Chapter 7 - Gregory Was Arrested—But He Smuggled One Final Message to Alina That Changed Everything
Gregory's arrest happened at 6:17 a.m.
He was taken outside his office.
Cameras captured everything.
He shouted Alina's name.
She watched the footage without emotion.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A distorted male voice whispered:
“Your husband says the ledger isn't the worst thing he left you.”
Her blood ran cold.
“Who are you?”
“You want to know what happened to your child?”
Alina stopped breathing.
“My child?”
Silence.
Then:
“The fertility records were altered.”
The call ended.
She stood frozen.
Dominic entered.
“What happened?”
She told him.
His face changed.
“My medical records.”
“Yes.”
“Get them.”
He nodded.
Within hours, they had them.
Alina's original fertility results had been altered.
The clinic records showed severe infertility.
The original records showed something else.
Treatable.
Not permanent.
She could have conceived naturally.
Her doctor had been paid.
By Gregory.
She collapsed into a chair.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I wasn't sterile.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he tell me?”
“To keep you dependent.”
Alina covered her face.
Dominic knelt before her.
“We'll prove it.”
She looked at him.
“What about the child?”
He hesitated.
“There's more.”
The doctor who treated her years earlier had disappeared.
But a second clinic record existed.
A pregnancy test.
Positive.
Alina stared.
“No.”
The date was 8 years earlier.
She remembered the night.
The night she had almost told Gregory she thought she was pregnant.
Then the bleeding.
The hospital.
The explanation that it had been a chemical pregnancy.
But the records showed another result.
Pregnancy confirmed.
Then transferred.
She looked at Dominic.
“What does that mean?”
“We need to find out.”
The investigation led to a private adoption agency.
A file had been sealed under a false name.
Child: female.
Born eight years ago.
Mother: Alina Mercer.
Father: Gregory Mercer.
But the child had not been adopted.
She had been placed with another family under forged paperwork.
Alina could barely breathe.
Her daughter was alive.
She had spent 8 years believing she had lost the only child she would ever have.
Gregory had stolen her.
Dominic took her hand.
“We'll find her.”
They did.
The girl was living in Michigan with an elderly couple who believed she was an orphan.
Her name was Lily.
She had dark hair.
Gray-green eyes.
And a tiny scar near her left eyebrow.
Alina knew immediately.
“My baby.”
Lily was frightened.
She hid behind the older woman.
Alina did not rush her.
She knelt.
“My name is Alina.”
The girl watched her.
“Are you my mother?”
Alina's heart shattered.
“Yes.”
Lily slowly stepped forward.
Then stopped.
“Why didn't you come?”
Alina began crying.
“Because I didn't know where you were.”
Lily looked at Dominic.
“Who is he?”
“My friend.”
Dominic smiled.
“The most important man in her life,” the older woman said.
Alina looked at her.
Then at Dominic.
He smiled.
“She's observant.”
Lily's expression softened.
“Are you a nice man?”
Dominic crouched.
“I am when people deserve it.”
“That's not very nice.”
He laughed.
Alina laughed too.
For the first time in years, it felt like the beginning of something instead of the end.
But the investigation wasn't over.
Gregory had one final move.
He claimed Lily was never legally Alina's daughter.
He demanded custody.
Vescari backed him.
Dominic stared at the documents.
“This is why they kidnapped her.”
Alina understood.
Lily wasn't just Gregory's child.
She was the legal heir to Mercer Holdings.
Every asset.
Every trust.
Every hidden account.
If Gregory controlled Lily, he controlled the future.
Alina stood.
“They won't touch my daughter.”
Dominic looked at her.
“No.”
May you like
He reached for her hand.
“They won't.”
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