Chapter 2 - The Child They Never Buried
“There’s another bracelet.”
Sophia’s voice was so quiet I almost thought I had imagined it.
Matteo did not.
His head snapped toward her.
Valentina gripped the staircase railing.
I lowered the DNA report.
“Where?”
Sophia looked at Matteo.
That frightened me more than anything she could have said.
“Sophia.”
I stepped between her and my brother.
“You’re safe.”
Her eyes moved to mine.
“No, I’m not.”
Matteo finally spoke.
“She’s eight years old.”
His voice sounded controlled again.
Almost normal.
“She’s confused.”
Sophia shook her head.
“I’m not confused.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
I looked toward my guards.
“Lock the gates.”
Matteo stared at me.
“What?”
“Nobody leaves the estate.”
“You cannot be serious.”
“Every gate.”
I never looked away from him.
“Every vehicle.”
“Every service road.”
“Every tunnel.”
My head of security nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
Matteo took a step forward.
“This is insane.”
I held up the DNA report.
“This says you and I do not share a biological father.”
His face hardened.
Valentina whispered my name.
I ignored her.
“And an eight-year-old girl just told me there is another hospital bracelet connected to the night my son disappeared.”
I moved closer to Matteo.
“So yes.”
“I am very serious.”
The doctor carried the newborn toward the private medical room.
The baby made one weak sound.
I looked at him.
Something inside my chest tightened.
Then Sophia touched my sleeve.
“The other bracelet is outside.”
“Where?”
“The old servants’ wing.”
Matteo’s face changed again.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
So did Sophia.
She moved behind me.
I turned toward the rear corridor.
“Show me.”
Valentina came down the final step.
“You’re not going out there tonight.”
I stopped.
She had said it too quickly.
I slowly looked at her.
“Why?”
“The storm.”
“That didn’t stop someone from putting a newborn baby in the trash.”
She went silent.
Sophia and I walked toward the rear doors.
Four guards followed.
Then Matteo called after me.
“You’re making a mistake.”
I turned.
“Then pray I find nothing.”
The rain had gotten worse.
Lightning flashed above the estate.
Sophia walked beneath her red umbrella while I followed beside her.
She did not lead me toward the trash shed.
Instead, she continued past it.
Toward the burned servants’ wing.
Twelve years ago, that building had been black with smoke.
I remembered standing in this same garden while flames tore through the roof.
I remembered men holding me back.
I remembered screaming for my son.
And Matteo’s arms around my shoulders.
“He’s gone.”
That was what my brother had told me.
“He’s gone.”
Now I wondered if he had already known exactly where my son was.
Sophia stopped beside a boarded window.
“There.”
I saw nothing.
She crouched near the wall and pushed aside wet ivy.
A rusted metal panel appeared beneath it.
One of my guards pulled it open.
Behind the panel was a narrow opening.
A passage.
I stared at Sophia.
“How did you know this was here?”
“My mom showed me.”
My eyes narrowed.
Sophia’s mother, Elena, had been our housekeeper for nearly fifteen years.
Then she had disappeared six months earlier.
Matteo told me she had stolen money and fled.
I had believed him.
“Why did she show you?”
Sophia looked down.
“She said if anything happened to her, I should remember the way inside.”
The cold rain suddenly felt much colder.
We entered the passage.
The smell of damp wood and smoke still clung to the walls after twelve years.
Sophia walked ahead.
She counted doors beneath her breath.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
Then she stopped.
There was a loose stone near the floor.
She pulled it out.
Inside the wall was a small metal box.
My hands shook when I opened it.
There were photographs.
A key.
A folded letter.
And a hospital bracelet.
I lifted it carefully.
ST. HELENA HOSPITAL.
BABY BOY ROSSI.
MOTHER: VALENTINA ROSSI.
DATE OF BIRTH: OCTOBER 14.
Twelve years earlier.
The exact date my son had supposedly died.
I closed my eyes.
For twelve years, I had been told his body had been too badly burned to identify.
For twelve years, I had visited an empty grave.
I turned the bracelet over.
There was handwriting on the back.
One sentence.
HE LIVED.
My legs nearly gave out.
“Sophia.”
My voice barely worked.
“Who wrote this?”
“My mom.”
I looked at her.
“Where is she?”
Sophia started crying.
Not loudly.
Just tears sliding down her face.
“I don’t know.”
I crouched in front of her.
“What happened to Elena?”
“She found the boy.”
Every sound in the passage disappeared.
I stared at her.
“What boy?”
Sophia wiped her face.
“The one with your eyes.”
My heart stopped.
“How old is he?”
“Twelve.”
I could barely breathe.
“Where is he?”
Sophia looked toward the darkness at the end of the passage.
“He used to live here.”
“Used to?”
She nodded.
“Until Mr. Matteo found out.”
A noise came from behind us.
One of the guards turned.
Footsteps.
Running.
A second later, a voice came through the radio.
“Sir.”
“We have a problem.”
I stood.
“What?”
“Mr. Matteo is gone.”
I stared into the darkness.
The guard continued.
“And so is Mrs. Rossi.”
May you like
Then Sophia whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“They know you found the bracelet.”
