Chapter 6 - The Woman Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The screen showed Sofia walking through a hospital hallway.
Dominic could not move.
Nobody could.
The recording was eight years old.
The date was clear.
The time was clear.
The location was clear.
And standing beside Sofia was a woman everyone believed had been dead for years.
Dominic’s mother.
The woman who raised him.
The woman whose funeral he attended.
The woman whose death certificate existed in every official record.
But she was there.
Alive.
Walking beside Sofia.
Carrying Lily.
Dominic stared at the screen.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Like he was trying to convince himself.
"No."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Dominic..."
"Stop."
His voice changed.
Not angry.
Broken.
He looked at the footage again.
His mother was smiling.
Sofia looked terrified.
That detail was what hurt the most.
Because Dominic knew his mother.
He knew her expressions.
He knew when she was comforting someone.
And he knew when she was controlling them.
In the video, Sofia was not standing beside her willingly.
She was following.
Like someone had taken away her choices.
Dominic pointed at the screen.
"Enhance her face."
One of the guards immediately worked on the security system.
The image became clearer.
The woman’s face appeared.
Older.
But unmistakable.
Richard looked away.
Adrian looked shocked.
And I looked at Dominic.
Because I saw something I never expected.
Fear.
Not the fear of an enemy.
Not the fear of losing power.
The fear of realizing the person who hurt you was someone you loved.
"How?"
Dominic whispered.
"How was she alive?"
Nobody answered.
Then Richard spoke.
"Because your mother wanted everyone to believe she was gone."
Dominic turned slowly.
"Why?"
Richard looked at the screen.
"Because disappearing was the only way she could continue controlling everything."
Dominic’s eyes narrowed.
"Explain."
Richard took a breath.
"Your mother built the entire system around your family."
"The accounts."
"The records."
"The people who worked for you."
"Everything."
Dominic stared at him.
"You are saying my own mother manipulated me?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes."
The room became silent.
Then Dominic looked at Adrian.
"And you knew?"
Adrian shook his head.
"I knew she was involved."
"You knew?"
Dominic stepped forward.
"She was alive and you knew?"
Adrian's expression changed.
"I knew someone was helping Sofia."
"Someone was protecting Lily."
"I didn't know it was your mother."
Dominic looked at him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Adrian looked down.
"No."
The answer surprised everyone.
"I expect you to hate me."
A silence followed.
Because Adrian was not defending himself.
He was accepting the blame.
"I should have told you."
Dominic said nothing.
Adrian continued.
"But Sofia made me promise."
"She said if you knew too soon, you would go after the wrong person."
Dominic looked back at the screen.
At Sofia.
At his mother.
At the daughter he never knew existed.
"She trusted you."
Adrian nodded.
"She trusted very few people."
The recording suddenly changed.
The hospital hallway disappeared.
A new video appeared.
Sofia sitting in a dark room.
Holding baby Lily.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Because this was not security footage.
This was a message.
A message recorded for him.
Sofia looked directly into the camera.
Her eyes were tired.
But she was alive.
"Dominic."
His hands tightened.
Hearing her voice again destroyed the wall he had built around himself.
"I don't know when you will see this."
Sofia looked down at Lily.
"But if you are watching this, it means I failed to protect her."
Dominic shook his head.
"No..."
Sofia continued.
"I need you to listen carefully."
The room became completely silent.
"The person who separated us was not trying to hurt me."
A pause.
"They were trying to control you."
Dominic looked confused.
Sofia continued.
"They knew if you had a daughter, everything would change."
"They knew you would stop fighting."
"They knew you would choose family over power."
Dominic closed his eyes.
Because he understood.
Lily was not hidden because she was a weakness.
She was hidden because she was the one thing that could make him human.
Sofia looked at the camera.
"There is a reason they wanted Lily gone."
The video stopped.
Everyone froze.
The screen flickered.
Then another file appeared.
A hidden folder.
Created on the same day.
Dominic looked at the guard.
"Open it."
The guard hesitated.
"Sir..."
"Open it."
The folder contained hundreds of files.
Medical records.
Photos.
Messages.
Surveillance reports.
And one document.
The title alone made Dominic stop.
"The Moretti Family Succession Plan."
He opened it.
His face changed.
Because it was not a business document.
It was a plan.
A plan about him.
About his future.
About his daughter.
The first page showed Lily’s name.
The second page showed Sofia’s name.
The third page showed Dominic’s.
And at the bottom was a signature.
The person who created it.
Dominic looked at the name.
Then slowly stepped backward.
"No."
I moved closer.
"What is it?"
He couldn't answer.
Richard took the paper.
His expression changed immediately.
Because he recognized the signature.
"Impossible."
Adrian looked at him.
"Who?"
Richard slowly lifted his eyes.
"The person who created this plan..."
A pause.
"...was Dominic himself."
The room went silent.
Dominic stared.
"I never wrote that."
Richard looked at him.
"But it has your signature."
Dominic grabbed the document.
He looked at the signature.
It was his.
Perfectly copied.
But impossible.
Someone had forged his identity.
Someone had used his name to build a plan that destroyed his own family.
Then another file opened automatically.
A video.
The screen showed Dominic.
Years younger.
Sitting in his office.
Signing papers.
He watched himself speak.
"I authorize the removal of all records connected to Sofia and the child."
Dominic froze.
Because he remembered that day.
But not that conversation.
The video continued.
His younger self looked directly at the camera.
And said:
"If I ever discover the truth..."
A pause.
"I must never be allowed to find Lily."
Nobody breathed.
Dominic stepped away from the screen.
"That's not me."
Richard stared.
"But it is your voice."
The video ended.
Then a final message appeared.
One sentence.
Written by someone else.
Not Dominic.
Not Sofia.
Someone watching.
"Now you know why we had to erase your memory."
Dominic looked at the screen.
His face turned pale.
"Erase my memory?"
The lights suddenly went off.
Again.
The emergency system failed.
But this time, nobody moved.
Because everyone heard the same sound.
A door opening.
Somewhere inside the archive.
A woman’s voice whispered from the darkness.
"Dominic..."
Everyone turned.
Because the voice was impossible.
A voice they had only heard from recordings.
May you like
A voice that belonged to someone who should never have been there.
Sofia.
