Chapter 2 - Isabella Revealed That My Dead Brother Had Left Behind a Daughter, and the Baby I Thought I'd Lost Had Never Been the Only Family Secret Sofia Was HidingI took Isabella and Lily to a private townhouse.
Not the Moretti mansion.
Not yet.
Too many eyes watched my home.
The townhouse belonged to one of my holding companies.
Only four people knew about it.
I brought two of them.
No one else.
Lily sat at the kitchen table eating strawberries.
Isabella sat across from me.
She looked exhausted.
“Start from the beginning.”
She swallowed.
“I met Luca eight years ago.”
“How?”
“He was hiding.”
“From who?”
“Your father.”
My expression hardened.
“My father died nine years ago.”
“He had already been dead for a year.”
I stared.
“So my father wasn't behind it.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
“Your uncle.”
I felt cold.
“I don't have an uncle.”
“You do.”
“What was his name?”
“Nathan.”
The name meant nothing.
Isabella explained.
Your grandfather had two sons.
Your father.
Nathan.
Nathan was supposed to inherit.
Instead, your grandfather chose your father.
Nathan disappeared.
He built his own network.
He eventually returned.
Luca discovered him.
Then vanished.
I sat back.
“Why did everyone think Luca died?”
“Because Nathan wanted you to believe it.”
“Why?”
“Because you became the next heir.”
I frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if Luca was still alive.”
She pulled out a photograph.
Luca.
He looked younger.
Healthy.
Standing beside Isabella.
My throat tightened.
On the back:
Keep her hidden until Sebastian is ready.
My own name.
“What does this mean?”
“He knew you would eventually discover the truth.”
“How?”
“He trusted you.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why didn't he come home?”
“He tried.”
“When?”
“Three times.”
“And?”
“He was shot twice.”
I closed my eyes.
Isabella told me about the night she found him wounded.
She had saved him.
He had asked her to protect his unborn child.
Then he disappeared.
She later discovered she was pregnant.
Lily was born.
A few months later, someone attempted to kill both mother and child.
Isabella went into hiding.
I whispered:
“Why didn't you contact me?”
“Because I didn't know whether you were part of Nathan's network.”
“You thought I was?”
“I didn't know.”
I leaned forward.
“What about the night you saved me?”
“Luca sent me.”
I froze.
“He knew where I was?”
“He knew you were being hunted.”
“By whom?”
“Nathan's men.”
I remembered the alley.
Three bullets.
A black vehicle.
A man shouting my name.
I thought it had been a random attack.
It wasn't.
It was a warning.
Luca had sent Isabella to find me.
She had saved me.
Then disappeared to protect herself.
I looked at Lily.
She was drawing again.
A little house.
A woman.
A man.
A wolf.
I asked:
“Does she know who I am?”
“She knows you're family.”
“Does she know I'm her uncle?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Luca told her stories.”
My chest tightened.
“What kind?”
Isabella smiled weakly.
“He told her you were the stubborn one.”
I laughed despite myself.
“That sounds like him.”
“He said you never listened.”
“That sounds even more like him.”
For the first time, Isabella smiled.
Then the smile disappeared.
“I need to tell you something else.”
“What?”
“Sofia.”
I stared.
“What about her?”
“She has been asking questions about Lily.”
“How do you know?”
“She found us.”
I froze.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“Why?”
“She wanted information.”
“About Luca?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“About you.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Why would Sofia care about Lily?”
“Because Lily is the legal heir to a trust your grandfather created.”
I stared.
“How much?”
“Everything your grandfather refused to give Nathan.”
That meant billions.
Companies.
Properties.
Accounts.
Assets.
A hidden foundation.
Control over the old family holdings.
Lily wasn't simply Luca's daughter.
She was the missing piece of the Moretti succession.
I looked at the girl.
She was six.
She was eating strawberries.
She had no idea that adults might kill her for money.
I asked:
“Why is Sofia connected?”
Isabella hesitated.
Then:
“She isn't acting alone.”
“Who?”
“Someone inside your house.”
I stood.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“That isn't good enough.”
She gave me a name.
Marco Bellini.
My chief legal adviser.
I felt the floor shift.
Marco had been with me for twelve years.
He had handled every major contract.
Every inheritance document.
Every trust.
Every property.
He knew everything.
I picked up my phone.
Then stopped.
Isabella watched me.
“Don't call anyone yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if Marco is compromised, he'll know you're suspicious.”
I looked at her.
“Then we do this quietly.”
She nodded.
That night, I returned home alone.
Sofia was waiting.
She cried when she saw me.
“I thought you were going to leave me.”
I looked at her.
“I should.”
She flinched.
“I was afraid.”
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“Who is the father?”
She looked down.
“He doesn't matter.”
I laughed.
“That's what you tell yourself?”
She cried harder.
“The baby isn't mine.”
“No.”
Her silence confirmed it.
“Who is he?”
She whispered a name.
Ethan Blake.
A politician's son.
The man I had been preparing to negotiate with.
I stared at her.
“Did he know about the baby?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know I wasn't the father?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know about Lily?”
She froze.
I knew.
“You know her.”
Sofia covered her face.
“I never meant for any of this to happen.”
“Who paid you?”
Her head snapped up.
“No one.”
“Who threatened you?”
She wouldn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Your uncle.”
My blood went cold.
“Nathan?”
“He's alive.”
I stood completely still.
Sofia looked at me through tears.
“He told me if I married you, he would give me everything.”
That was when I realized the truth.
The baby wasn't the only lie.
My wedding had been part of an operation.
May you like
My fiancée had been placed beside me.
And someone had been using her to get close to my empire.
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