Chapter 4 - The Woman Who Pretended to Be Dead
Vivian Cross was the first person Matteo had buried twice.
The first time had been twelve years ago.
The second time had happened three years later.
According to every record, Vivian was dead.
Alina had seen her alive.
That meant someone had been falsifying deaths for years.
Matteo spent the next morning tearing through old files.
Alina watched him work from across the office.
He barely slept.
Neither did she.
Leo slept in a portable crib beside the desk.
Every few hours, he woke and reached toward her.
Matteo noticed.
He didn't comment anymore.
Instead, he started leaving Alina's chair beside the crib.
She didn't know what frightened her more.
The guns.
The secrets.
Or the way Matteo was slowly becoming comfortable with her presence.
At noon, a woman entered.
"Mr. DeLuca, we found Vivian."
Alina stood.
"Where?"
"An old church outside Saint Gabriel."
Twenty minutes later, they were driving.
The church was abandoned except for an elderly priest.
He opened a hidden door beneath the altar.
Behind it was a small room.
Vivian was waiting.
She looked older.
Tired.
But alive.
Alina stared.
"Why did you fake your death?"
Vivian looked at her.
"Because Sofia asked me to."
"Why?"
"Because she discovered the truth."
"What truth?"
Vivian's eyes moved toward Leo.
"That baby isn't simply the DeLuca heir."
Matteo stepped forward.
"What is he?"
Vivian swallowed.
"He is proof."
"Proof of what?"
"Of a secret your father spent twenty years protecting."
She looked at Alina.
"Your mother wasn't running a charitable clinic."
Alina's stomach twisted.
"Then what was she doing?"
"Protecting women and children from men who bought them."
Silence.
"Your mother was part of an underground network."
Alina blinked.
"She rescued children."
"Yes."
Matteo looked at Vivian.
"And Sofia?"
"She joined the network."
"Why didn't she tell Alina?"
"Because your sister knew someone inside the network was betraying them."
"Who?"
Vivian looked at him.
"Your mother."
Matteo went still.
"My mother?"
"Isabella."
Alina shook her head.
"No."
Vivian continued.
"Isabella was forced into it."
"By whom?"
"Anton."
Matteo turned away.
His hands clenched.
"My father controlled her."
"He controlled everyone."
Alina remembered the photograph.
"Then Sofia was working against him."
"Yes."
"And Leo?"
Vivian breathed out.
"Leo's biological parents were victims."
Alina frowned.
"What?"
"His birth mother was a young woman named Clara. She was rescued from one of your father's operations. Matteo married her to protect her."
Matteo closed his eyes.
"Clara knew too much."
"Yes."
"She was killed."
"Yes."
Alina looked at Leo.
"Then why was Sofia protecting him?"
"Because Sofia believed Clara's killer would come for the child."
"And she disappeared because of him."
Vivian nodded.
"She had Leo hidden for months."
"Where?"
Vivian stared at Alina.
"With your mother."
Alina's breath caught.
"My mother?"
"Your mother took care of Leo after Sofia had to flee."
"But my mother died four years ago."
"Yes."
"Where was Leo?"
"In another home."
"Whose?"
Vivian looked at Matteo.
"His."
Matteo stared at her.
"What are you saying?"
"Leo has been in your house since birth."
Matteo's expression became confused.
"Impossible."
Vivian shook her head.
"You thought the baby you were raising was Clara's son."
"He is."
"Biologically, yes."
"Then what is the secret?"
Vivian reached into her coat and pulled out a folder.
Inside was a DNA report.
She put it on the table.
"Leo is related to Alina."
Alina stared.
"No."
Matteo picked up the report.
His eyes scanned the page.
Then stopped.
The room fell silent.
"She's his aunt," Vivian said.
Alina shook her head.
"That doesn't explain why he reaches for me."
"It explains everything."
Alina's eyes filled.
"You knew?"
"No."
Vivian's voice softened.
"Sofia believed you had a protective instinct that could be recognized by the child. She used your photographs when Leo was an infant."
Alina stared.
"My photographs?"
"Sofia carried one of you."
Her hands trembled.
"Why?"
"Because when she disappeared, she knew there was a chance she would never come back."
Alina covered her mouth.
Matteo stepped toward her.
She moved away.
"You knew none of this?"
"No."
"How could you not?"
"Because everyone around me lied."
His voice cracked slightly.
That was the first time Alina saw pain beneath the armor.
Vivian looked at them.
"You have another problem."
"What?"
"Someone is inside your security team."
Matteo's eyes hardened.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Then why tell us?"
"Because Sofia did."
Vivian reached into her pocket.
Another letter.
This one had Matteo's name.
He opened it.
Only one sentence appeared.
The traitor is not the one carrying the gun.
It's the one carrying my son's blanket.
Matteo's head snapped toward the crib.
The blanket was handmade.
Blue thread.
Silver moon stitched at the corner.
Alina touched it.
A strange feeling passed through her.
Then she noticed something.
The moon wasn't embroidery.
It was a pocket.
Inside the pocket was a USB drive.
Matteo stared.
Vivian whispered, "Sofia planned everything."
Before anyone could react, the church doors slammed shut.
The lights went out.
Gunfire exploded outside.
Matteo grabbed Alina.
Vivian shouted.
Leo started crying.
And from the corridor came the sound of footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Not running.
Walking.
Slowly.
May you like
Calmly.
The way a person walked when they knew they had already won.
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