Chapter 5 - Sofia’s Bargain
Anna’s story began with fear.
She had discovered the old Moretti ledgers.
She had also discovered she was Vincent Moretti’s daughter.
By then she was pregnant.
The father was a man who left after learning who her biological family was.
Anna did not blame him.
She barely survived learning herself.
Sofia helped her secretly.
Then someone started following Anna.
Cars outside her apartment.
Calls with silence.
A break-in.
Sofia believed the threat came from old Moretti associates who feared the adoption records becoming public.
She offered a solution.
Disappear.
Anna refused.
Then the car accident happened.
Not staged by her.
Real.
Someone forced her off the road.
She escaped before the vehicle burned.
Sofia found her.
“Why not police?” Adrian asked.
Anna looked at him.
“Your surname.”
Fair.
Anna gave birth weeks later at a private clinic under a false name.
Sofia was present.
So was June Harper.
“What happened?”
Anna began crying.
“I hemorrhaged.”
She spent two weeks in intensive care.
When she woke, Sofia told her the baby was safe.
With Adrian.
He stared.
“She gave me your son?”
“She said you were the only person powerful enough to keep him alive.”
“Without telling me?”
“She planned to.”
“When?”
“When she knew who was hunting us.”
Adrian’s anger and grief collided.
“So Sofia pretended Leo was ours.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Sofia had also been pregnant.
That shocked Adrian.
“She miscarried early,” Anna said.
Adrian’s eyes closed.
Sofia had told everyone her pregnancy continued.
Loose clothing.
Private doctors.
No public appearances.
“She never told me.”
“She thought you’d be devastated.”
“I had the right to be devastated.”
“Yes.”
Anna did not defend her.
“Sofia made terrible choices because she was scared.”
Adrian looked at Leo.
Nicholas.
Both names suddenly felt fragile.
“Why did she tell me he was ours?”
“She wanted you attached before anyone discovered the truth.”
“That was manipulation.”
“Yes.”
Mara whispered, “She also knew Adrian would protect him.”
Both could be true.
Love and manipulation.
Protection and betrayal.
Nothing was clean.
“Then why did Sofia disappear?”
Anna’s expression changed.
“She didn’t.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
“She was taken.”
Silence.
“By whom?”
Anna looked at Evelyn.
“I thought by her.”
Evelyn whispered, “No.”
Anna continued.
“The night Sofia vanished, she texted me one name.”
She took out an old phone.
Message:
VICTOR KNOWS.
Everyone slowly turned toward Adrian’s security chief.
Victor Salerno stood near the window.
His face went blank.
Adrian’s voice became quiet.
“Victor.”
“Boss.”
“What did Sofia think you knew?”
Victor looked toward the floor.
“Everything.”
Adrian’s chest tightened.
“And?”
“I was trying to help her.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Victor.”
“I swear.”
Adrian crossed the room.
Victor did not move.
“She called me the night she vanished. Said she had proof the person behind everything was inside the Moretti family.”
“Who?”
“She never said.”
“She told you ‘the family’?”
“Yes.”
Adrian looked toward Evelyn.
His mother went pale.
Mara held Leo closer.
Anna whispered:
“There’s someone else.”
Adrian turned.
“Who?”
“Vincent had another son.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Adrian stared.
“What?”
“Before you.”
“My father had another son?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Gabriel.”
“Where is he?”
“No idea.”
“Alive?”
“I believe so.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Of course he is.”
Gabriel Moretti.
Older half-brother.
Removed from the family after his mother threatened Vincent.
No official records.
No inheritance.
No recognition.
But according to Anna, Gabriel had contacted her before the crash.
He wanted the ledgers.
“He said the Moretti empire should have been his,” Anna explained.
Adrian understood.
Legacy.
Again.
“What did Sofia do?”
“She refused to give him anything.”
“And then?”
“He threatened Leo.”
Adrian’s expression changed instantly.
Every person in the room felt it.
“What exactly did he say?”
Anna swallowed.
“That if Sofia tried hiding the child behind your name, he’d remove both of them.”
Adrian looked toward Victor.
“Find Gabriel.”
Victor nodded.
Adrian stopped him.
“No.”
Victor turned.
“You’re off security.”
Pain crossed Victor’s face.
“Adrian.”
“Until I know why Sofia wrote your name, I don’t trust you.”
Victor nodded slowly.
“Understood.”
Mara watched him leave.
Then said:
“He’s telling the truth.”
Adrian frowned.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
“Then stop guessing.”
“I’ve been lied to by frightened people my whole life.”
She looked at the door.
“Victor looks guilty.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“It is.”
She looked at Adrian.
“Guilty people hide their eyes.”
“And liars?”
“They control them too carefully.”
Adrian almost smiled.
“So now you’re an interrogation expert?”
“No.”
“I was raised around your father.”
Fair.
The next day, Gabriel found them first.
A package arrived.
Inside was Sofia’s wedding ring.
Adrian stopped breathing.
A note.
YOU’VE BEEN RAISING ANOTHER MAN’S CHILD WHILE YOUR WIFE BEGGED FOR YOU.
His hands began shaking.
Below it:
MIDNIGHT. COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO HEAR HER VOICE.
May you like
For the first time since Sofia’s funeral, Adrian allowed himself to believe something dangerous.
His wife might truly be alive.
