Chapter 7 - Sofia’s Hidden File
Leo survived the night.
The doctors flushed the drug from his system while I remained beside him.
He refused every bottle they offered.
He only fed when I held him.
Lorenzo did not leave the nursery.
He stood near the window with dried blood across his shirt and stared at the photograph of Sofia.
At sunrise, his sister arrived.
Bianca Rossi entered the mansion wearing a white coat over black clothes.
She was younger than Lorenzo, but the same controlled danger lived in her eyes.
She looked at the damaged nursery.
Then she looked at me feeding Leo.
“What is she doing?”
“Keeping him alive,” Lorenzo said.
Bianca’s expression sharpened.
“She is a maid.”
“She is the reason your nephew is breathing.”
“I heard she entered under a false name.”
Lorenzo faced her.
“I also heard Marco disappeared through one of our family’s tunnels.”
Bianca stopped speaking.
Lorenzo handed her the photograph.
She read the message on the back.
Her face changed.
“Where did you find this?”
“With the drug used on Leo.”
Bianca sat down.
“Sofia gave me a key before she died.”
Lorenzo stepped toward her.
“What key?”
“She made me promise not to tell you unless something happened to Leo.”
“You kept this from me for two years?”
“She was afraid you would kill the wrong person before she found proof.”
Bianca removed a chain from beneath her blouse.
A small brass key hung from it.
“It opens a deposit box in the old family bank.”
Lorenzo looked furious.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried after the accident.”
“Marco convinced you that grief was making you unstable.”
“He said the crash was caused by a mechanical failure.”
“He produced reports.”
“He produced witnesses.”
“He controlled every answer before you could ask the question.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
The man he had trusted had helped shape his grief.
Bianca looked at me.
“What does she know?”
“Enough to be in danger,” Lorenzo said.
I adjusted Leo in my arms.
“My daughter was born at Saint Mercy Hospital.”
“Dr. Vale altered the records.”
“Marco paid him.”
Bianca stared at me.
“Dr. Vale signed Sofia’s death certificate.”
The words froze the room.
Sofia had not died immediately in the crash.
She had survived long enough to reach the hospital.
Dr. Vale had been the physician who declared her dead.
Within an hour, Lorenzo, Bianca, and six guards left for the bank.
I remained at the estate with Leo.
Lorenzo doubled the security outside every door.
Before leaving, he crouched beside me.
“No one enters this room without the code.”
“What is the code?”
“Lily.”
I looked at him.
He lowered his voice.
“So you know I have not forgotten why you are here.”
Hours passed.
Leo slept against my chest.
For the first time since his birth, his breathing sounded peaceful.
A soft knock came from the door.
“Code,” I called.
“Lily.”
The voice belonged to Bianca.
I unlocked the door.
She entered carrying a black leather folder.
Her white coat was stained with dirt.
“Where is Lorenzo?”
“He went to search Marco’s apartment.”
Bianca placed the folder on the table.
“Sofia documented everything.”
“Payments to Vale.”
“Missing medicine.”
“Money transferred through shell companies.”
“And a list of employees Marco placed inside the mansion.”
She opened the folder.
Most names had photographs beside them.
The nurse.
Mason.
Two guards.
A cook.
A driver.
Then I saw the final photograph.
It showed the woman standing in front of me.
Bianca Rossi.
I looked up.
She had already locked the door.
A pistol appeared in her hand.
“I am sorry, Clara.”
May you like
She aimed it at Leo.
“My brother was never supposed to find that file.”
