Chapter 5: The Daughter Who Was Never Supposed to Exist
The hospital room was colder than Elena remembered.
Maybe it was the white walls.
Maybe it was the machines quietly beeping beside her mother’s bed.
Or maybe it was the feeling that every answer she had spent her entire life searching for was sitting only a few feet away.
Maria Rossi opened her eyes.
The moment she saw Elena, tears filled them.
“My baby.””
Elena stopped at the doorway.
She had imagined this moment a thousand times.
A hug.
A scream.
A question.
But now that it was real, she couldn't move.
Because the woman lying in front of her was both familiar and impossible.
“You’re alive.””
Maria’s lips trembled.
“I’m sorry.””
That was the first thing she said.
Not hello.
Not I missed you.
I’m sorry.
Elena walked closer.
“For what?””
Maria looked away.
“For every lie.””
The words cut deeper than Elena expected.
Raffaello stood behind her.
Silent.
Watching.
Maria noticed him.
Her face changed immediately.
“You shouldn’t be here.””
Raffaello stepped forward.
“I think I deserve to know why.””
Maria looked frightened.
“No.””
“Your daughter almost died believing I abandoned her.””
“I know.””
“You let me be blamed for something I never did.””
“I know.””
“Then tell me why.””
Maria closed her eyes.
“Because if you knew the truth, they would have killed all of you.””
Elena’s heart pounded.
“Who are they?””
Maria didn't answer.
“Mom.””
Her mother opened her eyes.
“You need to leave this country.””
Elena stared.
“What?””
“Take Sofia and disappear.””
“No.””
“You don’t understand.””
“No, I understand perfectly.””
Elena stepped closer.
“My entire life has been controlled by secrets.””
Her voice shook.
“My father was supposedly dead. You were supposedly dead. My husband supposedly abandoned me.””
She pointed toward Raffaello.
“And now I find out everyone knew something except me.””
Maria looked down.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“By lying?””
“Yes.””
Elena laughed softly.
It wasn't happiness.
It was pain.
“You know what I hated most after you died?””
Maria looked at her.
“I hated that I never got to ask you why.””
A tear rolled down Elena’s face.
“Why did you leave me?””
Maria broke.
“I never left you.””
“Then why was there an empty grave?””
Maria looked toward the window.
“Because your father wanted everyone to believe I was gone.””
The room went silent.
Raffaello’s eyes narrowed.
“Your husband?””
Maria nodded.
Elena felt dizzy.
“My father did this?””
“He did much more than that.””
“Who is he?””
Maria looked at her daughter.
A mother looking at a child she had tried desperately to hide.
“Your father is not the man you thought he was.””
Elena swallowed.
“Then who is he?””
Before Maria could answer, the lights flickered.
Everyone looked up.
The machines beside the bed beeped strangely.
Raffaello immediately moved.
“Get away from the window.””
Elena turned.
“What?””
“Now.””
The command in his voice made her move.
Raffaello grabbed Sofia from the chair where she had been sitting quietly and pulled her close.
A second later, the hospital room door opened.
A nurse walked in.
Too calm.
Too slow.
Raffaello noticed instantly.
“You’re not a nurse.””
The woman stopped.
Then smiled.
Maria’s face went white.
“Run.””
The woman reached inside her coat.
Raffaello reacted first.
He pushed Elena and Sofia behind him.
Security alarms suddenly exploded throughout the hallway.
The woman cursed and ran.
Two hospital guards chased after her.
The room fell silent again.
Sofia clung to Raffaello.
“Daddy…”
“I’m here.””
“Are bad people trying to hurt us?””
Raffaello looked at Elena.
Then answered honestly.
“Yes.””
Sofia’s eyes filled with tears.
“But why?””
Raffaello had no answer.
Elena did.
“Because some people are afraid of the truth.””
Maria watched her.
“You sound like me.””
Elena looked at her.
“No.””
She shook her head.
“I sound like someone who is tired of being lied to.””
Maria closed her eyes.
“You have your father’s anger.””
Elena froze.
“What does that mean?””
Maria opened her eyes again.
“It means you need to know who you are.””
Elena frowned.
“I know who I am.””
“No.””
Maria’s voice was barely a whisper.
“You know the name you were given.””
She reached beneath her pillow.
From underneath it, she pulled a small envelope.
Old.
Yellowed.
Sealed with wax.
Elena stared.
“What is that?””
“Your birth records.””
“I already have birth records.””
“Fake ones.””
The room seemed to stop.
Maria handed the envelope to her.
“Your real name is inside.””
Elena looked at the envelope but didn't open it.
“Why now?””
“Because I thought I had more time.””
“For what?””
“To find the courage.””
Maria looked at Raffaello.
“He needs to know too.””
Raffaello stepped forward.
“What?””
Maria’s hands trembled.
“Your families are connected.””
Elena looked between them.
“What are you talking about?””
Maria looked at the pendant around Elena’s neck.
“The Vitale family and the Rossi family were never strangers.””
Raffaello stared.
“My father knew your family?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Maria whispered:
“Because your father and Elena’s father built the empire together.””
Raffaello went still.
“That’s impossible.””
“No.””
Maria shook her head.
“That is why they tried to erase Elena.””
Elena opened the envelope.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
Her hands shook as she unfolded it.
The name at the top was not Elena Rossi.
It was:
*Alessandra Valentina De Luca.*
She stared.
“I don’t understand.””
Maria looked at her.
“You were born into the De Luca family.””
Raffaello’s expression changed.
The name meant something to him.
Elena noticed.
“You know that name.””
He didn't answer.
“Raffaello.””
He looked away.
“My father told me never to say it.””
“Why?””
“Because the De Lucas were supposed to be extinct.””
Elena’s breathing stopped.
“Extinct?””
Raffaello looked at her.
“Your family controlled half of southern Italy’s financial world.””
“That doesn't explain why I was hidden.””
“No.””
He looked at Maria.
“But I think she can.””
Maria’s eyes filled with fear.
“Your father wanted the inheritance.””
Elena frowned.
“What inheritance?””
Maria whispered:
“The one that legally belongs to you.””
The door suddenly slammed open.
Everyone turned.
A doctor stood there.
But something was wrong.
His expression was too calm.
His eyes were fixed only on Elena.
Maria immediately recognized him.
Her face drained of color.
“No.””
The doctor smiled.
“Hello, Alessandra.””
Elena froze.
Nobody had called her that before.
The doctor stepped into the room.
“I’ve been looking for you for twenty-eight years.””
Raffaello moved in front of Elena.
“Who are you?””
The doctor smiled.
“Someone who knows why she was hidden.””
Maria gripped the bedsheet.
“Stay away from my daughter.””
The doctor ignored her.
He looked at Elena.
“Your father wanted you dead.””
Elena felt cold.
“Why?””
The doctor’s smile disappeared.
“Because you are the only person alive who can take everything from him.””
A silence followed.
Then the doctor placed a file on the table.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Elena as a newborn baby.
And beside her was a man holding her.
Her father.
On the back of the photograph were five words written in ink.
*Kill her before she inherits.*
Elena stared.
Her hands began to shake.
The doctor leaned closer.
“And now that you know the truth…”
He smiled.
May you like
“Your father knows you’re alive.””
The hospital lights went out.
