”
Alessandro Duca’s quiet question turned Elena Marquez’s blood to ice.
Only seconds earlier, Elena had been crossing the sunlit courtyard of the Duca estate with a wicker laundry basket balanced against her hip. Towels were piled high inside it, hiding the one secret she had protected for eight months.
Her daughter, Mia.
Alessandro was not supposed to be home.
The billionaire had been scheduled to spend the week in Geneva, and Elena had brought Mia to work only because her babysitter had become sick that morning.
Then Alessandro appeared in the courtyard wearing a black suit.
Elena covered Mia with a towel and prayed.
It almost worked.
Until the baby popped up laughing and wrapped one tiny hand around Alessandro’s silk tie.
He stopped immediately.
“She’s your daughter?”
Elena admitted she was.
Eight months old.
Alessandro crouched beside the basket.
Mia touched his cheek as though she had known him all her life.
Then he noticed her eyes.
Gray.
Silver beneath the sunlight.
Exactly like his.
Alessandro went completely still.
“Who is her father?”
Elena could not answer.
She had spent almost a year fearing this moment.
Mia had been conceived after one unexpected night between Elena and Alessandro—a night neither of them had planned, but one Elena had never forgotten.
Weeks later, Elena had tried to tell him she was pregnant.
Instead, she received a cold letter carrying Alessandro’s signature.
It told her their night together had been a mistake.
It told her never to contact him about the pregnancy.
And it warned her that if she attempted to use the baby to gain access to the Duca family, she would regret it.
Elena had believed every word.
So she disappeared from Alessandro’s personal life and quietly raised Mia alone while continuing to work in another part of the sprawling estate.
Now there was nowhere left to hide.
Mia grabbed Alessandro’s tie again.
His expression changed.
Not anger.
Recognition.
He looked from the baby to Elena.
“Why does this baby have my eyes?”
May you like
Elena’s lips trembled.
Because this time, the truth could no longer remain buried.
