Chapter 20 - THE GIRL AT THE GATE|
Three weeks after the mansion burned, the Duca family story had become impossible to hide.
Financial records had been delivered to federal investigators. The original clinic documents were under examination. Eleanor's accounts had been frozen, and warrants had been issued for several people connected to the operation.
Sophia remained missing.
Richard had not been found.
Marco had surrendered control of several businesses while the investigation continued. He had also given a statement confirming that his family had falsified medical records and concealed evidence of serious crimes.
For the first time in his adult life, he had chosen the truth over the empire.
The decision cost him nearly everything.
But every morning, Lily came downstairs to eat breakfast with him.
Some days she spoke in short sentences. Other days she used her notebook. She had started attending therapy with a specialist who worked with children affected by trauma, and she had begun sleeping through the night.
Isabella stayed beside her.
Their marriage was fragile, full of questions neither could answer quickly. Marco no longer expected forgiveness simply because he had finally discovered the truth.
He learned to listen.
He learned to wait.
And he learned that protecting his daughter meant allowing her to grow into a person who did not need to fear him.
One evening, Ava arrived with news from the investigators.
"They found the Boston address," she said.
Marco looked up.
"Who lives there?"
"No one under the name listed in the file. But the property records show that Sophia purchased it through a shell company."
"Is the girl there?"
"Maybe."
Ava placed a photograph on the table.
It showed a young woman standing outside a small apartment building. She looked to be about twenty, with dark hair, gray eyes, and a silver pendant hanging from her neck.
The pendant was identical to Lily's.
Isabella stared at the photograph.
"That's impossible."
"Why?" Marco asked.
"Because that pendant belonged to me. I gave one to Lily. There was only one."
Ava examined the image.
"Then this could be a copy."
Lily approached the table and looked at the photograph.
Her face changed.
She took the picture from Ava, turned it over, and began writing.
Marco waited.
When she finished, she pushed the page toward him.
I KNOW HER.
He crouched beside her.
"Where have you seen her?"
Lily pointed toward the photograph of the woman.
Then she pointed at her own chest.
Marco's heart began to pound.
"Do you mean she's your sister?"
Lily nodded.
Isabella sat down slowly.
"If this is the child from the clinic, she may have been raised under another identity. We need to establish the connection before making assumptions."
Marco agreed.
He would not allow another child to become a weapon in the family's war.
They arranged a meeting through a lawyer representing the young woman. The meeting was scheduled for the following Friday at a private office in Boston.
But on Thursday night, a package arrived at Catherine's townhouse.
There was no return address.
Inside was a photograph of the burned Duca mansion, taken from the road.
On the back were six handwritten words.
You found the wrong girl, Marco.
A second envelope contained a hospital bracelet.
The name had been scratched away.
Beneath the bracelet lay a small recording device.
Marco pressed play.
At first, there was only static.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
Sophia.
"If you're hearing this, it means Eleanor failed to finish what she started."
Marco leaned closer.
Sophia continued.
"The girl in Boston is real. But she's not the child you think she is. Eleanor created two identities, two birth records, and two separate inheritance claims. One child was meant to be the heir. The other was meant to be the proof that the heir had been stolen."
A pause.
Then Sophia whispered, "And neither of them knows what happened to their biological mother."
The recording ended.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Lily reached for Marco's hand.
Then she opened her notebook and drew a new picture.
Two girls stood on opposite sides of a locked door.
Behind them was a woman with a silver cane.
Above the door, Lily wrote a single word.
MOTHER.
Marco stared at the drawing.
Eleanor had been missing for three weeks.
Richard was still unaccounted for.
Sophia had disappeared.
And somewhere in Boston, a young woman with the same pendant as Lily was waiting for a meeting that might reveal the truth about her birth.
Marco picked up his phone and called Victor's replacement.
"Find Eleanor. Find Sophia. And find out who the woman in Lily's drawing really is."
"Understood, boss."
Marco looked at his daughter.
For the first time, she seemed less frightened than determined.
"Daddy?"
He turned toward her.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
Lily swallowed.
Then she spoke clearly.
"I remember Grandma."
Marco knelt.
"What do you remember?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"She wasn't alone when she took me."
"Who was with her?"
Lily looked toward the dark window.
"A woman who looked like Mommy."
Isabella went completely still.
Marco felt cold spread through his chest.
"That's impossible," Isabella whispered. "I was locked inside Saint Agnes."
Lily shook her head.
"Not that woman."
She took a breath.
"The other Mommy."
At that moment, the security system announced that someone had reached the front gate.
The camera showed a woman standing alone in the rain.
She wore a dark coat, held a silver cane, and carried a small blue suitcase.
Her face was hidden beneath the brim of a hat.
The gate intercom crackled.
A woman's voice spoke.
"Please tell Marco Duca that his daughter has come home."
Marco stared at the screen.
Behind him, Lily began to cry.
Not from fear.
From recognition.
The woman slowly lifted her face toward the camera.
It was Isabella.
Or someone who looked exactly like her.
The woman smiled.
Then she said five words that changed everything.
"Ask which one is your wife."
May you like
The screen went black.
And from somewhere inside the house, a door unlocked by itself.
