Chapter 3 - The Name Hidden Inside the Toy Box
Dante had spent his life surviving betrayal.
He knew how betrayal smelled.
It smelled like a man suddenly speaking too carefully.
It sounded like silence after a question.
It looked like someone refusing to meet your eyes.
So when Elias told him there might be a leak inside the mansion, Dante believed him.
The question was who.
Every employee was investigated.
Every camera was checked.
Every visitor was reviewed.
Nothing obvious appeared.
Then Sophia disappeared for seventeen minutes.
It happened on a Tuesday afternoon.
Lena was helping Mrs. Caruso organize the pantry.
Sophia was playing in the family room.
When Lena turned around, the child was gone.
Panic spread through the house.
Security locked the gates.
Dante left a meeting halfway through.
He found Sophia twenty minutes later in the library.
She was sitting beneath a table, building a tower out of wooden blocks.
Dante crouched.
"What are you doing?"
"Playing."
"Why didn't you answer your mother?"
"I was quiet."
"You scared everyone."
Sophia frowned.
"Sorry."
Dante sighed.
He sat beside her.
"Don't do that again."
"Okay."
Then she pulled a stuffed rabbit from behind her.
"This was upstairs."
Dante took it.
"What is that?"
"My toy."
"It isn't yours."
Sophia shook her head.
"Someone gave it to me."
Dante stared.
"Who?"
"The nice lady."
"What nice lady?"
"The lady in the blue coat."
Dante's blood ran cold.
"What did she say?"
Sophia thought.
"She said my mommy would be happy."
Dante stood.
"Where did you meet her?"
Sophia pointed toward the west hallway.
Security footage showed nothing.
Dante called Elias.
"Someone entered this house."
"Impossible."
"I don't care what you think is impossible."
Dante handed him the rabbit.
"Find out where this came from."
Elias examined it.
There was a zipper beneath the rabbit's ear.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Dante's face hardened.
He called Lena.
She came running.
"What happened?"
Dante held up the memory card.
"Was anyone expecting a delivery?"
"No."
"Did your ex ever contact you?"
"No."
"Did anyone from your father's past?"
Lena hesitated.
"No."
Dante studied her.
"Tell me the truth."
"I am."
He believed her.
That was becoming dangerous.
That night, they played the memory card.
A series of scanned documents appeared.
Bank transfers.
Account numbers.
Dates.
Names.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Adrian Vale.
Dante's uncle.
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"He's dead."
Lena shook her head.
"That's what I was told."
Dante stood.
"He died thirteen years ago."
"Then someone is using his identity."
The final document showed a payment made six months earlier.
To Victor Moretti.
Lena's ex-husband.
She looked sick.
"No."
Dante placed the laptop down.
"Does Victor have access to you?"
"No."
"Can he access Sophia?"
"Legally, he could."
Dante's jaw tightened.
"Not anymore."
Lena looked at him.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he isn't taking your daughter."
Lena shook her head.
"You cannot control the courts."
"No."
Dante's eyes became hard.
"But I can make sure she stays alive long enough to reach them."
Lena should have been frightened.
Instead, something inside her broke.
She started crying.
Dante froze.
He had no idea what to do with tears.
He stepped forward.
"Don't."
She wiped her face.
"I'm sorry."
"You don't apologize for that."
"Then what do I do?"
"Nothing."
He paused.
"Just stop pretending you're not afraid."
Lena looked at him.
"I've been pretending for years."
"I know."
She whispered.
"How?"
"Because I do the same thing."
Their eyes met.
For one strange moment, the room was completely silent.
Not empty.
Just quiet.
Sophia appeared at the doorway.
"Are you fighting?"
Lena immediately wiped her cheeks.
"No."
Sophia looked at Dante.
"You make Mommy sad?"
Dante shook his head.
"No."
Sophia nodded.
"Good."
Then she walked over and took both of their hands.
She placed Lena's hand into Dante's.
Lena stared.
Dante stared.
Sophia smiled.
"You should be friends."
Neither adult knew what to say.
But somewhere inside the mansion, another person was watching.
Someone who had access to the cameras.
Someone who had known exactly where Sophia would be.
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And someone who had just learned that Dante Rickai had developed one weakness.
A three-year-old girl.
