Chapter 4 - The Photograph That Almost Destroyed Everything Again
For several seconds, I couldn't move.
I stared at the photograph until the words on its back blurred.
Our daughter.
I thought of Elena.
Her smile.
Her hands.
The six years we had spent together.
The baby she was carrying.
Then I looked at the date again.
Summer 1993.
Elena had been born in 1991.
I was born in 1987.
My father had been married to my mother since 1984.
A possibility so horrifying formed in my mind that I refused to speak it.
I called Gabriel.
"Where did you find that photograph?"
"Inside the box."
"Who wrote the message?"
"We don't know."
"Bring everything to the hospital."
"Already coming."
I ended the call.
Then I looked at Elena.
She was still sleeping beneath the pale hospital lights.
I wanted to believe the photograph was a lie.
But the more I stared at it, the more frightened I became.
Twenty minutes later, Detective Sarah Bennett arrived.
She wore a gray blazer over a dark sweater and carried a notebook that looked as though it had survived several wars.
"Marchetti."
"Bennett."
"I hear your former wife was assaulted."
"That's what we're trying to determine."
She studied my face.
"You look terrible."
"Thank you."
"Not a compliment."
She glanced toward Elena's room.
"How is she?"
"Unconscious."
"And pregnant?"
I nodded.
Bennett's expression softened.
"I'm sorry."
I handed her the threatening messages.
She read them without speaking.
Then she examined the photograph Gabriel had delivered.
Her eyebrows drew together.
"Where did this come from?"
"Elena's apartment."
"Do you know the people?"
"My father. Catherine Brooks. Elena."
Bennett looked up.
"Elena?"
"That's what we believe."
She studied the photograph again.
"Do you know who wrote the inscription?"
"No."
"Then don't assume it's accurate."
I wanted to grab that sentence and hold on to it.
"Why?"
"Because photographs can be staged, captions can be false, and family relationships can't be established by handwriting on the back of a picture."
She paused.
"Especially when someone is clearly trying to frighten you."
I looked at her.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying whoever attacked Elena may want you to believe something that isn't true."
Gabriel entered.
"Boss, we found the original digital scan."
He placed a tablet on the table.
The photograph appeared again.
But this time, there was no writing on the back.
Instead, the scan included an old newspaper clipping.
A charity fundraiser.
The headline identified Lorenzo Marchetti as a major donor.
Beside him stood Catherine Brooks.
And the little girl was identified as Emily Reed.
Not Elena.
I stared.
"Emily Reed?"
Bennett leaned closer.
"That changes things."
Gabriel nodded.
"Elena found this scan three weeks ago. Someone printed a copy, added the handwriting, and placed it in her apartment."
"Why?"
Bennett answered.
"To make you panic."
I felt anger rising.
Someone had tried to turn my love for Elena into something shameful.
Someone had wanted me to doubt the most important relationship of my life.
"Find Emily Reed," I said.
Bennett looked at me.
"We'll investigate."
"Then investigate quickly."
She closed her notebook.
"Mr. Marchetti, if you want me to help Elena, you need to stop treating this like a private war."
I met her eyes.
"What do you need?"
"The truth."
I almost laughed.
The truth.
It was the one thing I had spent three months avoiding.
Bennett sat across from me.
"Start with why you divorced her."
I hesitated.
Then I told her about the photograph on Elena's pillow.
The threat.
The private security breach.
The warning that made me believe my marriage was putting Elena in danger.
Bennett listened.
When I finished, she looked almost angry.
"You divorced your wife because someone threatened her?"
"I thought if she wasn't connected to me—"
"They would leave her alone?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell her?"
"No."
She stared at me.
"That was a spectacularly bad decision."
I said nothing.
"Did you report the threat?"
"No."
"Did you preserve the envelope?"
"Yes."
"Then I want it."
I nodded.
Bennett stood.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"Elena may have discovered more than you think. Whoever attacked her is still searching for something."
She pointed toward the photograph.
"And they are willing to manipulate you to get it."
After she left, I returned to Elena.
Her eyes were open.
I stopped in the doorway.
"Elena?"
She turned her head slightly.
For one impossible second, hope rushed through me.
Then she whispered, "Why are you here?"
I approached slowly.
"Because you're hurt."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"You don't have to pretend anymore."
I felt the words like a physical blow.
"I'm not pretending."
She looked away.
"Nico, please."
I sat beside her.
"Elena, I lied."
She closed her eyes.
"Don't."
"I lied when I told you our marriage wasn't real."
Her breathing changed.
"I don't want to hear this."
"I know."
"Then stop."
I lowered my voice.
"I loved you every day."
A tear slipped down her cheek.
"Then why did you leave me?"
I reached for her hand.
She pulled away.
I deserved that.
"Because someone threatened you."
She stared at me.
"What?"
I told her everything.
The photograph.
The envelope.
The warning.
The fear that had consumed me.
When I finished, Elena looked at me for a long time.
Then she said something I would remember for the rest of my life.
"You didn't protect me, Nico."
I couldn't answer.
"You made a decision about my life without asking me."
"I know."
"You let me believe I was worthless to you."
My throat tightened.
"I know."
"And while I was trying to survive losing you, someone was following me."
I looked down.
"I'm sorry."
She placed one hand over her stomach.
"Sorry doesn't change what happened."
"No."
She watched me.
"Do you know about the baby?"
I nodded.
Her face changed.
"Who told you?"
"The hospital."
She looked frightened.
"Nico—"
"I know the baby is mine."
Her eyes filled again.
"I wasn't going to keep it from you forever."
"I believe you."
"I just needed time."
"I know."
She stared at me.
"Are you angry?"
The question nearly broke me.
"Angry?"
"That I didn't tell you."
I shook my head.
"No, sweetheart."
The old nickname slipped out before I could stop it.
"I'm angry at myself for making you believe you had to face this alone."
She began crying.
I wanted to hold her.
Instead, I stayed where I was.
Because loving her no longer gave me the right to decide what she needed.
After a while, Elena whispered, "I went to the Ashford Building because someone told me there was evidence about my mother."
"Daniel Reed?"
She nodded.
"Did you meet him?"
"No."
"What happened?"
She closed her eyes.
"I remember the elevator."
I leaned forward.
"The eleventh floor?"
"Yes."
"And then?"
"A woman."
My heart tightened.
"What woman?"
"Green coat."
I remembered the photograph.
"Do you know her?"
Elena looked at me.
Her voice became barely audible.
"I thought I did."
"Who was she?"
Elena swallowed.
"She said her name was Emily Reed."
The name from the photograph.
"Then what happened?"
Elena's breathing quickened.
"She showed me something."
"What?"
"A video."
I waited.
Elena looked toward the door.
"Your father was in it."
My stomach tightened.
"What was he doing?"
She began trembling.
"He was telling someone to kill my mother."
Before I could respond, a sharp sound came from the hallway.
Someone shouted.
Gabriel's voice.
"Get away from that door!"
I stood.
Elena grabbed my sleeve.
"Nico!"
I turned back.
Her face was pale with terror.
"Don't leave me."
I took her hand.
May you like
"I'm not going anywhere."
Then the hospital's security alarm began ringing.
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