Chapter 2 - The Woman I Thought Was Only My Maid Was Carrying My Daughter—and a Secret That Could Destroy My Entire FamilyClara survived the second cardiac episode.
Barely.
By morning, the mansion had become a war room.
Every camera was reviewed.
Every employee was questioned.
Every vehicle entering or leaving the property during the previous forty-eight hours was traced.
Nobody found anything.
That was what frightened Moretti most.
Whoever had poisoned Clara knew his security system.
They knew the mansion.
They knew where Clara slept.
And they knew exactly when to strike.
At 7:30 a.m., Moretti entered the dining room carrying Lily.
The room fell silent.
His lieutenants stared.
Nobody had ever seen Matteo Moretti carry a child.
Lily rested her cheek against his shoulder.
She looked exhausted.
Marco placed a folder on the table.
“We found something.”
Moretti sat.
“Talk.”
“Clara wasn't originally employed by us.”
“What?”
“She was recommended by a woman named Sofia Bennett.”
“Who is Sofia?”
“Clara's older sister.”
Moretti frowned.
“She's dead.”
Marco nodded.
“Six years ago.”
“Then how did she recommend Clara?”
Marco pushed a photograph forward.
It showed Sofia standing beside Moretti's late father.
Moretti stared at it.
His father had never mentioned her.
“There's more.”
Marco placed another photograph beside it.
This one showed Sofia holding a newborn baby.
A handwritten date appeared on the back.
Three years ago.
The same month Lily was born.
Moretti looked at Lily.
Then at the photograph.
“Find Sofia's medical records.”
“Already did.”
Marco hesitated.
“She didn't die six years ago.”
Moretti's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“She disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Then Lily stirred.
“Daddy?”
Every man at the table froze.
Moretti looked down.
Lily was still half asleep.
She opened her eyes.
“Daddy?”
He swallowed.
“I'm here.”
She smiled.
Then went back to sleep.
Moretti looked at Marco.
“From now on, she calls me whatever she wants.”
Marco nodded.
But before he could say anything else, the mansion's alarm sounded.
A bullet had shattered the dining room window.
Moretti immediately covered Lily with his body.
Glass exploded across the floor.
His men drew weapons.
“Get her out!”
Marco grabbed Lily.
Moretti looked toward the broken window.
A single message had been taped to the glass.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW SHE WAS YOURS.
Below it was another line.
AND IF YOU WANT HER TO LIVE, DON'T LOOK FOR HER MOTHER'S SISTER.
Moretti stared at the message.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't a happy smile.
It was the smile his enemies feared.
May you like
Because whoever had written that note had made one fatal mistake.
They had told Matteo Moretti exactly where to look.
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