Chapter 10: The Mother Who Signed Their Names Away
For six years, I had imagined what I would say if Isabella ever stood in front of me again.
I would ask where she had been. I would demand to know why she had left our son without a mother. I would make her explain the nights Leo woke crying, searching for someone he could barely remember.
I had rehearsed those questions in empty rooms, in the back of cars, and beside a grave that contained nothing.
Now Isabella stood ten feet away, alive, and I could think of only one thing.
“Which one of our children is going to die?””
She looked at Leo.
My son was still held by the armed guard, whose weapon rested against his temple. Leo's face had gone almost gray, but he wasn't crying.
He was looking at his mother.
“Mom?”” he whispered.
Isabella flinched as though the word had struck her.
“Oh, Leo.””
She started toward him.
My father tapped his walking stick against the floor.
“Stay where you are.””
Isabella stopped.
Victor smiled at me.
“Now you understand why she returned. She has always been very good at appearing when there's something left to save.””
I kept my eyes on Isabella.
“Tell me what he means.””
She looked at the ledger in my hand.
“Your father has been keeping a list of the people who helped him. Doctors, officials, families who received children under false identities. Some of those people are still powerful.””
“And our daughters?””
Her lips trembled.
“I signed the separation order.””
The room seemed to fall silent around us.
Adrian lowered his weapon slightly.
“Isabella, why?””
She closed her eyes.
“Because Victor told me that if I refused, both girls would disappear permanently.””
My father laughed.
“An elegant way to describe a mother's choice.””
Isabella turned toward him.
“You told me one of the babies was already dead.””
“I told you what you needed to hear.””
“You showed me a death certificate!””
“And you believed it.””
Her voice broke.
“I was recovering from childbirth. I hadn't even held Lily properly before your men took her away.””
My grip tightened around the ledger.
“Why didn't you come to me?””
Isabella looked at me with an expression I couldn't bear.
“Because I thought you were involved.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Your signature was on the authorization. Your name was on the documents. Victor told me you had approved the arrangement because the girls were a threat to the family.””
I looked down at the ledger.
The signature appeared exactly as I remembered it.
But I had never signed that page knowingly.
Someone had used my name.
Someone had turned my own identity into a weapon against my wife.
“I never agreed to this,” I said.
“I know that now.””
“Now?””
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
“I spent six years believing you had chosen the family business over our children. I believed you had agreed to sacrifice them to protect your father's empire.””
“And you never thought to ask me?””
“I tried.””
Her voice rose.
“I called you the night I disappeared. Three times. Every call went unanswered.””
I remembered that night.
I had been in a private meeting across the city when my phone was taken from the table by one of my father's men. He had told me Isabella was emotional and that I should give her space.
By the time I retrieved my phone, the calls had stopped.
I had assumed she was angry.
She had assumed I was guilty.
And Victor had used the distance between us to destroy our family.
My father lifted his walking stick.
“Enough. We are not here to discuss old misunderstandings. Dante, give me the ledger.””
I didn't move.
“Which daughter is going to die?””
His expression hardened.
“Lily.””
A cold wave passed through me.
“Where is she?””
“Safe, for the moment.””
“That's not an answer.””
My father glanced at Marco.
“Tell him.””
Marco swallowed.
“Lily was taken to the private clinic outside the city. Dr. Reed has orders to move her tonight.””
“Move her where?””
“An overseas placement. New identity. No records.””
I felt my stomach twist.
“You're going to steal my daughter again?””
“I'm going to protect the network,” Father replied.
“The girl is a witness. She knows too much.””
Isabella stepped forward.
“You promised you would leave her alone!””
“And you promised to keep your mouth shut.””
She stared at him with hatred.
“I kept silent for six years.””
“And look where that got you.””
Father turned toward the guard holding Leo.
“Take the boy downstairs.””
Leo finally broke.
“Dad!””
I lunged forward, but the guard pressed the weapon harder against his head.
“Another step, and he dies.””
I stopped.
My entire life had become a series of choices made with someone else's finger on a trigger.
Father extended his hand.
“The ledger.””
I looked at Leo.
Then at Isabella.
Then at the signature that had supposedly authorized the theft of our daughters.
I placed the ledger on the floor.
“Let him go.””
Father nodded.
The guard released Leo and shoved him toward me.
I caught my son and pulled him behind me.
For one brief second, I believed we had reached an agreement.
Then Father raised his walking stick and struck the ledger across the floor.
A hidden compartment in the handle clicked open.
He pulled out a small black remote.
Adrian shouted, “Get down!””
The explosion came from somewhere beneath the house.
The floor shook. Glass shattered. A wave of heat rushed through the corridor, followed by smoke.
The lights went out.
Leo screamed against my chest.
Gunfire erupted in the darkness.
I dragged him behind a stone pillar while Adrian returned fire. Isabella disappeared into the smoke, and my father began shouting orders.
Then a second explosion shook the building.
The ceiling cracked above us.
“Dante!”” Adrian yelled.
“We have to move!””
I pulled Leo toward the staircase.
A beam crashed down behind us, cutting off the corridor.
When I turned, I saw Isabella lying beneath a fallen section of timber.
“Isabella!””
I rushed toward her.
Leo clung to my jacket.
“Dad, don't!””
I pushed the timber aside with Adrian's help. Isabella gasped as we freed her leg.
Blood soaked the side of her dress.
She gripped my wrist.
“Listen to me.””
“Save your strength.””
“No. You have to listen.””
She pulled something from beneath her collar.
A small silver key.
“The clinic,” she whispered.
“Room seventeen.””
“What is it?””
“Proof. The original records. Everything Victor did.””
I closed my hand around the key.
“Where is Lily?””
Isabella's eyes filled with tears.
“Your father wasn't lying about one thing. Lily is in danger.””
A ceiling support groaned overhead.
Adrian shouted for us to move.
I lifted Isabella, and together we carried her toward the cellar passage.
Behind us, my father shouted my name.
“Dante! If you leave with that key, you will never see your daughters again!””
I kept moving.
Then, from somewhere beyond the smoke, I heard him give one final order.
“Kill Adrian. Let the rest escape.””
A gunshot cracked through the corridor.
Adrian stumbled.
Blood spread across his shirt.
And as I caught my brother, he whispered the words that made me realize my father had planned for this night long before any of us knew he was alive.
“Dante, the clinic records aren't the only thing hidden in Room Seventeen.””
May you like
He gripped my arm.
“There's a third child.””
