Chapter 2 - Marello Refused to Believe Leo Was His Son Until the DNA Test Arrived—Then He Discovered Someone Had Deleted Every Record of Our Child’s BirthMarello didn't speak for almost a minute.
He stared at Leo.
My son stared back.
There was no fear in his face.
Only curiosity.
That terrified me more than anger would have.
“Papa?” Leo repeated.
Marello swallowed.
The man's entire world had just shifted.
He crouched slowly.
“What's your name?”
“Leo.”
“Leo what?”
Leo looked at me.
I nodded.
“Leo Carter.”
Marello's eyes hardened.
“Carter.”
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“You gave him another man's name.”
“I had to.”
“You had seven years to tell me.”
“I had seven years to keep him alive.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I don't need you to believe me.”
Marello stood.
His expression became unreadable.
“Where is his father?”
I looked directly at him.
“You're looking at him.”
Silence.
Leo tugged his sleeve.
“You're Papa?”
Marello looked down.
Something inside his face broke.
“Yes.”
Leo smiled.
“I knew.”
“You knew what?”
“You look like my pictures.”
Marello's breathing stopped.
“What pictures?”
“Mama has one.”
He looked at me.
“You kept my photograph?”
“I kept everything.”
Marello turned away.
His jaw tightened.
Then his phone rang.
His security chief appeared at the end of the hallway.
“Boss.”
Marello held up the photograph.
“Find out everything about Bianca.”
His chief nodded.
“And find the man in this picture.”
He gave him the phone.
“Immediately.”
Then Marello looked at me.
“We need a DNA test.”
My heart sank.
“You don't trust me.”
“I trust evidence.”
I nodded.
“I'll do it.”
The test took less than an hour.
The result came back before midnight.
Paternity probability: 99.9999%.
Marello sat staring at the screen.
He didn't smile.
He didn't cry.
He simply whispered:
“My son.”
I stood across from him.
“What happened to me?”
He looked up.
“What?”
“You told yourself I killed him.”
“You sent me a message.”
“I didn't.”
“You wrote that you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I never sent it.”
He stared.
“What?”
“I was in captivity.”
Marello went completely still.
I told him everything.
The kidnapping.
The threats.
The warehouse.
The man who had held a gun to my stomach.
The warning.
The disappearance.
He listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he asked:
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because they showed me your sonogram.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“They had proof they could reach you.”
I touched Leo's shoulder.
“They said if I stayed, he would die.”
Marello's eyes filled with rage.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“You know the man.”
“The one in the photograph.”
“Yes.”
“His name was Damian.”
Marello's face changed.
“Damian Russo.”
“Yes.”
“I thought he was dead.”
“So did I.”
Marello immediately ordered a complete investigation.
By morning, they found something disturbing.
Leo's birth certificate had been altered.
My original hospital records were missing.
The doctor's files had been deleted.
Every document connecting Marello to the pregnancy had disappeared.
Someone had systematically erased our child.
Not just from my life.
From the world.
Marello stared at the records.
“Someone wanted him to never exist.”
I nodded.
“Why?”
He looked toward Leo.
“Because a child changes succession.”
“What does that mean?”
“My family has a trust.”
“How much?”
“Billions.”
I stared.
“Leo is the legal heir?”
“Yes.”
“Then why were they trying to kill him?”
“They weren't.”
He looked at me.
“They were trying to control who knew he existed.”
The implication frightened me.
The trust required a biological heir.
Marello's wedding to Bianca would have transferred control.
But if Leo appeared before the wedding...
Everything changed.
Marello understood.
“She knew.”
“Who?”
“Bianca.”
The woman he was supposed to marry.
“She knew about Leo.”
“How?”
Marello looked at the photograph.
“Because she knew about the trust.”
Then another message appeared.
DO NOT CANCEL THE WEDDING.
YOUR SON IS SAFE FOR THREE MORE DAYS.
Marello stared.
I felt cold.
“Three days.”
Exactly the time remaining until the wedding.
May you like
Someone wasn't threatening him.
They were giving him a deadline.
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