Chapter 4 - The Child Isabella Had Already TakenThey found the second photograph inside Isabella's abandoned car.
Another baby.
A boy.
Not Leo.
Not Mia.
A third child.
Lorenzo stared.
“Who is that?”
Rocco searched the records.
Nothing.
No birth certificate.
No adoption.
No hospital record.
Ella recognized the blanket.
“My grandmother made that.”
“Why?”
“She made it for my mother's baby.”
Lorenzo froze.
“Your mother had another child?”
Ella shook her head.
“She had a miscarriage.”
“Then whose baby?”
They discovered the answer in a private hospital archive.
A baby had been born ten years earlier.
Mother:
Unknown.
Father:
Unknown.
Transferred to:
Moretti Children's Foundation.
Status:
Missing.
Lorenzo stared.
“Someone stole a baby.”
“Yes.”
“And Isabella was involved.”
“Yes.”
The baby was now ten.
His name was Noah.
They found him at a boarding school in Connecticut.
Lorenzo arrived with Ella.
A boy sat alone under a tree.
He looked up.
For one second Lorenzo saw himself as a child.
Same eyes.
Same stubborn expression.
Noah stood.
“Who are you?”
Lorenzo swallowed.
“I think I'm your uncle.”
Noah frowned.
“That's impossible.”
Ella stepped forward.
“We believe your mother was Sophia Moretti.”
Noah's eyes widened.
“I don't remember her.”
“Do you remember anyone?”
“A woman.”
“Isabella?”
He shook his head.
“Another woman.”
“Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
Lorenzo froze.
His grandmother was supposed to be dead.
Noah continued.
“She said I was the last one.”
“The last what?”
“The last heir.”
Lorenzo sat beside him.
“Why did she say that?”
“She said if I was found, the family would come back for me.”
Ella asked:
“Do you know where she went?”
Noah pointed toward his room.
Inside was a box.
It contained letters.
One was addressed to Lorenzo.
He opened it.
My grandson,
If you found Noah, then Isabella has failed.
She was never meant to control the family.
She was meant to be a distraction.
Lorenzo frowned.
“Then who is behind her?”
The letter gave only one name.
Matteo.
Lorenzo's uncle.
The same man everyone believed had died twelve years earlier.
Marina's face went white.
“Matteo is alive.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“You knew?”
“No.”
But Ella knew something was wrong.
She had seen Matteo's name before.
In her grandmother's ledger.
He was the person paying Isabella.
He was the one who arranged the missing baby.
He was the man who had ordered Samuel Vance's death.
Lorenzo's phone rang.
Unknown number.
“Hello?”
A man's voice.
“You finally found the children.”
Lorenzo froze.
“Matteo.”
A laugh.
“You always were slow.”
“Where is Isabella?”
“Gone.”
“Where?”
“Where she should have been from the beginning.”
“What do you want?”
“Your signature.”
“On what?”
“The final transfer.”
“Never.”
“You will.”
“Why?”
“Because I have something you can't replace.”
A child's scream came through the phone.
Lorenzo's face changed.
“Who?”
Matteo laughed.
“Pick one.”
The call ended.
Lorenzo stood.
They returned to New York.
A second message arrived.
Midnight. Old Moretti warehouse. Come alone.
Lorenzo looked at Ella.
“You stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“This is dangerous.”
“I know.”
“You're my sister.”
Ella froze.
He had never said it aloud before.
“My sister doesn't go into a trap alone.”
May you like
She smiled faintly.
“Then neither does my brother.”
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