Chapter 3 - Sofia’s Warning
Liana replayed the sentence three times.
Her daughter’s name is Ava.
The fourth time, Matteo reached over and stopped the video.
“That’s enough.”
“No.”
Liana grabbed the laptop.
“Play it.”
“You heard it.”
“I want to hear the rest.”
Matteo stared at her.
Then he pressed play.
Sofia appeared again.
Her face looked pale beneath the dashboard light.
“Ava Graves was born at Saint Catherine’s Hospital four months after Nico.”
Liana’s eyes filled.
“I was there.”
She whispered.
Matteo looked at her.
“What?”
“Not with Sofia.”
Liana shook her head.
“I mean Saint Catherine’s.”
Sofia continued speaking.
“Her newborn blood screen showed an unusual enzyme marker.”
Naomi leaned closer.
“CYP2D6.”
Sofia’s recorded voice said.
Naomi swore.
Matteo looked at her.
“What?”
She didn’t answer.
Sofia did.
“The marker appears to make infants unusually sensitive to the Velorin compound.”
Liana’s chest tightened.
“They’re not excluding those children from the trial.”
Sofia said.
“They’re specifically looking for them.”
The room became silent.
Liana felt sick.
Sofia continued.
“I copied twelve names before the database was locked.”
She swallowed.
“Ava Graves is the youngest.”
Liana covered her mouth.
“I tried to contact her mother twice.”
Her voice broke.
“But someone intercepted both calls.”
Liana remembered.
Two strange calls.
Months earlier.
A woman who had asked whether Ava had experienced unexplained sleepiness.
Liana had assumed it was some insurance survey and hung up.
She nearly dropped Nico.
“Oh God.”
Matteo stepped toward her.
Liana backed away.
“No.”
“Liana.”
“She called me.”
“What?”
“Sofia.”
Liana’s eyes filled.
“She tried to warn me.”
Matteo said nothing.
“I hung up on her.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I hung up.”
“You didn’t know.”
“If I had listened—”
“You did not know.”
His voice cracked like a command.
Nico startled.
Matteo immediately lowered his tone.
Liana looked at him.
Matteo’s face was tight.
“She was my wife.”
He said.
“And I didn’t listen either.”
The words stopped Liana.
Matteo looked back at the screen.
“She told me something was wrong with the foundation.”
His mouth twisted.
“I told her Damian had run it for years.”
He looked at his wife’s frozen face.
“I told her he was family.”
Liana understood the pain in that sentence.
Not because he was asking for forgiveness.
He wasn’t.
He was realizing that the phrase had helped bury Sofia.
Naomi pointed at the computer.
“There’s more.”
Matteo pressed play.
Sofia drew a shaky breath.
“I don’t know exactly what Velorin is supposed to become.”
She said.
“Adrian calls it a breakthrough treatment for infant neurological distress.”
Her expression hardened.
“But the internal records tell a different story.”
Naomi whispered.
“Pain suppression.”
Sofia nodded on the recording as if answering her.
“It blocks certain pain pathways.”
She continued.
“But repeated doses appear to create the pain they were designed to stop.”
Liana stared at Nico.
The screaming.
The neck sensitivity.
The sudden calm when held without pressure.
Naomi spoke quietly.
“Neuropathic rebound.”
Matteo looked at her.
“In English.”
“The drug numbs nerves.”
She said.
“Then, as it leaves the system, those nerves can become hypersensitive.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough that normal touch could feel like burning.”
Matteo’s face went white.
Liana closed her eyes.
Nico had been screaming because someone touching him hurt.
Every hug.
Every attempt to rock him.
Every desperate night his father held him tighter.
Matteo walked away from everyone.
He stopped near the fireplace.
His shoulders rose and fell once.
Liana watched him.
For a man who terrified an entire city, he suddenly looked very alone.
Sofia continued.
“I believe Nico received at least one dose.”
Matteo turned violently toward the computer.
“What?”
