Chapter 2 - The Secret Hidden Inside The Rossi Family
The next morning, Leo Rossi did something nobody expected.
He canceled every meeting.
Every business appointment.
Every phone call.
For the first time in years, the most powerful man in the city ignored everything.
Because he had only one question.
Was his mother alive?
His private investigator, Daniel Cruz, arrived before noon.
“You called me?”
Leo placed an old photograph on the desk.
His mother.
Maria Rossi.
Young.
Smiling.
Holding a little boy in her arms.
Leo pointed at the picture.
“Find her.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“But she died.”
Leo looked up.
“Did she?”
Daniel became quiet.
That answer told him everything.
Three hours later, Daniel returned.
And he looked worried.
“Leo.”
“What?”
“I checked the official records.”
“And?”
“Your mother’s death certificate exists.”
“So?”
“It was signed by a doctor who disappeared two years later.”
Leo narrowed his eyes.
“Keep going.”
“The accident report was incomplete.”
“There were no hospital records.”
“No insurance claim.”
“No police investigation.”
Leo slowly stood.
“You’re saying my mother’s death was fake?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I’m saying someone wanted everyone to believe she died.”
Leo walked toward the window.
For twenty years, he had carried pain from a death that might never have happened.
Someone had stolen his mother from him.
Someone had made him mourn a lie.
Then Daniel placed another file on the desk.
“There’s something else.”
Leo opened it.
Inside was a photo.
An old woman leaving St. Jude’s Hospice in Boston.
Leo stared.
The scar.
The face.
The eyes.
Even after twenty years…
He knew her.
“My God…”
“That’s her?”
Leo didn’t answer.
He couldn’t.
Because his entire world had just cracked open.
Meanwhile, Clare arrived at work and immediately noticed something different.
People were watching her.
The servants.
The security guards.
Everyone.
She walked into the kitchen.
Mrs. Gable was waiting.
“You should leave.”
Clare stopped.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Why?”
Mrs. Gable looked around.
“Because you don’t understand what you stepped into.”
Clare lowered her voice.
“What is happening?”
Mrs. Gable looked terrified.
“You sang a song you should never have known.”
“That song belongs to a woman who was supposed to be dead.”
Clare shook her head.
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why are you telling me to leave?”
Mrs. Gable looked at her.
“Because the people who hid that secret won’t care if you knew accidentally.”
A voice came from behind them.
“She’s not leaving.”
Both women turned.
Leo stood there.
“I need her.”
Mrs. Gable looked shocked.
“Mr. Rossi…”
Leo interrupted.
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“I spent twenty years believing my mother was dead.”
“And Clare may be the only person who saw her alive.”
Clare looked at him.
“You think she’s really your mother?”
Leo’s eyes hardened.
“I don’t know.”
“But I’m going to find out.”
That evening, Leo took Clare to a private room.
On the table were dozens of documents.
Photos.
Records.
Letters.
“I need you to look at these.”
Clare picked up a picture.
It showed a young Maria Rossi.
Then an older woman.
The same scar.
The same eyes.
“That’s her.”
Leo closed his eyes.
The confirmation hurt more than he expected.
“She was alive.”
Clare looked at him.
“Mr. Rossi…”
“Leo.”
She hesitated.
“Leo.”
“Why would someone do this?”
He didn’t answer.
Because deep down, he already knew.
His family had secrets.
Dangerous ones.
The kind people killed to protect.
Then Leo’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What happened?”
A pause.
Then:
“Send me the footage.”
Seconds later, Daniel sent a video.
Leo watched.
The security camera showed someone entering his mother’s old bedroom twenty years ago.
Someone carrying a suitcase.
Someone who looked familiar.
Leo leaned closer.
Then he froze.
May you like
Because the person in the video was not a stranger.
It was his father.
