Chapter 6 - Someone Had Switched the Records
“Who?”
Matteo's voice barely carried.
Sofia looked toward the ceiling.
“Your housekeeper.”
Liana thought of the severe woman who had hired her.
Mrs. Vale.
Gray hair.
Perfect posture.
Quiet eyes.
Matteo shook his head.
“Impossible.”
“Her real name is Elena Caruso.”
Sofia explained.
Elena was her half sister.
Their father had hidden the relationship for decades.
Elena had entered the Varric household years earlier.
At first, Sofia believed she wanted money.
She was wrong.
Elena wanted revenge.
Their father had abandoned Elena's mother.
Years later, the same family connections that protected him had destroyed Elena's husband after a business dispute.
She blamed the Varrics.
And she had spent fifteen years getting close enough to dismantle them.
“Why Nico?” Liana asked.
“Because hurting the trust hurt Matteo.”
“That doesn't explain Eli.”
Sofia lowered her eyes.
“Eli was never chosen randomly.”
Liana froze.
“What does that mean?”
“His father.”
Liana's expression changed.
“My husband died before Eli was born.”
“I know.”
“Then why mention him?”
“Because Aaron Graves worked at St. Catherine's.”
Liana stared.
“He was an accountant.”
“He discovered payments.”
“What payments?”
“Daniel's.”
Matteo looked sharply at Sofia.
“You said Daniel was trying to stop the switch.”
“He was.”
“Then why was he paying the hospital?”
“Because Daniel discovered Elena's operation months earlier and tried to buy evidence.”
Matteo paced away.
Everything he knew kept reversing.
Enemy.
Ally.
Victim.
Traitor.
Nothing stayed fixed.
Liana whispered, “Aaron knew?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why he died?”
Sofia didn't answer.
Liana's husband had supposedly died in a highway accident eleven months earlier.
Suddenly another grave no longer felt certain.
“Was his accident staged too?”
“I don't know.”
A loud alarm sounded.
Matteo looked at the security monitor.
The nursery window had opened.
Someone was inside the west corridor.
Sofia grabbed his arm.
“Elena.”
They ran upstairs.
Liana followed with Nico.
The mansion was partially dark.
At the nursery, Matteo kicked open the door.
Empty.
The crib had been moved.
Behind it was a small safe.
Sofia entered a code.
Inside were dozens of hospital files.
Liana found one labeled ELI GRAVES.
Her hands shook as she opened it.
The final page contained a death certificate.
Cause: respiratory failure.
Then she noticed the signature.
It wasn't the doctor's.
It was Elena's.
A sound came from the closet.
Matteo raised his weapon.
The door slowly opened.
Mrs. Vale stepped out.
But she wasn't alone.
She held a phone.
On its screen was a live video.
A man sat tied to a chair.
Liana dropped Eli's file.
She knew that face.
She had buried him eleven months earlier.
Her husband looked directly into the camera.
May you like
And whispered:
“Liana, don't believe Sofia.”
