Chapter 8 - The Heartbeat Behind the Locked Door
“There is no birth certificate,” Luciano said.
“My daughter hasn't been born.”
Adrian smiled.
“Exactly.”
Vittorio understood first.
“The registry.”
Adrian’s expression confirmed it.
Someone had filed a fraudulent birth record.
Luciano’s unborn daughter had legally been declared born.
“To whom?” Luciano demanded.
Adrian remained silent.
Daniel dragged him away.
Vittorio opened the laptop.
Within minutes they found it.
A digital record.
Female child.
Mother: Katherine Hawthorne.
Father: Adrian Vittorio Aruri.
Luciano stared.
Kate whispered, “No.”
He went to her.
“I know.”
“He put his name—”
“It means nothing.”
“It means he planned this before—”
Her voice broke as another contraction hit.
Margaret moved into position.
“We’re delivering.”
Everything else disappeared.
Luciano stayed beside Kate.
The bedroom filled with controlled urgency.
Minutes stretched.
Kate cried.
Luciano held her hand.
“Look at me.”
“I hate you.”
“I know.”
“No, right now I genuinely hate you.”
“That seems fair.”
She laughed and cried simultaneously.
Margaret almost smiled.
Then the monitor changed.
The baby's heartbeat slowed.
“Kate, I need you to push.”
“It's too early.”
“I know.”
“I can't.”
Luciano leaned close.
“You can.”
“Don't give me orders.”
“Then consider it a request.”
She glared at him through tears.
“Better.”
Another contraction.
Another push.
Then Margaret’s face changed.
“Again.”
Kate screamed.
Luciano had never felt so powerless.
One final push.
And suddenly—
A tiny sound.
Not a full cry.
A fragile, breathy protest.
Luciano stopped breathing.
Margaret lifted an impossibly small baby.
“My daughter,” Kate sobbed.
The nurses moved immediately.
Luciano could only see a tiny arm.
Then a foot.
Then oxygen equipment surrounded her.
“Why isn't she crying?”
Margaret worked.
“Give us room.”
Luciano held Kate as she cried.
Seconds became unbearable.
Then a thin cry rose from across the room.
Kate collapsed against him.
Luciano closed his eyes.
Their daughter was alive.
The neonatal team arrived eleven minutes later.
The helicopter had made the trip.
A physician stabilized the baby.
Kate refused to let them leave until she saw her.
The doctor carried the tiny bundled infant close.
Luciano stared.
“She’s so small.”
Kate smiled through tears.
“She has your frown.”
“She has your nose.”
“Poor child.”
He laughed.
It startled both of them.
Luciano touched one tiny hand.
Five miniature fingers curled around his index finger.
Something inside him surrendered completely.
“What’s her name?” the doctor asked.
Kate looked at Luciano.
They had never discussed it.
Luciano said, “You choose.”
Kate looked at their daughter.
“Grace.”
Luciano smiled.
“Grace Aruri.”
Kate’s gaze lifted.
“We’re still married.”
“I know.”
The divorce papers remained across the room.
Luciano walked over.
He picked them up.
Then tore them in half.
Kate stared.
“Luciano.”
“I’m not asking you to stay married.”
He tore them again.
“I’m saying I won't divorce you while you’re lying in a bed after someone manipulated us for seven months.”
“What happens later?”
“When you’re safe, you decide.”
“And if I still want a divorce?”
His face showed pain.
“I sign whatever you put in front of me.”
Kate looked at him for a long time.
“Thank you.”
The neonatal team prepared to move Grace to the helicopter.
Luciano kissed his daughter’s forehead.
Then Daniel rushed inside.
“Adrian escaped.”
Luciano turned.
“How?”
“Someone unlocked the cellar.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
Vittorio entered.
“Where’s Carlo?”
Luciano looked around.
Carlo was gone.
Daniel’s expression darkened.
Then Kate whispered, “Luciano.”
He turned.
She was looking toward Grace’s bassinet.
A folded piece of paper had been tucked beneath the blanket.
Luciano opened it.
One sentence.
THE WRONG ARURI IS IN THE CELLAR.
Luciano looked toward Vittorio.
“What does that mean?”
Vittorio said nothing.
Luciano stepped closer.
“Father.”
Vittorio’s eyes filled with something Luciano had never seen there.
Shame.
“The man you arrested isn't Adrian.”
Silence.
“Then who is he?”
Vittorio swallowed.
“Carlo.”
Luciano stared at him.
May you like
Upstairs, the nursery door clicked shut.
Then the lock turned from the inside.