“But I stopped it.”
Sofia said.
“I fired the night nurse.”
Matteo looked toward Rafe.
“Her name?”
Rafe shook his head.
“I’ll find it.”
Sofia continued.
“If I’m wrong, I’ve destroyed relationships over paranoia.”
She gave a sad smile.
“If I’m right, I may have put my son in more danger by asking questions.”
Then she leaned close to the camera.
“Matteo, listen to me.”
His face tightened.
“Do not punish the first person they place in front of you.”
Matteo froze.
“They know how you react.”
Sofia said.
“They know you trust anger faster than doubt.”
Liana looked at Matteo.
He did not move.
“If something happens to me, they will give you someone to blame.”
Sofia continued.
“And you will want to believe them because revenge is easier than uncertainty.”
Matteo’s breathing changed.
Rafe stared at the floor.
Liana suddenly understood that there was another story here.
A darker one.
Matteo had blamed someone for Sofia’s death.
And Sofia had predicted it.
On the screen, Sofia wiped at one eye.
“I need you to do something harder than revenge.”
She whispered.
“I need you to think.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
Then Liana asked.
“Who did you blame?”
Matteo did not answer.
“Matteo.”
His eyes lifted.
“A man named Elias Moretti.”
“Who is he?”
“Was.”
The single word chilled her.
“You killed him.”
Matteo looked toward the dark window.
Liana understood.
Naomi closed the laptop.
“Did you have proof?”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“The police had evidence.”
“What evidence?”
“Traffic camera footage.”
“Of what?”
“Moretti’s car following Sofia.”
“Was it his car?”
“Yes.”
“Was he driving?”
Matteo looked at her.
“They said he was.”
“Who said?”
“Detective Nolan.”
Naomi laughed bitterly.
“The same Nolan who sat on the Bellmore advisory board?”
Matteo’s head snapped toward her.
“What?”
Naomi folded her arms.
“You didn’t know.”
“No.”
“He was listed as a community security consultant.”
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
Matteo turned toward Rafe.
“Find Nolan.”
Rafe already had his phone out.
Liana looked at the screen where Sofia’s face had disappeared.
“She knew.”
“She suspected.”
Matteo corrected.
“She knew enough.”
Liana looked at him.
“And she tried to save Ava.”
Matteo nodded.
Nico stirred.
His eyelids fluttered open.
For the first time, Liana saw him look directly at Matteo without crying.
Matteo slowly approached.
He stopped an arm’s length away.
Liana repositioned Nico carefully.
“Keep his head straight.”
Matteo reached for him.
Nico tensed.
Liana whispered.
“It’s okay.”
She guided Matteo’s hands.
“Support him here.”
Matteo took his son.
Nico made a small uncertain noise.
But he didn’t scream.
Matteo stopped breathing.
Nico stared up at him.
Then rested his forehead against his father’s chest.
Matteo’s eyes closed.
No one spoke.
For a few seconds, there was no case.
No conspiracy.
No Varric empire.
There was only a father holding his child without hurting him.
Then Rafe’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Rafe.”
His expression changed.
“When?”
He listened.
“Don’t touch anything.”
Matteo looked at him.
Rafe lowered the phone.
“They found Grace.”
Liana’s stomach tightened.
“Where?”
Matteo asked.
“About four miles from the estate.”
“Alive?”
Rafe hesitated.
“Yes.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed.
“Then why are you looking like that?”
Rafe swallowed.
“She’s unconscious.”
“Drugged?”
“They don’t know.”
He looked toward Nico.
“But she had something taped to her chest.”
“What?”
“A note.”
Matteo’s face hardened.
“What does it say?”
Rafe answered.
SHE WAS NEVER THE ONE HURTING THE BABY.
Liana stared at him.
Matteo looked down at Nico.
Someone had wanted them to find Grace.
Just like Sofia had warned.
They had been given someone to blame.
May you like
And the real person inside the house was still watching.
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