Chapter 3 - I Found Alina Alive Six Years After Her Disappearance—But She Refused to Come Home Until I Learned Who Had Forced Her to Leave MeThe church was empty.
Snow fell outside.
I arrived alone.
At least visibly.
My men were two blocks away.
I wasn't stupid.
The door opened.
Alina stood inside.
I couldn't breathe.
She looked older.
Thinner.
There was a scar near her left temple.
But it was her.
My wife.
The woman I had loved.
The woman I had spent six years believing had abandoned me.
She looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then I said:
“Why?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I knew you would come.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you'd have killed them.”
“Who?”
She looked away.
“The people who were hunting us.”
“Who were they?”
“Your family.”
I froze.
“My family?”
“Not your mother.”
“Then who?”
“Victor.”
“My uncle.”
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
“Your empire.”
“I already gave him nothing.”
“He doesn't want the businesses.”
“Then what?”
She stepped closer.
“The trust.”
“What trust?”
“The one your father created before he died.”
I stared.
“My father left no trust.”
“He did.”
“For whom?”
She whispered:
“Sophia.”
Everything inside me went still.
My father had created a secret trust for my daughter.
Why?
Because he knew what Victor was doing.
Alina explained.
Years earlier, my father discovered that Victor was building a network inside our businesses.
He confronted him.
Victor threatened him.
My father created a hidden trust.
It contained property.
Money.
Shipping rights.
Political connections.
But the trust couldn't be activated unless Sophia was alive and legally recognized.
That was why Victor wanted her.
That was why he wanted her identity erased.
If Sophia disappeared permanently, the trust could be challenged.
If she was found by the wrong people, Victor could manipulate her guardianship.
I stared.
“And you?”
“I found the documents.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“How?”
“I called.”
“When?”
“The night before I disappeared.”
I remembered.
An unknown number.
A three-minute call.
I had ignored it.
I had been in a meeting.
I had regretted it for years.
That call had been her.
“I wanted to tell you.”
I closed my eyes.
“You should have.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Victor?”
“Yes.”
“What did he threaten?”
“Sophia.”
I nodded.
That was enough.
Then Alina said:
“Your lieutenant saved us.”
I stared.
“Matteo.”
“Yes.”
“He arranged the first hiding place.”
“How many?”
“Three.”
“Where?”
“I won't tell you.”
I became angry.
“He's already lied to me for years.”
“He lied to protect you.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“He watched you destroy yourself.”
Silence.
“That was the worst part.”
I looked away.
“He told me you were dead.”
“I was supposed to be.”
“What?”
“Victor arranged a car accident.”
My heart stopped.
“You?”
“Not me.”
Sophia had been supposed to die.
Alina changed the plan.
She used another vehicle.
She escaped.
But Victor believed they were dead.
Then she hid Sophia.
Matteo protected them.
I had been searching for ghosts because everyone believed the bodies were real.
They weren't.
I asked:
“Where have you been?”
“Everywhere.”
“Why come back now?”
She stared at me.
“Because Sophia is old enough.”
“To understand?”
“To remember.”
I swallowed.
“What does she remember?”
Alina shook her head.
“She saw something.”
“What?”
“Victor.”
The same day Sophia disappeared, she had seen Victor.
She was fourteen months old.
But certain memories survived.
A voice.
A face.
A ring.
Alina said Sophia could identify him.
That's why Victor needed her.
I stared.
“Where is she?”
“With your people.”
“She is safe.”
“No place is safe.”
Alina touched my hand.
I froze.
“I missed you.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
She cried.
“So did I.”
We nearly kissed.
Then she stepped back.
“There's one more thing.”
“What?”
“Your mother knew.”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“She helped me.”
“How?”
“She arranged the first safe house.”
I stared.
My mother had always seemed cold.
Maybe she knew more.
Alina gave me a key.
“Your mother told me to give you this when Sophia was safe.”
I looked at it.
“What is it?”
“Your father's office.”
I knew the room.
It had been sealed for twenty-five years.
“Why now?”
“Because the truth is in there.”
Then the church lights went out.
Gunfire erupted outside.
I grabbed Alina.
We dropped behind a stone wall.
Men entered.
Three.
Four.
Weapons.
Someone shouted:
“Find them.”
Alina whispered:
“They found us.”
I raised my weapon.
The firefight lasted less than a minute.
My security team stormed in.
The attackers fled.
One was captured.
I pulled off his mask.
A tattoo on his neck.
A Vitelli family symbol.
My blood ran cold.
Someone inside my family was still working for Victor.
The man smiled.
“You're too late.”
“For what?”
He laughed.
“Your daughter isn't in the orphanage anymore.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She was never the prize.”
He smiled.
“She was the bait.”
My heart stopped.
I immediately called the estate.
Matteo answered.
“Marco.”
“Where is Sophia?”
Silence.
“Matteo.”
“We lost her.”
Everything inside me broke.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Who took her?”
“We don't know.”
I looked at Alina.
She had gone pale.
Then the captured man laughed.
“She'll find her father before you do.”
My blood froze.
“Sophia's father is dead.”
He looked at me.
“No.”
He smiled.
“He's been watching her for seven years.”
I turned toward Alina.
She closed her eyes.
The truth was worse than I had imagined.
Sophia had another secret.
Her father wasn't missing.
May you like
He was close.
And someone had just taken my daughter to find him.
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