Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Knew Too Much
The footsteps stopped outside Mara’s hospital room.
Dominic stared at the door.
Mara stared at the folder in his hands.
Neither of them spoke.
The nurse shifted uneasily beside the bed.
“Mr. Vascari,” she said quietly, “I was told to give this directly to you.”
Dominic looked down at the document again.
Celeste Arden’s name sat beneath the heading:
REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY GUARDIANSHIP OF MINOR CHILD.
His fingers tightened around the paper.
“She filed this?”
The nurse nodded.
“Before the baby was born.”
Mara’s face went pale.
“That’s impossible.”
The nurse looked at her.
“I thought so too.”
Dominic slowly turned toward Mara.
“Did you know about this?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Mara’s eyes hardened.
“If I knew, would I be lying here asking you the same question?”
Dominic said nothing.
The nurse stepped closer.
“There’s more.”
She reached into the folder and pulled out another sheet.
“This request was accompanied by a medical authorization form.”
Dominic took it.
His eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
His face changed.
Mara noticed.
“What?”
Dominic did not answer.
“What does it say?”
He handed her the document.
Mara read the first line.
Then the second.
By the third, her hands began shaking.
The form authorized Celeste to make emergency medical decisions for Mara’s baby if Mara became incapacitated.
But the date was wrong.
It was dated nine months earlier.
Before Mara had ever left Dominic.
Before the crash.
Before the hospital.
Before anyone should have known there was a baby.
Mara looked up.
“She knew.”
Dominic’s voice was low.
“She knew before I did.”
The nurse swallowed.
“That was my thought.”
Mara stared at the paper.
“How?”
Dominic stepped toward the door.
“Where is she?”
The nurse caught his arm.
“Mr. Vascari, please don't create a scene.”
Dominic looked at her hand.
She released him.
“I just want to talk.”
“No,” Mara said.
He turned.
She looked exhausted.
“Don't talk to her alone.”
Dominic paused.
“Why?”
“Because she knows exactly what to say when you're angry.”
He studied her.
“You know something.”
Mara looked away.
“Not enough.”
“That isn't an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
Dominic walked back toward the bed.
“Mara.”
She looked at him.
“Eight months ago, you disappeared without telling me you were pregnant.”
“I know.”
“You refused every call.”
“I know.”
“You changed your number.”
“Yes.”
“You left the city.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Mara's eyes filled.
“Because I thought someone was watching me.”
Dominic went still.
“Who?”
“I never saw his face.”
“What happened?”
Mara took a slow breath.
“The week before I left, someone started following me.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Did you tell security?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because the first note appeared inside our apartment.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“What note?”
Mara looked at him.
“It said, ‘If you tell Dominic, the baby dies.’”
Silence.
The nurse lowered her eyes.
Dominic stood completely still.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I believed them.”
“You should have come to me.”
“I was afraid you'd confront whoever it was.”
“I would have.”
“That was exactly what I was afraid of.”
Dominic looked away.
Mara continued.
“They knew your enemies. They knew your business. They knew where you went, who you met, which guards you trusted.”
Her voice cracked.
“And they knew I was pregnant.”
Dominic's eyes returned to her.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you keep the note?”
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
Mara hesitated.
“One person.”
“Who?”
“My doctor.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What doctor?”
“Dr. Adrian Cole.”
The nurse suddenly looked up.
Dominic noticed.
“You know him?”
The nurse hesitated.
“He signed the prenatal records.”
Mara frowned.
“He was my doctor before I left.”
Dominic turned toward the nurse.
“Where is he now?”
“He isn't on staff anymore.”
“When did he leave?”
“Eight months ago.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Exactly when Mara disappeared?”
The nurse nodded.
“That's what the records show.”
A cold silence filled the room.
Mara stared at Dominic.
He looked at the documents again.
Celeste.
Dr. Cole.
The threats.
The pregnancy.
Too many pieces.
Too perfectly connected.
Then the door opened.
Celeste walked in.
She looked flawless.
Her red dress was untouched by the rain outside.
Her hair was perfectly arranged.
Her makeup was still immaculate.
But her eyes immediately went to the folder in Dominic's hand.
She stopped.
Dominic saw it.
“You knew.”
Celeste's expression didn't change.
“About what?”
“This.”
He held up the guardianship form.
Celeste glanced at it.
Then smiled.
“I was trying to help.”
Mara let out a quiet laugh.
“Help?”
Celeste looked at her.
“You were unconscious.”
“I was pregnant.”
“Exactly.”
“You had no right.”
Celeste stepped closer.
“I had every reason to worry.”
Dominic's voice dropped.
“Why?”
Celeste looked at him.
“Because you were about to lose everything.”
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Celeste ignored her.
She kept her eyes on Dominic.
“You know what happens when people discover weakness in our world.”
