Chapter 2
The stranger did not look surprised to see us.
That frightened me more than if he had run.
He stood in Grandmother’s doorway wearing a black suit and no tie, his eyes moving from Isabella to the fake pregnancy bellies scattered across the floor.
Marcello stepped in front of Lily.
“Who are you?”
The man ignored him.
He looked at Isabella.
“You said the family would still be downstairs.”
She whispered, “Victor, leave.”
Marcello’s head snapped toward her.
“You know him?”
Victor smiled without warmth.
“Very well.”
Dad moved beside Marcello.
“What money?”
Victor glanced at the leather folder.
“The money she promised.”
Isabella shook her head violently.
“Don’t listen to him.”
I pulled Lily against my legs.
She had started trembling.
The excitement of showing us her discovery was gone.
Now she understood the adults were afraid.
I picked her up.
“You’re okay, sweetheart.”
Victor stepped into the room.
Dad blocked him.
“You’re not taking another step.”
Victor raised both hands.
“I didn’t come for trouble.”
“You broke into my house.”
“I was invited.”
Every face turned toward Isabella.
She backed toward the wall.
“That’s a lie.”
Victor laughed.
“You really want to do this?”
Marcello looked between them.
His voice had become frighteningly quiet.
“Yes.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“Fine.”
He pointed toward Isabella.
“She hired me eight months ago.”
Isabella screamed.
“Shut up!”
Victor continued.
“She needed documents altered. Medical records. Financial forms. Identity papers.”
My stomach twisted.
Marcello stared at her.
“Medical records?”
Victor nodded.
“Pregnancy records.”
My mother made a broken sound.
I felt sick.
Every ultrasound picture.
Every appointment summary.
Every little update Isabella had sent our family.
Fake.
Marcello swayed slightly.
I reached for him.
He moved away.
“No.”
His eyes stayed on Isabella.
“I want to hear everything.”
Victor studied him.
“She wasn’t planning to fake the pregnancy forever.”
Isabella suddenly lunged for the folder.
Dad grabbed her wrist.
She fought him.
“Give me that!”
Marcello stepped back.
Victor continued.
“She had a replacement arranged.”
Silence.
I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
Victor looked at me.
“A baby.”
My skin went cold.
Marcello whispered, “What baby?”
Victor hesitated.
For the first time, he looked uncomfortable.
“A newborn.”
My mother collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
Dad rushed to her.
I hugged Lily tighter.
Marcello stared at Victor.
“Where was she getting a newborn?”
Victor looked at Isabella.
“Ask her.”
Marcello turned.
Isabella shook her head.
“Marcello, I love you.”
His face twisted.
“Do not say that.”
“I do.”
“You faked our child.”
Tears poured down her cheeks.
“I was afraid you’d leave me.”
“So you invented a baby?”
“You wanted a family.”
“You told me I had a son.”
His voice broke.
That sound destroyed me.
Marcello had already painted the nursery.
He had assembled the crib himself.
He talked to Isabella’s stomach every night.
He had chosen a name.
Matteo.
He had already loved a child who did not exist.
Isabella stepped toward him.
He backed away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Victor sighed.
“This wasn’t only about keeping you.”
Marcello looked at him.
Victor nodded toward the papers.
“It was about the trust.”
Dad straightened.
“What trust?”
“The Moretti family trust.”
Dad’s expression darkened.
Our grandfather had built a shipping company decades earlier.
When he died, he divided his estate carefully.
Most shares were controlled by Dad.
After Dad, ownership would be divided between Marcello and me.
But there was one unusual clause.
The first grandchild born to either of us would receive a protected block of voting shares worth millions.
I had Lily.
But because I had voluntarily separated my finances from the family business years earlier, Lily’s shares were placed in a locked trust until adulthood.
Marcello’s child would receive a separate block immediately controlled by the child’s legal guardian.
Isabella.
I suddenly understood.
“Oh my God.”
Dad understood too.
“You planned to gain control through the baby.”
Isabella sobbed.
“No!”
Victor laughed.
“That was exactly the plan.”
She turned on him.
“You were part of it!”
Everyone froze.
Victor’s expression hardened.
Isabella realized what she had said.
Too late.
Marcello whispered, “Part of what?”
Neither answered.
Dad pulled out his phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
Victor moved toward the door.
Marcello blocked him.
“You’re staying.”
Victor raised his eyebrows.
“You think I’m the biggest problem here?”
He pointed at Isabella.
“She already moved money.”
Dad stopped dialing.
“What money?”
Victor looked almost pleased.
“Check the foundation account.”
Dad went still.
Our family charity.
The Moretti Foundation held millions intended for hospitals, shelters, and scholarships.
Dad opened his banking app.
His face changed instantly.
“No.”
Mom stood.
“What?”
Dad showed Marcello the screen.
Three transfers.
Each just below the threshold requiring dual approval.
Total missing:
$740,000.
Marcello looked at Isabella.
“How?”
She sank against the wall.
Victor answered.
“She copied your access code.”
Marcello’s hand curled into a fist.
“You watched me enter it.”
Isabella cried harder.
“It was supposed to be temporary.”
“Temporary?”
“I needed money to finish everything.”
“Finish what?”
Victor spoke.
“The adoption.”
My blood turned to ice.
Marcello looked at him.
“What adoption?”
Victor shrugged.
“It wasn’t exactly legal.”
Dad called the police.
This time nobody stopped him.
Isabella dropped to her knees.
“Marcello, please.”
He stared at her like she was a stranger.
“You were going to bring me someone else’s baby.”
She covered her face.
“I just wanted us to be a family.”
“No.”
Marcello’s voice shook.
“You wanted my name.”
She looked up.
“My money.”
Another sob.
“My company.”
He pointed at the fake bellies.
“And you built all of it on this.”
Lily buried her face against my shoulder.
I kissed her hair.
Then she whispered something.
“Mommy.”
“What?”
“The crying lady.”
I glanced at Isabella.
“I know, sweetheart.”
Lily shook her head.
“Not her.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“The other lady.”
Everyone heard her.
Marcello turned.
“What other lady?”
Lily pointed toward the connecting bathroom.
“She was crying in there.”
Isabella stopped moving.
Victor’s face changed.
Dad noticed.
“Who was in the bathroom?”
Nobody answered.
Marcello walked toward it.
Isabella jumped to her feet.
“No!”
He opened the door.
The bathroom was empty.
But a chair sat beside the bathtub.
On the chair was a woman’s purse.
Beside it lay a hospital bracelet.
Marcello picked it up.
The bracelet belonged to a woman named Sofia Ramirez.
Age twenty-two.
I didn’t know the name.
But Victor did.
He immediately moved toward the door.
Dad blocked him again.
“Who is Sofia?”
Victor remained silent.
Marcello looked at Isabella.
She had stopped crying completely.
Her face had gone gray.
“Who is Sofia Ramirez?”
Isabella whispered, “Nobody.”
Lily lifted her head from my shoulder.
“She has a baby.”
Every adult in that room stopped breathing.
Marcello looked at Lily.
“How do you know?”
May you like
My daughter pointed toward the bathroom.
“She said, ‘Please don’t take my baby.’”
