Chapter 5: The Secret Buried Five Years Ago
The video ended.
But nobody moved.
Vincent stood in the middle of the old Hart kitchen, staring at Daniel’s phone like it had become something dangerous.
Like touching it would make the truth spill out faster than he could handle.
The last words remained burned in his mind.
*THE FIRST BABY WASN’T AN ACCIDENT.*
He looked at Isabella.
She looked like she had aged years in a few seconds.
Not because she was hiding something.
Because someone had reopened a wound she had spent five years trying to survive.
“Bella,” Vincent said softly.
She didn’t answer.
“Look at me.””
Slowly, she lifted her eyes.
There was fear there.
Not fear of him.
Fear of what she was about to remember.
“I should have told you.””
Vincent swallowed.
“Yes.””
The word came out harsher than he intended.
Isabella flinched.
He immediately regretted it.
But the pain was already between them.
Not because she had lost a child.
Not because she had been hurt.
Because she had carried that pain alone.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
She looked away.
“I wanted to tell you so many times.””
“Why didn’t you?””
Her fingers wrapped around the old photograph on the table.
“Because everyone told me the same thing.””
“What?””
“That if I talked about it, I would never move on.””
Vincent shook his head.
“That’s not true.””
“My mother said it.””
His expression changed.
Of course she did.
“She told me I needed to stop being weak.””
Isabella’s voice became quieter.
“She said nobody wanted to hear about a baby who didn’t make it.””
Vincent felt anger rise in his chest.
“She said that to you?””
Isabella nodded.
“She said I should focus on having another child someday.””
The silence that followed was unbearable.
Because Vincent understood something.
This wasn’t just about a stolen baby.
This was about years of someone controlling Isabella’s reality.
Making her doubt herself.
Making her believe she was broken.
But one question remained.
“Who was in that video?””
Isabella closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.””
Vincent looked surprised.
“You don’t recognize them?””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“The video was dark. I only saw someone standing beside me.””
“Someone who told you what to say?””
Isabella nodded slowly.
“I remember a voice.””
“What voice?””
Her face tightened.
“A man’s voice.””
Vincent looked at the phone again.
“Daniel?””
“No.””
“Are you sure?””
“Yes.””
Her answer was immediate.
“I would know Daniel’s voice.””
She touched her forehead.
“This was someone else.””
Before Vincent could respond, the front door downstairs slammed.
Both of them froze.
Someone was inside.
Vincent grabbed the nearest object on the table.
A heavy wooden candle holder.
“Stay here.””
Isabella grabbed his arm.
“No.””
“Bella—”
“I’m done hiding.””
They moved downstairs together.
The hallway was empty.
But the front door was open.
Cold air entered the house.
Then Vincent noticed something on the floor.
A small envelope.
No name.
No address.
Just one word written across the front.
*ISABELLA.*
She picked it up.
“Don’t.””
Vincent stopped her.
“It could be a trap.””
She looked at him.
“Everything already is.””
Slowly, she opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
A handwritten message.
*Your mother lied about the first baby. Ask her what happened at St. Catherine’s Hospital.*
Below it was a photograph.
A security image.
A hospital hallway.
The date was five years ago.
The night Isabella lost her first child.
Vincent stared at the picture.
A person stood outside Isabella’s hospital room.
A person who had been there before the tragedy.
The image was blurry.
But one thing was clear.
The person was carrying the same brown leather folder.
The same folder that appeared in the nursery footage.
Isabella’s hand began shaking.
“No.””
Vincent looked at her.
“You know who that is?””
She stared at the photograph.
Slowly, she whispered:
“I thought she wasn’t there.””
“Who?””
Isabella looked up.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My mother.””
A cold silence filled the room.
Vincent looked back at the photograph.
“Evelyn was at the hospital?””
“She told me she wasn’t.””
“Why would she lie?””
Isabella didn’t answer.
Because maybe she finally understood.
The same person who manipulated her five years ago had returned.
And this time, the target wasn’t just Isabella.
It was her daughter.
A sound came from outside.
