Chapter 3 - The Missing Baby Was Hidden in a Chicago Church—And She Had a Birthmark Identical to the One on Her Missing MotherThe name Mara led us to a church on the South Side.
St. Michael's.
Abandoned for years.
At least officially.
We arrived after midnight.
Dominic's men secured the building.
I entered behind him.
Cold air.
Dust.
Old wooden pews.
Candles.
The place felt forgotten.
Until we heard a baby crying.
Dominic froze.
I ran toward the sound.
A basement door.
Locked.
We opened it.
Inside was a small crib.
And in it—
a baby.
Alive.
Tiny.
Wrapped in a yellow blanket.
I stopped breathing.
Dominic dropped to his knees.
“Mara.”
I moved closer.
She looked at me.
Then at him.
Her eyes were dark gray.
She had a tiny purple birthmark on her shoulder.
Exactly like Sophia.
Dominic touched her cheek.
“She looks like my sister.”
I nodded.
“Because she is.”
He picked her up.
Mara stopped crying.
I watched him hold her.
The feared man.
The billionaire.
The man who terrified half the city.
He looked completely helpless.
“She was never dead.”
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“Why?”
We found the answer in a folder beneath the crib.
A list of payments.
A handwritten note.
Keep the daughter hidden until transfer is complete.
Below it—
Richard Vale.
Dominic stared.
“Who is Richard Vale?”
I recognized the name from business articles.
A former Moretti lawyer.
Dead five years.
Apparently not.
“He's alive.”
Dominic looked at me.
“How do you know?”
“There was a trust under that name.”
He made a call.
His security chief returned.
“Vale owns a private island in Lake Michigan.”
Dominic smiled coldly.
“Then we visit.”
Before we could leave, a gunshot cracked through the building.
Glass shattered.
I ducked.
Dominic covered Mara.
His security team returned fire.
Someone ran upstairs.
We chased.
A man escaped through a side door.
But he left something behind.
A photograph.
Sophia.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Richard Vale.
And behind them—
Dominic's uncle.
I stared.
“Your uncle is involved.”
Dominic's expression darkened.
“My uncle died three years ago.”
“He's alive too.”
Silence.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The fake deaths.
The missing baby.
The hidden money.
Someone had been building a network inside the family.
And now that we had Mara—
we had proof.
We returned to the hospital.
Sophia saw her daughter.
The moment she looked at Mara, she cried.
“She's mine.”
“Yes.”
She held her carefully.
Mara grabbed her finger.
Sophia laughed through tears.
Dominic stood nearby.
He looked away.
I saw tears in his eyes.
He didn't know I saw.
I pretended I didn't.
Later, he found me in the hallway.
“You were right.”
“About?”
“The baby.”
I smiled.
“You're welcome.”
He almost laughed.
Then his expression changed.
“You need to leave.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“This is too dangerous.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I found the baby.”
“And now I need to keep you alive.”
“You hired me.”
“I am firing you.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because I care about you.”
Silence.
I wasn't prepared for that.
Neither was he.
He stepped closer.
“I don't know when it happened.”
“Neither do I.”
“I just know I don't want anything happening to you.”
I swallowed.
“You're not getting rid of me.”
A tiny smile appeared.
“Stubborn.”
“You said that already.”
“And I'll keep saying it.”
We stood there.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Where?”
A pause.
“Understood.”
He hung up.
“What?”
“Richard Vale is coming.”
“To Chicago?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
May you like
Dominic looked at me.
“He says he wants to trade the truth for his life.”
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