Chapter 10 - The Child Who Was Taken Away
The man standing in the doorway did not move.
Neither did Dominic.
For several seconds, the entire archive room existed in complete silence.
The old medical file remained in the man's hand.
Dominic's name was written across the cover.
The same name he had carried his entire life.
The same name that suddenly felt unfamiliar.
"Who are you?"
Dominic asked.
The man looked at him.
Not with fear.
Not with surprise.
With sadness.
"My name is Dr. Elias Vane."
Nobody reacted.
Until Clara did.
Her face lost all color.
"No."
The doctor looked at her.
"Hello, Clara."
Dominic noticed immediately.
His mother knew him.
Not from a photograph.
Not from a file.
Personally.
"How do you know my mother?"
Elias looked at the room full of secrets.
"Because I was there when you were born."
The words hit everyone.
Dominic stared.
"You were the doctor?"
Elias nodded.
"I delivered you."
A pause.
"And I was the person who signed the documents that changed your life."
Dominic stepped closer.
"What documents?"
Elias held up the file.
"The ones that made you disappear."
The room became cold.
Clara closed her eyes.
She already knew what was inside.
Dominic looked at her.
"You knew he existed."
Clara whispered:
"Yes."
Another betrayal.
Another hidden truth.
Dominic felt numb.
"How many people knew?"
Nobody answered.
He looked around.
"How many?"
Lorenzo lowered his head.
"Too many."
Dominic laughed quietly.
A painful sound.
"So my entire life..."
He looked at the file.
"Was built by people deciding what I should know."
Elias stepped forward.
"Dominic."
He stopped.
"Don't."
The doctor paused.
"You don't get to speak to me like you know me."
Elias accepted that.
Because he understood.
"I deserve that."
Dominic looked at the file.
"Open it."
Nobody moved.
"Open it."
Elias placed the folder on the table.
The first page was an old medical report.
Dominic read it.
Patient:
Clara Valente.
Child:
Male.
Time of birth:
3:17 AM.
Then he saw something strange.
A second line.
Original classification:
Unknown.
Dominic frowned.
"What is this?"
Elias answered quietly.
"Your first record."
"First?"
Elias nodded.
"The record created before they changed your identity."
Dominic turned the page.
A photograph was attached.
A newborn baby.
Him.
But beneath the photo was another name.
Not Dominic Valente.
A different name.
Dominic stared.
"What is this?"
Clara looked away.
Elias answered.
"Your original name."
The room went silent.
Dominic felt his heart beat faster.
"What was it?"
Nobody answered.
Then Elias said:
"Daniel Rossi."
Dominic froze.
Elena looked shocked.
Adrian stepped backward.
Because the name meant something.
Everything suddenly connected.
Rossi.
Elena Rossi.
Marco Rossi.
The family that had been erased.
The family connected to every secret.
Dominic looked at Clara.
"Why?"
She couldn't answer.
Elias did.
"Because the Valente family didn't want another heir."
Dominic looked confused.
"What?"
Elias opened another document.
"The Valentes had lost control of their bloodline."
He looked at Lorenzo.
"Your father knew."
Lorenzo said nothing.
Elias continued.
"They didn't need a Valente heir."
"They needed a child who could unite two families."
Dominic stared.
"Two families?"
Elias nodded.
"The Valentes and the Rossis."
A terrible realization appeared.
Dominic looked at Elena.
"You're saying..."
Elena whispered:
"You and I are connected."
Dominic looked at her.
Elias nodded.
"Your mother was a Rossi before she became a Valente."
Dominic felt the room spinning.
His entire family history had been rewritten.
His blood.
His name.
His identity.
Everything.
"Then why hide it?"
Elias looked at Lorenzo.
"Because someone wanted the Rossi bloodline destroyed."
Dominic turned.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Elias opened the final page.
A list of names.
People who had been involved.
Dominic scanned it.
Most names were unfamiliar.
Until he saw one.
His hand stopped.
Because it was impossible.
"No."
He looked again.
The name remained.
A person who had been around him his entire childhood.
A person who had attended family meetings.
A person who had comforted him after his mother's disappearance.
Dominic looked at Clara.
"Is this real?"
She looked at the paper.
Then slowly nodded.
"Yes."
His voice became quiet.
"She was involved?"
Clara didn't speak.
She didn't need to.
Dominic already knew.
Then Elias placed another document on the table.
"This is why I came."
Dominic looked at him.
"What is it?"
"The final report."
"About what?"
Elias stared at him.
"About the night your mother disappeared."
Dominic's expression changed.
"My mother didn't disappear."
"No."
Elias shook his head.
"She was taken."
The words froze him.
"By who?"
Elias looked toward the security cameras.
Everyone noticed.
The doctor was afraid.
Not of Dominic.
Of someone watching.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Elias lowered his voice.
"The person who ordered your mother's disappearance..."
A pause.
"Was the person who raised you."
Dominic felt his blood turn cold.
Again.
The same warning.
The same message.
The same impossible accusation.
But this time, he wanted proof.
"Who?"
Elias looked at Adrian.
Then at Lorenzo.
Then finally at Dominic.
"I can't say here."
Dominic stepped forward.
"You brought the evidence."
"Yes."
"Then give it to me."
Elias looked toward the archive door.
"Not yet."
Dominic frowned.
"Why?"
"Because he knows I'm here."
Everyone froze.
The lights flickered.
A security alarm sounded.
One of the guards checked the monitor.
Then his face changed.
"Sir..."
Dominic turned.
"What?"
The guard swallowed.
"The main gate."
"Who is there?"
The guard looked at the screen.
And slowly stepped back.
"Someone who shouldn't be alive."
Dominic walked toward the monitor.
The camera showed the entrance.
A black car had stopped outside.
The door opened.
A person stepped out.
Dominic stared.
Because he recognized the face.
Everyone did.
Clara covered her mouth.
Lorenzo whispered:
"No..."
The person walked toward the mansion.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Like they had never left.
Like they owned the place.
Then the security screen displayed the identity.
And Dominic saw the name.
The person he believed had been dead for twenty years.
The person connected to his birth.
The person who knew the truth about everything.
May you like
The person who was coming back to the Valente estate...
was his real mother.
