Chapter 4 - The Daughter Who Wasn't Mine
I didn't sleep.
I couldn't.
Four children.
That was the truth Elena had hidden.
Four children.
And I had known only one.
Isabella.
Emma was mine.
Daniel was mine.
And another child existed somewhere.
But that wasn't the most terrifying discovery.
It was the identity attached to the fourth birth record.
Baby Girl Rossi.
There was no first name.
No adoption record.
No death certificate.
Only one location.
A children's home outside Philadelphia.
We drove there immediately.
Sophia came with us.
Emma sat between us in the back seat.
Isabella rode beside her.
The sisters had become inseparable.
At the children's home, an elderly administrator opened the door.
When I showed her the record, she went pale.
“I remember this baby.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to her?”
The woman hesitated.
“She was adopted.”
“By whom?”
“I can't tell you.”
“You can.”
She looked at me.
“I remember the man who came for her.”
“Who?”
She whispered,
“Adrian Vale.”
My blood turned cold.
“That wasn't me.”
“I know.”
“Then who?”
She reached into a cabinet and pulled out an old photograph.
A man stood beside a car.
He looked almost exactly like me.
My father.
He had taken my daughter.
I stared at the image.
“Why?”
The administrator shook her head.
“He said the child belonged to him.”
I felt rage.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Where did he take her?”
“We were told she died.”
I turned to Victor.
“Find every record.”
We learned the child had been given a fake identity.
Lily Carter.
She was adopted at age two by a wealthy couple in Boston.
The couple had died years later.
The girl disappeared into foster care.
Then another clue appeared.
Lily was alive.
Seventeen years old.
Living under the name Lily Carter.
I stared at the photograph.
She looked like Elena.
But her eyes were mine.
We found her at a small bookstore.
She was shelving novels when I entered.
She looked up.
“Can I help you?”
I couldn't speak.
Victor stepped behind me.
“Lily?”
She frowned.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Adrian.”
She froze.
“Adrian Vale?”
“Yes.”
She stepped backward.
“Why are you here?”
I wanted to tell her everything.
But she didn't know me.
She didn't know Elena.
She didn't know Isabella.
She didn't know Emma.
And she certainly didn't know Daniel.
“I think you're connected to my family.”
She laughed nervously.
“I don't have a family.”
I swallowed.
“You do.”
She looked at me.
“How?”
“You were born with a different name.”
Her face changed.
“What name?”
“Baby Girl Vale.”
She turned white.
“No.”
“I have evidence.”
“No.”
“I won't force you to believe me.”
“Then leave.”
I wanted to.
But I couldn't.
Not after losing so many years.
So I placed a photograph on the counter.
Elena.
Lily stared at it.
Her lips trembled.
“I've seen her.”
“What?”
“In my dreams.”
My heart broke.
“She was your mother.”
Lily started crying.
“I don't remember her.”
“You were taken when you were a baby.”
“By who?”
“My father.”
She looked at me.
“Why would he take me?”
“To control Elena.”
“What happened to her?”
I couldn't answer.
“We believe she may be alive.”
Lily covered her mouth.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
That changed everything.
She came with us.
Not because she trusted me.
Because she wanted answers.
Back at the estate, Isabella ran toward her.
“You look like Mommy.”
Lily stopped.
Isabella hugged her.
Lily began crying.
Emma stood behind them.
“You're my sister.”
Lily looked at her.
“You knew?”
Emma nodded.
“Grandma told me.”
“Did she know about Daniel?”
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes.
“How?”
Emma pointed toward Sophia.
“Mommy told Grandma everything.”
Sophia finally confessed.
Her mother had been Elena's closest confidante.
She had helped hide Emma.
She knew Daniel had been taken.
She knew Lily had been taken.
And she knew Elena wasn't dead.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“I don't know.”
“Then who does?”
Sophia looked at Victor.
He stared at the floor.
I understood.
Victor knew.
I walked toward him.
“Tell me.”
He looked at me.
“Elena asked me to protect Isabella.”
“You failed.”
“Yes.”
“What about Emma?”
“I helped Sophia.”
“Lily?”
“I tried.”
“Daniel?”
His voice broke.
“I couldn't.”
“Where is he?”
Victor finally answered.
“Your father took him.”
My blood ran cold.
“My father died.”
“Yes.”
“Then who has Daniel?”
Victor hesitated.
“Your father's last surviving lieutenant.”
“Name.”
“Rafael Moretti.”
The same family I had destroyed.
I stared.
“The Morettis took Daniel?”
“Yes.”
“Then my revenge three years ago…”
“Destroyed most of them.”
“Why would they attack Elena if they had my son?”
“To force your father to hand over control.”
I shook my head.
“This is impossible.”
Victor looked at me.
“Your father and the Morettis were working together.”
The assassination.
The kidnapping.
The false medical diagnosis.
All part of one plan.
My own father had manipulated the war.
He had wanted control of my empire.
He had used my children as leverage.
And Elena had discovered everything.
“Where is Rafael now?”
“Mexico.”
We prepared to leave.
But Lily refused.
“I want to come.”
“You're seventeen.”
“Then stop treating me like a child.”
I almost smiled.
She had Elena's courage.
“You stay with security.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because if my family is out there, I want to find them too.”
She was right.
We flew overnight.
Rafael's compound was hidden in the mountains.
We approached before dawn.
The guards were waiting.
A gunfight erupted.
I had lived through wars.
But this one was different.
It wasn't about territory.
It was about my children.
We breached the compound.
Rafael wasn't there.
But Daniel was.
Twelve years old.
Thin.
Frightened.
Holding a wooden box.
He looked at me.
“Are you my father?”
I dropped my weapon.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
“Mommy said you'd come.”
I froze.
“Your mother?”
He nodded.
“She told me to give you this.”
He handed me the box.
Inside was another silver charm.
Same design.
But this one had a number engraved.
Four.
My knees nearly gave out.
Daniel whispered,
“Mommy is alive.”
I looked at him.
“Where?”
He pointed toward the mountains.
“She said the man who hurt her keeps her there.”
“Who?”
Daniel's eyes filled with fear.
“He calls himself your brother.”
I froze.
I had no brother.
Or so I'd believed.
Then Rafael appeared on a monitor.
He smiled.
“You finally found them.”
I stepped closer.
“Where is Elena?”
“In the place you never looked.”
“What does that mean?”
Rafael's smile widened.
“You spent three years hunting the Morettis.”
“You killed my wife.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I only made you believe that.”
The screen changed.
A live video appeared.
A woman was sitting in a room.
Older.
Paler.
But alive.
Elena.
She looked directly into the camera.
Her lips moved.
“Adrian.”
I stopped breathing.
“I knew you'd find them.”
Then another man stepped behind her.
He had my eyes.
My father's jaw.
And my family name.
He smiled.
“My brother.”
I stared.
“Who are you?”
He laughed.
“My name is Julian Vale.”
My father's secret son.
May you like
My half-brother.
And he had been behind everything.
