Chapter 6 - THE SECRET OF THE NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPH|
Luca held the photograph as if it might fall apart in his hands.
The baby in Isabella's arms looked no older than a few weeks. His mother was smiling, her cheek pressed against his head.
I recognized the face.
Not the baby's.
The woman's.
It was Isabella, but younger than I'd ever seen her in family portraits.
“Who is the child?” I asked.
Luca turned the photograph over again.
“I don't know.”
“Could it be one of your brothers?”
“My brothers were born years before my accident. This photograph is dated twelve years ago.”
The date matched the year Luca was injured.
Marco searched the storage unit while Luca examined the image.
There were no other photographs. No documents. No boxes. Whoever had emptied the place had taken almost everything.
But Marco discovered a small envelope taped beneath a shelf.
Inside was a hospital bracelet.
The name printed on it was unfamiliar.
Baby Boy V.
There was no first name.
No birth weight.
No mother's name.
Only a date.
Luca looked at the bracelet.
“Find the hospital.”
Marco checked the date and the barcode.
“It was issued by Saint Gabriel.”
The same facility where Luca had undergone his second operation.
I felt a chill.
“Do you think your mother had another child?”
Luca didn't answer.
He was staring at the photograph.
That evening, he asked his aunt, Teresa Moretti, to come to the estate.
Teresa was Isabella's younger sister. She lived in a quiet house in the suburbs and rarely attended family functions. She arrived carrying a handbag and a worried expression.
When Luca showed her the photograph, she sat down abruptly.
“Where did you get this?”
“Who is the baby?”
Teresa's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother told me never to speak about him.”
“Who?”
She pressed a hand to her mouth.
“His name was Matteo.”
Luca stared at her.
“Was?”
Teresa nodded.
“He was born three weeks before your accident.”
“Why have I never heard of him?”
“Because Augusto said the child died.”
“Was he my brother?”
Teresa looked down.
“He was your son.”
The room went silent.
I felt the floor tilt beneath me.
Luca didn't move.
“What did you say?”
Teresa's voice trembled.
“Your mother believed you had fathered a child before the accident. You were twenty-three. You had been seeing a woman named Elena Rossi. She became pregnant, but Augusto insisted the baby was premature and wouldn't survive.”
Luca shook his head.
“I never knew.”
“Your mother did. She tried to protect the child.”
“Where is he?”
Teresa began crying.
“I don't know.”
Luca stood so suddenly that his chair fell backward.
“Who took him?”
“Augusto arranged everything.”
He looked at the photograph again.
“Why would my father hide my son?”
Teresa swallowed.
“Because Matteo was born with a condition that made him valuable to someone. Augusto believed the child could be used to secure an alliance with another family.”
Luca's face turned cold.
“An alliance?”
“Your father wanted control of a medical research company. The child's medical records were part of the arrangement.”
Luca looked at Marco.
“Find Elena Rossi.”
Marco nodded.
But Teresa caught Luca's sleeve.
“There's something else.”
He turned.
“Your mother discovered the truth about your fertility diagnosis after Matteo disappeared. She confronted Augusto.”
“What happened?”
Teresa lowered her voice.
“She was going to tell you everything.”
Luca's eyes narrowed.
May you like
“And?”
“Three days later, she died.”
