Chapter 3 - Claire’s Files Proved Sofia’s Birth Injury Was Deliberate, and My Mother Had Spent Three Years Hiding the Man Who Caused ItThe next morning, I canceled every meeting.
No business.
No calls.
No shipments.
Nothing.
My daughters came first.
I had spent three years searching for a medical explanation for Sofia's paralysis.
Now I was discovering that the event itself might have been intentional.
I called the original doctors.
One was dead.
One had moved overseas.
The third refused to talk.
That was enough.
I ordered his flight canceled.
He was brought to the estate.
Dr. Victor Hale entered my study trembling.
“I didn't know what was happening.”
“You were Sofia's physician.”
“Yes.”
“You treated her after birth.”
“Yes.”
“Why did her condition deteriorate?”
He stared at the floor.
“Complications.”
I placed Claire's records on the desk.
“Try again.”
He swallowed.
“There was trauma.”
“What caused it?”
“I can't say.”
“You can.”
He looked toward the door.
“My life is worth less than your anger.”
“Then tell me.”
He whispered:
“Someone injected your wife with a sedative before labor.”
My blood froze.
“Why?”
“To make the procedure easier to control.”
“Who?”
He shook his head.
“I never saw them.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Who paid you?”
He looked at the floor.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
I closed my eyes.
My mother had paid the doctor.
Why?
Dr. Hale continued.
“The baby was in distress.”
“And?”
“They delayed delivery.”
“Why?”
He started crying.
“They wanted the child injured.”
I stood.
“What?”
“It was supposed to weaken the baby.”
“Why?”
“So she couldn't inherit.”
I felt sick.
The Moretti trust had an inheritance clause.
A direct heir could control certain assets.
But Sofia's disability should never have affected inheritance.
Unless someone had planned to classify her as medically incapable.
My mother had wanted one daughter to be declared unfit.
Why?
To push the family fortune toward Lily.
And then toward my brother.
A chilling plan.
But there was more.
Dr. Hale gave me a file.
Inside was a prenatal photograph.
Claire holding her pregnant belly.
Beside her stood Elena's mother.
Marina.
The note beneath it:
Marina discovered the plan.
I looked at Elena.
She had been standing outside.
“Come in.”
She entered.
“Tell me about your mother.”
“She was a nurse.”
“Did she know my wife?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know what happened?”
Elena nodded.
“She tried to tell you.”
“When?”
“Before I came here.”
“Why didn't she?”
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Two months before Sofia was born.”
I stared.
“Who took her?”
“We don't know.”
Elena was crying.
“She told me one thing before she vanished.”
“What?”
“Never trust the woman who says family comes first.”
My mother's favorite phrase.
Family first.
I sat down.
Claire had known.
Marina had known.
Elena had known.
Everyone had known except me.
And while I was busy fighting rivals, my own household had been poisoning the future of my children.
I walked upstairs.
Sofia was trying to stand.
Lily held out her hands.
“Come on.”
Sofia struggled.
Her legs trembled.
She fell.
I caught her.
“I've got you.”
She cried.
“Daddy, I can't.”
I looked at her.
“Yes, you can.”
She looked toward me.
Then I saw something unexpected.
Elena entered.
She knelt.
“Remember.”
“What?”
“Your legs remember.”
Sofia looked at her.
Then pushed herself upward.
She stood.
For two seconds.
Then three.
I forgot to breathe.
She took one step.
Then another.
I cried.
Lily screamed with happiness.
Elena smiled.
That was when I understood why someone wanted Elena accused.
She was helping Sofia heal.
And every step Sofia took made the lie about her disability weaker.
My mother entered.
She stared at Sofia standing.
Then at Elena.
And fear filled her eyes.
“You have to stop.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
She whispered:
“Because if Sofia walks…”
She stopped.
“What?”
My mother closed her eyes.
“She becomes the heir.”
I stared.
The truth was finally visible.
This was never about a necklace.
It was about succession.
Sofia's recovery threatened an inheritance plan someone had spent years constructing.
And suddenly, the theft accusation made sense.
Someone needed Elena gone before she could help Sofia walk.
Before the truth about Sofia's birth injury came out.
And before my daughters became powerful enough to challenge the family.
I looked at my mother.
“You framed Elena because she was saving my daughter.”
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Her silence was confession enough.
Then the mansion alarm screamed.
A guard came running.
“Boss!”
“What?”
May you like
“The girls are gone.”
My blood stopped.
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