Chapter 6
I don’t remember leaving the hospital.
I remember Elena shouting into her radio.
I remember dropping my phone.
I remember Sofia crying behind me.
Then suddenly I was inside an unmarked police car going nearly ninety miles an hour.
“My daughter.”
Elena gripped the wheel.
“We’re getting her.”
“She’s three.”
“I know.”
“She won’t understand.”
“Gabriella.”
“She’ll think I left her.”
Elena looked at me.
“We are getting her back.”
Police were already at Marcello’s house when we arrived.
Mom stood barefoot in the driveway.
Marcello held her upright.
I jumped from the car before it stopped completely.
“Lily!”
Marcello grabbed me.
“Gabby.”
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
I shoved him away.
“How?”
His face crumpled.
“The officers were at the front.”
“Why wasn’t someone at the back?”
“One was.”
I stopped.
“What?”
Detective Brooks approached another officer.
“What happened?”
The officer pointed toward the yard.
“The rear unit found Officer Daniels unconscious behind the hedge.”
My stomach dropped.
“He was attacked?”
“Blunt force injury. He’s alive.”
I looked at Marcello.
“The cameras.”
“We’re checking.”
The security system had captured everything.
At 10:14 a.m., a delivery van pulled into the alley.
A man in a utility uniform stepped out.
He carried a clipboard.
Officer Daniels approached him.
The man pointed toward the electrical box.
Then another figure appeared behind Daniels and struck him.
Mom covered her mouth.
I couldn’t breathe.
Two minutes later, the second person entered the back door.
We couldn’t see the face.
A hood hid it.
Then Lily appeared.
She walked willingly toward the person.
That destroyed me.
“She knew them.”
Marcello stared at the screen.
“Maybe.”
The figure crouched.
Lily reached up.
The stranger lifted her.
Then carried my daughter outside.
I screamed.
Dad caught me before I fell.
Detective Brooks froze the image.
A small detail appeared beneath the sleeve.
A bracelet.
Silver.
With a blue stone.
Mom whispered, “No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She stared at the screen.
“I gave that bracelet to Celeste.”
Everything stopped.
“Who is Celeste?”
Mom began shaking.
“My sister.”
I thought our family had run out of secrets.
I was wrong.
“You have a sister?”
Mom sat down.
“She hasn’t been part of our lives for twenty-five years.”
Marcello looked furious.
“Apparently everyone has secret siblings.”
Mom flinched.
Dad stepped in.
“This isn’t helping.”
“No,” Marcello snapped. “It matters.”
I stared at Mom.
“Tell me.”
Celeste was Mom’s younger sister.
Beautiful.
Restless.
Always chasing wealth.
When Mom married Dad, Celeste became fascinated by the Moretti lifestyle.
Then she met Adrian.
My father’s brother.
They had an affair.
Dad looked shocked.
“You knew?”
Mom nodded miserably.
“They were together for almost a year.”
Marcello stared.
“So Adrian and Celeste have been connected this entire time.”
Mom nodded.
“After Adrian was disinherited, Celeste blamed us.”
“Why?”
“She believed he had been cheated.”
Dad’s face hardened.
“He stole from the company.”
“She didn’t care.”
I wanted to scream.
“What does any of this have to do with Lily?”
Mom looked at me.
“Celeste always believed our children inherited what should have belonged to her and Adrian.”
My stomach turned.
“Are they married?”
“No.”
“Children?”
Mom hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Elena interrupted.
“We need addresses. Friends. Old workplaces. Anything.”
Mom provided everything she could remember.
Then Marcello’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
He answered on speaker.
A man’s voice said, “Hello, nephew.”
Dad went white.
“Adrian.”
The voice laughed.
“It has been a long time, Lorenzo.”
I grabbed the phone.
“Where is my daughter?”
Silence.
Then Adrian spoke gently.
“Gabriella.”
My skin crawled.
“You’ve grown into your mother.”
“If you touch her—”
“I have no intention of hurting Lily.”
“Bring her back.”
“I need something first.”
Dad stepped closer.
“What?”
“The company.”
Marcello laughed bitterly.
“You’ve been waiting thirty years for this?”
“I’ve been waiting for what was stolen.”
Dad shouted.
“You stole from our father!”
Adrian’s voice hardened.
“Our father chose you because you were obedient.”
“He chose me because you were a thief.”
Silence.
Then Adrian laughed.
“Still self-righteous.”
I grabbed the phone tighter.
“I don’t care about your family war. Give me Lily.”
“She’s comfortable.”
I wanted to kill him.
“Let me hear her.”
A pause.
Then Lily’s small voice came through.
“Mommy?”
My knees gave out.
Marcello caught me.
“Baby.”
“Mommy, Auntie lady says we’re playing castle.”
I cried.
“You listen to me. Mommy is coming.”
“Okay.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Did anyone scare you?”
“No.”
A woman spoke softly in the background.
Then Lily said, “She gave me juice.”
Celeste.
I knew it.
“Lily, don’t eat or drink anything else.”
“Why?”
My heart broke.
“Because Mommy is bringing your favorite pancakes.”
“Blueberry?”
“Yes.”
Adrian took the phone.
“She is unharmed.”
“If you want her to remain that way,” he continued, “Lorenzo will sign over his controlling shares.”
Dad said, “Take them.”
Everyone looked at him.
Adrian laughed.
“That easy?”
Dad’s voice shook with rage.
“She is my granddaughter.”
“You’ll sign?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight.”
“Where?”
“I’ll call.”
The line ended.
Elena immediately ordered the trace.
But Adrian had routed the call through multiple towers.
No location.
Dad turned toward me.
“I’ll give him everything.”
I hugged him.
For the first time that day, I cried against my father.
“I don’t care about the company.”
“Neither do I.”
Marcello joined us.
“We get Lily first.”
Detective Brooks looked grim.
“He may not release her after the transfer.”
Dad nodded.
“I know.”
“So we need another advantage.”
A tiny voice came from Marcello’s laptop.
We all turned.
The video had continued playing.
Lily was being carried toward the van.
As Celeste shifted her, Lily dropped something.
Marcello zoomed in.
A small pink object landed beside the driveway.
Mom recognized it.
“Her watch.”
Lily wore a children’s smartwatch.
My heart jumped.
“It has GPS.”
Marcello grabbed his phone.
I opened the tracking app with shaking fingers.
A location appeared.
Then moved.
Everyone stared.
“They forgot to remove it.”
Elena smiled for the first time.
“No.”
I watched the signal travel across the map.
“It’s still moving.”
She called her team.
Then the signal stopped.
At an address outside Bellmont.
Dad stared at the screen.
“I know that place.”
“What is it?”
May you like
His face hardened.
“The Moretti summer house.”