Dominic stepped toward her.
“Don't talk about my world.”
“Then talk about yours.”
She pointed toward Mara.
“She left you.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“She was protecting my daughter.”
“You didn't even know she existed.”
“Because someone made sure I didn't.”
Celeste's smile disappeared.
For the first time, fear showed in her eyes.
Mara noticed.
“So you did know.”
Celeste turned.
“I knew she was hiding something.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“You're confused.”
“No.”
Mara's voice was weak but steady.
“I've never been more clear.”
Dominic looked at Celeste.
“Answer her.”
Celeste stared at him.
Then she whispered,
“I knew she was pregnant.”
The room went silent.
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“When?”
Celeste looked down.
“Months ago.”
“How?”
“I saw her medical file.”
“You broke into my doctor's office?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
Celeste didn't answer.
Dominic stepped closer.
“Who gave you the file?”
She looked at him.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, she said,
“You wouldn't believe me.”
“Try.”
Celeste's face tightened.
“Your brother.”
Dominic froze.
Mara looked between them.
“You have a brother?”
Dominic didn't respond.
Celeste continued.
“His name was on the file.”
Dominic's eyes hardened.
“I don't have a brother.”
Celeste went pale.
“You did.”
Mara whispered,
“What does that mean?”
Dominic stared at Celeste.
“My brother died when I was nineteen.”
Celeste's lips parted.
“I know.”
“Then why did you say his name?”
“Because he wasn't the one who died.”
The nurse backed away from the conversation.
Mara's heart began pounding.
Dominic's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Explain.”
Celeste looked toward the hallway.
“I can't.”
“You just did.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Celeste swallowed.
“Your family covered it up.”
Dominic stared at her.
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because there were two boys.”
Mara felt a chill run through her.
Dominic's face went completely blank.
Celeste continued.
“Your father had twins.”
Dominic stepped back.
“That is impossible.”
“I saw the records.”
“Where?”
“In the old family archive.”
Mara watched Dominic's expression.
She had never seen him look like this.
Not angry.
Not afraid.
Lost.
Celeste lowered her voice.
“One of the boys was declared dead.”
“And the other?”
Celeste looked directly at Dominic.
“The other became Dominic Vascari.”
Mara's breath caught.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying someone in your family erased a child.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
Dominic grabbed the folder.
“Where are the records?”
Celeste looked toward the door.
“Not here.”
“Where?”
She hesitated.
“In your old house.”
Dominic froze.
The old house.
The one his father had abandoned after his death.
The one Dominic had refused to enter for more than ten years.
Mara remembered hearing about it.
She had never been there.
“What records?” Dominic asked.
Celeste's eyes shifted toward Mara.
“The records that explain why someone wanted your wife and child dead.”
Mara's blood ran cold.
Dominic moved toward her.
“Who?”
Celeste looked at him.
“I don't know.”
“You're running out of chances.”
“I know who ordered the surveillance.”
Dominic stopped.
“Who?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“I can't say it here.”
“Why?”
“Because we're not alone.”
Everyone in the room went silent.
The nurse looked toward the ceiling.
Mara looked at the hallway.
Dominic slowly turned toward the door.
It was closed.
The security light above it was green.
He walked over.
Opened it.
The hallway was empty.
He looked back at Celeste.
“Who is listening?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic stepped into the corridor.
He glanced left.
Then right.
Nothing.
He returned to the room.
Celeste was gone.
Mara stared at the empty space where she had been standing.
“How did she—”
Dominic turned.
The bathroom door was slightly open.
He crossed the room.
He pushed it open.
Empty.
A small ventilation window stood ajar.
Dominic stared at it.
“She couldn't have left through there.”
Mara looked toward the bedside table.
“Dominic.”
He turned.
She pointed.
The folder was gone.
So was the ultrasound printout.
Dominic's face hardened.
“Where is the nurse?”
Mara looked around.
The nurse was gone too.
The room suddenly felt enormous.
And silent.
Dominic walked to the door.
He stopped.
Something had been slipped beneath it.
A small white envelope.
No name.
No hospital stamp.
Just one handwritten sentence across the front:
YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED WHO THE BABY'S REAL FATHER WAS.
Dominic stared at it.
Then slowly reached down.
Before his fingers touched the envelope, his phone began ringing.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
“Who is this?”
For several seconds, there was only breathing.
Then a man's voice whispered,
“Dominic…”
Dominic's face changed.
Because he knew that voice.
The caller spoke again.
“Your wife wasn't the one who disappeared eight months ago.”
A pause.
“She was the one we were trying to find.”
Then the line went dead.
Dominic stared at the phone.
And from the hallway outside Mara's room came three slow knocks on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Mara's eyes widened.
May you like
Dominic reached for the handle.
The door began opening from the other side.
