Chapter 4: The Name on the Record
Vittorio stared at the hospital document until the words stopped looking like words.
*Patient Name: Lucy Hale.*
The screen blurred.
For a few seconds, he heard nothing.
Not the hum of the conference room lights.
Not the traffic outside the windows.
Not Emma saying his name.
Nothing.
Because his mind had gone somewhere else.
Five years earlier.
A hospital room.
A newborn baby crying.
Bianca standing beside him with tears in her eyes.
“She’s ours,” she had whispered.
And Vittorio had believed her.
He had believed everything.
Emma slowly approached.
“Vittorio…”
He locked the phone.
“Find out if it’s real.””
Her face tightened.
“You think Marcus could fake a hospital record?””
“I think Marcus has spent years planning something.””
He stood.
“So yes.””
Emma nodded.
She understood.
The man in front of her was no longer reacting.
He was calculating.
The same way he did before negotiating billion-dollar contracts.
But this time, the enemy was inside his own family.
Within thirty minutes, Vittorio’s private investigator arrived.
Daniel Cross had worked for the Romano family for seven years.
He was one of the few people Vittorio trusted completely.
Daniel placed a folder on the table.
“I checked the record.””
Vittorio looked up.
“And?””
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation was worse than the answer.
“It’s authentic.””
The room went silent.
Emma sat down slowly.
“No…”
Daniel continued.
“The hospital existed. The doctor existed. The birth record exists.””
Vittorio’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Lucy?””
Daniel looked at him.
“Lucy was registered as Lucy Elena Hale.””
The name hit harder than he expected.
Elena.
Not Bianca.
Elena.
The woman who was supposed to be dead.
Vittorio walked toward the window.
The city stretched below him.
Thousands of people.
Thousands of lives.
And somewhere among them was the truth he had missed.
“How?””
Daniel opened another document.
“There’s more.””
Vittorio turned.
“The birth certificate was changed eleven days after Lucy was born.””
“Changed by who?””
Daniel placed another paper down.
“Bianca Romano.””
Emma looked confused.
“But why would Bianca change it?””
Daniel looked at Vittorio.
“That’s the question.””
Vittorio picked up the document.
His wife’s signature was there.
Perfectly clear.
Bianca had rewritten history.
She had taken another woman’s child.
Or at least that was what it looked like.
His phone rang.
Bianca.
Everyone in the room looked at him.
He answered.
“What do you want?””
Her voice sounded different.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Scared.
“Where is Lucy?””
Vittorio’s expression hardened.
“With me.””
“You need to bring her home.””
“This is her home.””
A pause.
Then Bianca whispered:
“You don’t understand what you’re protecting her from.””
Vittorio stood still.
“Funny.””
“What?””
“Those were almost the exact words Marcus used.””
Silence.
When Bianca spoke again, her voice shook.
“He talked to you.””
“Yes.””
“What did he say?””
“That Lucy is not my daughter.””
The silence that followed was enormous.
Vittorio waited.
He expected anger.
Denial.
A scream.
Instead, Bianca whispered:
“He found out.””
Vittorio’s hand tightened around the phone.
“Found out what?””
“Vittorio…”
“Answer me.””
A breath.
Then:
“The truth about Elena.””
He looked at Daniel.
He looked at Emma.
“Tell me.””
Bianca started crying.
“I never wanted this.””
“Wanted what?””
“To hurt Lucy.””
“Then why did you?””
Another silence.
Then Bianca said:
“Because Marcus told me if I didn’t do what he asked, he would tell you everything.””
Vittorio’s eyes narrowed.
“You expect me to believe you were forced?””
“I was.””
“You put my daughter on the floor.””
“I know.””
“You made her eat from a dog bowl.””
“I know!””
Her voice broke.
“I know what I did.””
For the first time, Vittorio heard something real.
Regret.
But regret did not erase cruelty.
“What did Marcus threaten you with?””
Bianca did not answer.
“Bianca.””
“He said he would tell you Lucy wasn’t yours.””
Vittorio closed his eyes.
“And?””
“And he said he would tell you why.””
The room became cold.
“Why?””
Bianca whispered:
“Because Lucy’s real mother is alive.””
The call ended.
Vittorio stood motionless.
The truth had changed again.
Elena was alive.
Lucy was not Bianca’s daughter.
But the biggest question remained.
Why had Bianca raised another woman’s child?
And why had Elena disappeared?
That night, Vittorio returned home.
Not the mansion.
The old family estate outside the city.
The place where Lucy felt safe.
She was sitting beside the fireplace drawing.
When she saw him, she smiled.
“Daddy.””
That smile almost broke him.
He sat beside her.
“What are you drawing?””
She turned the paper.
A family.
Four people.
Vittorio.
Lucy.
Bianca.
And a woman with long brown hair.
He froze.
“Who is this?””
Lucy looked surprised.
“That’s Mommy Elena.””
His blood went cold.
“How do you know that name?””
Lucy shrugged.
“She visits me.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“What?””
“Sometimes in my dreams.””
Emma, standing nearby, looked at him.
“Children imagine things.””
But Lucy shook her head.
“No.””
She pointed at the drawing.
“She told me she was sorry.””
Vittorio swallowed.
“What else did she say?””
Lucy thought.
“She said she tried to come back.””
A pause.
“She said Uncle Marcus stopped her.””
The fireplace crackled.
Nobody spoke.
Then Lucy added something quietly.
“She told me not to trust the man who smiles when he’s angry.””
Vittorio looked toward the window.
Marcus.
The man who always smiled.
The man who always looked calm.
The man who had been moving pieces on the board for years.
His phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
*You finally asked the right questions.*
Another message appeared.
*Come alone if you want to meet Lucy’s mother.*
Then an address.
Vittorio stared.
Emma stepped closer.
“What is it?””
He showed her.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“I’m going.””
“It could be a trap.””
“It is.””
“Then why go?””
Vittorio looked at Lucy.
“Because if there is even a chance Elena is alive…”
He stopped.
Because he already knew the answer.
He would walk into any trap.
Fight any enemy.
Lose anything.
For his daughter.
The next morning, Vittorio arrived at the abandoned church listed in the message.
The doors were open.
Inside, candles burned along the aisle.
Too carefully arranged.
Too deliberate.
A trap.
He knew it.
Then a woman stepped out from the shadows.
Vittorio stopped breathing.
She looked older.
Tired.
Broken.
But the eyes were the same.
The eyes he had seen in old photographs.
“Elena?””
The woman stared at him.
Then tears filled her eyes.
“You have her.””
Vittorio stepped forward.
“Who are you?””
The woman touched her face.
“I’m the woman Marcus tried to erase.””
A sound came from behind Vittorio.
A slow clap.
Marcus.
“You always were predictable, Vittorio.””
Vittorio turned.
Marcus stood at the entrance.
Smiling.
And Elena whispered the words that changed everything.
“Vittorio…”
Her voice trembled.
“He didn’t steal my daughter.””
May you like
She looked at Marcus.
“He stole yours.””