A car door closing.
Vincent looked through the window.
A black SUV was parked beside the road.
Someone was sitting inside.
Watching them.
“I’ll handle this,” Vincent said.
“No.””
Isabella stepped forward.
“I need answers.””
They walked outside.
The SUV door opened.
Daniel stepped out.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
He looked exhausted.
Like he hadn’t slept in days.
Isabella stared at him.
“You knew.””
Daniel looked down.
“Bella…”
“You knew they were taking my daughter.””
“No.””
Her expression hardened.
“Don’t lie to me.””
Daniel looked at Vincent.
“I was trying to stop it.””
Vincent laughed coldly.
“By helping them?””
Daniel’s face changed.
“I made a mistake.””
“A mistake?””
Vincent stepped closer.
“You walked into our nursery.””
Daniel looked away.
“You don’t understand.””
“No, explain it.””
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I thought I was protecting you.””
Isabella looked devastated.
“Protecting me?””
Daniel swallowed.
“Bella, you don’t know everything.””
“Then tell me.””
He looked at the house.
Then at the photograph in her hand.
“You found it.””
Isabella’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew about the photo?””
Daniel said nothing.
That was enough.
“You sent it.””
“No.””
“Then who?””
Daniel looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
“There are people involved who are bigger than Mom.””
Vincent stepped forward.
“Who?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I can’t.””
Isabella’s voice broke.
“You helped them take my child, and now you’re scared to tell me who?””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I was trying to buy time.””
“For what?””
“To get her away from them.””
“Who has my daughter?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Vincent grabbed his jacket.
“Answer her.””
Daniel pulled away.
“I don’t know.””
Nobody spoke.
Because somehow that was worse.
“You don’t know?”” Isabella repeated.
Daniel’s eyes filled with guilt.
“I know where she was taken.””
Vincent froze.
“Where?””
Daniel looked toward the city.
“The private residence of someone who has been controlling everything.””
“Who?””
Daniel hesitated.
Then he said:
“The person who arranged the hospital documents.””
“The person who paid Dr. Voss.””
“The person who convinced Mom this was necessary.””
Isabella stepped closer.
“Say the name.””
Daniel looked at her.
“I can’t.””
“Why?””
His voice became barely audible.
“Because you won’t believe me.””
“Try me.””
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a small flash drive.
“I copied everything before they found out I was helping you.””
Vincent took it.
“What’s on this?””
“Emails.””
“Between who?””
Daniel looked at Isabella.
“Your mother.””
“Dr. Voss.””
“And the person who started this five years ago.””
Isabella’s face went pale.
“Who?””
Daniel looked away.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“The person who caused your first baby’s death.””
Isabella stopped breathing.
Vincent tightened his grip on the flash drive.
“Who?””
Daniel’s eyes filled with regret.
Then a phone rang.
Not Vincent’s.
Not Isabella’s.
Daniel’s.
He looked at the screen.
And the color drained from his face.
“What is it?”” Isabella asked.
Daniel didn’t answer.
He turned the phone around.
A message appeared.
*WE KNOW YOU TALKED.*
Attached was a photo.
A photo taken seconds earlier.
Of Vincent, Isabella, and Daniel standing outside the house.
Someone had been watching them.
Then another message appeared.
*IF YOU WANT THE BABY ALIVE, STOP DIGGING.*
Isabella’s knees almost gave out.
Vincent caught her.
And Daniel whispered the truth he had been trying to hide.
“They were never trying to take custody.””
He looked at the two people he had betrayed.
“They were trying to erase Isabella’s right to her own daughter.””
Vincent stared at him.
“Why?””
Daniel looked at the flash drive.
“Because the truth about what happened five years ago would destroy them.””
The three of them stood frozen.
Then Vincent’s phone buzzed.
A new message.
From an unknown number.
A picture loaded.
It was Bella.
Their newborn daughter.
Sleeping peacefully in someone’s arms.
May you like
And underneath the photo were five words:
*SHE KNOWS WHO HER MOTHER IS.*
