Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN OUTSIDE THE GATEDominic ordered the exterior cameras examined.
The footage showed a woman standing across the street from the mansion on three separate evenings. She wore a dark coat and carried a red umbrella, even when it wasn't raining.
Each time, she remained for less than ten minutes.
Each time, she looked toward the upstairs windows.
Elena recognized her immediately.
"That's the woman from the clinic."
Dominic enlarged the image.
His mother.
He watched the recording again.
"Why didn't she approach me?"
Elena considered the question.
"Maybe she believed someone was watching."
Dominic had the street checked, but Isabella was gone.
Then an unfamiliar number called.
He answered.
"Dominic?"
It was a woman's voice.
"Who is this?"
"Someone who knew your mother before Anthony destroyed her life."
"Where is she?"
"Safe for the moment."
Dominic stood.
"Tell me where."
"Not until you listen. Anthony has been searching for the original hospital register. Raymond has been keeping it hidden for years."
"Why?"
"Because it contains the truth about the night your father died."
The caller gave him an address in Brooklyn.
Then she added:
"Come without your uncle's people. And don't bring Michael."
The call ended.
Dominic arranged for police surveillance and met the woman at a small apartment above a bookstore.
She introduced herself as Margaret Ellis, a former hospital administrator.
She had worked at the medical center where Isabella had been treated twelve years earlier.
"I signed the original admission papers," she explained. "Your mother was brought in after a serious incident. She was conscious, but she had been threatened."
"By whom?"
"Anthony."
Margaret opened a drawer and removed an old photograph.
It showed Isabella holding a newborn baby.
Dominic recognized himself.
"Why does my father's letter suggest I'm not his biological son?"
Margaret looked down.
"Because your father was trying to protect you from a scandal."
She explained that Isabella had suffered a medical emergency during childbirth. The hospital had made a mistake, and another newborn's records had been mixed with hers.
The error was discovered before the babies were released.
But Raymond Cross used the confusion to create fraudulent identity documents. Anthony then threatened the hospital staff to keep the original records hidden.
"Your father learned about the fraud," Margaret continued. "He tried to expose it. That's when everything became dangerous."
"Who was the other child?"
Margaret shook her head.
"I never learned the identity. Raymond took the original register."
Dominic felt anger rising.
"So everyone knew something about my life except me?"
"Your parents were trying to protect you."
He stared at the photograph.
"Where is my mother?"
Margaret handed him a small piece of paper.
"She left this for you."
The message contained a location in Queens and a time.
Dominic arranged for Elena to accompany him.
At the address, they found a modest apartment building.
A woman opened the door.
Her hair was streaked with gray, and her face was thinner than Dominic remembered.
But her eyes were unmistakable.
"Dominic."
He stood motionless.
For twelve years, he had imagined this moment in a hundred different ways.
He had imagined anger, accusations, explanations, and tears.
Instead, he could barely speak.
"Mom?"
Isabella covered her mouth.
Then she stepped forward.
Dominic embraced her.
She held him as if she were afraid he might disappear.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
He pulled back.
"Why didn't you come home?"
"Because Anthony told me he would kill you."
"He's been living in my house."
"I know."
Her eyes moved toward Elena.
"You're the young woman who helped Maria."
Elena nodded.
Isabella reached for her hand.
"Then you need to know something. Maria isn't the only person Anthony has kept hidden."
May you like
She looked at Dominic.
"There's another witness. And he is someone you have trusted all your life."
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