Chapter 8 - THE SISTER WHO DIDN'T EXIST
Dante returned to the mansion before dawn.
Nobody slept.
He placed the birth certificate in front of Rosa.
She looked at it.
Then closed her eyes.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was she older or younger?”
“Younger.”
Dante calculated.
Three years.
He would have remembered his mother pregnant.
Unless he had been sent away.
He had.
At age three.
For almost a year.
Boarding with relatives in Europe.
“Why hide her?”
“Because Alejandro believed a daughter made him vulnerable.”
Dante felt disgust.
“So he erased her.”
“He sent her away.”
“With who?”
“Your mother.”
Dante stared.
“Mother didn’t abandon us.”
“No.”
Another childhood lie collapsed.
“Where did she go?”
“United States.”
“Where?”
“Boston first.”
“Then?”
Rosa shook her head.
“I lost track.”
Dante leaned closer.
“You don’t lose track.”
“I did.”
“Or you’re protecting her.”
Rosa looked at him.
“From you.”
That hurt more than it should have.
“Why?”
“Because every Montenegro eventually chooses power.”
Dante looked toward the doorway.
Sofia was asleep in Isabela’s arms.
A four-year-old child had shown him more loyalty in one night than most of his family in thirty years.
Maybe Rosa’s judgment was not entirely wrong.
But he still needed answers.
Bruno entered.
“We traced one Legacy Trust transfer.”
“To?”
“A shell corporation in Massachusetts.”
Dante stared.
“What city?”
“Boston.”
The room went quiet.
“Name?”
“Bellweather Pediatric Foundation.”
Isabela’s head lifted.
Dante noticed.
“What?”
She looked frightened.
“Nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing.”
Isabela shifted Sofia carefully.
“I worked there.”
Dante stared.
“When?”
“Before Sofia was born.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
“What did you do?”
“Cleaning.”
“Who ran it?”
Isabela looked away.
“Dr. Elena Ward.”
Dante’s blood went cold.
Ward.
Elias Ward.
“Elena what?”
“Ward.”
Bruno looked at Dante.
Dante took out the birth certificate.
Elena Montenegro.
Possible sister.
Elias Ward.
Possible protector.
Isabela stared at the paper.
Her face changed.
“Oh my God.”
“You know her?”
“I knew Dr. Ward.”
“Describe her.”
“Dark hair.”
“Age?”
“Early thirties.”
“Scar?”
Isabela thought.
“Small scar near her chin.”
Rosa sat down.
Dante looked at her.
“You recognize that?”
Rosa whispered.
“Lucia had the same scar.”
Genetic resemblance.
Coincidence maybe.
But nothing felt coincidental anymore.
Dante looked at Isabela.
“Why did you leave Boston?”
She became quiet.
“Isabela.”
“I got pregnant.”
“With Sofia?”
“Yes.”
“Father?”
Her body stiffened.
“Gone.”
Dante noticed the finality.
He did not push.
Yet.
“Did Elena know?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the foundation?”
“It closed.”
“When?”
“Three months before your accident.”
Bruno checked his tablet.
“That matches the first suspicious Legacy Trust transfer.”
Dante looked at Isabela.
“Did Elena ever mention Montenegro?”
“No.”
Then Sofia stirred.
Her eyes opened.
She looked at the birth certificate.
Then at the photograph of Elias.
“Grandpa.”
Everyone froze.
Isabela went pale.
Dante turned slowly.
“What did she say?”
Sofia rubbed her eyes.
“Grandpa Elias.”
Dante felt the entire room tilt.
Isabela hugged Sofia tighter.
“No.”
Dante stared at her.
“You know Elias.”
Isabela’s lips trembled.
She said nothing.
Dante finally understood.
Isabela had not entered his mansion randomly.
Her daughter had not stumbled into the biggest conspiracy of his life by coincidence.
“Who are you?” Dante asked.
Tears appeared in Isabela’s eyes.
Before she could answer, Sofia spoke sleepily.
“Mommy says Grandpa Elias keeps us safe from the bad family.”
Dante looked at Isabela.
The maid he had trusted.
The woman whose child had saved his life.
The woman who had just become the most suspicious person in the house.
And Isabela whispered.
May you like
“I can explain.”
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