Chapter 6 - The Debt My Ex Never Owed
Victor Hale sat beside an empty crib.
He looked nothing like the monster I had imagined.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Gentle face.
The kind of man strangers trusted instinctively.
That frightened me more.
"Where is Lily?"
"Safe."
"I want my daughter."
"And Lorenzo wants his son safe."
"What does Leo have to do with Lily?"
"Everything."
Victor stood.
"You were never supposed to become involved."
"You had Eric follow me."
"I had Eric encourage you to leave."
"He pushed me down stairs."
Victor's expression tightened.
"That was his failure."
"My daughter was taken."
"That was Reed's improvisation."
He said these things as if discussing accounting errors.
I hated him.
But I needed information more than revenge.
"Why me?"
Victor smiled faintly.
"Because Sofia trusted you."
"I never met Sofia."
"Yes, you did."
He placed a photograph on the table.
Two pregnant women sat in a hospital waiting room.
One was me.
The other was Sofia.
I remembered.
Months earlier, before either of our lives shattered, I'd helped a pregnant stranger who became dizzy at a prenatal clinic.
We talked for fifteen minutes.
I never learned her last name.
She had been Sofia Rossi.
"She remembered you," Victor said.
"Why?"
"Because you gave her your number after she told you she was frightened."
I remembered writing it on a receipt.
I had forgotten completely.
"Sofia discovered what I was doing. She needed someone outside the family."
"She contacted me?"
"She tried."
Victor placed another object on the table.
A small key.
"Sofia arranged for evidence to be hidden in a safe-deposit box under your name."
My heart hammered.
"That's why Eric was watching me."
"Yes."
"And Lily?"
"Collateral damage."
The words nearly made me attack him.
Instead, I stayed still.
Calm was the only weapon he wasn't expecting.
"Where is she?"
Victor studied me.
"Give me Sofia's files."
"I don't have them."
"But Lorenzo does."
"So this is about the flash drive."
"Bring it to me."
"And Lily?"
"You'll receive an address."
I laughed quietly.
Victor frowned.
"Something amusing?"
"You made one mistake."
"What?"
"You assumed I came alone."
His face changed.
The door behind him opened.
Lorenzo entered.
Victor backed away.
"You shouldn't have done that."
Lorenzo's voice was almost calm.
"You touched my son."
"I protected this family for thirty years."
"You poisoned my child."
"I preserved what your father built."
"My father would have buried you."
Victor smiled.
"Your father started it."
That stopped Lorenzo.
Victor explained that Alessandro Rossi had originally created hidden financial channels decades earlier to protect family assets during legal disputes.
Victor expanded them.
Sofia discovered the system and wanted it dismantled.
When Alessandro died, Victor believed the empire should belong to those capable of preserving it.
Sofia disagreed.
Leo's trust threatened Victor's control.
"So Sofia died," Lorenzo said.
Victor's face remained unreadable.
"I didn't kill Sofia."
"Who did?"
"Ask Reed."
Sirens sounded outside.
Victor's confidence disappeared.
Lorenzo had alerted investigators before entering.
For once, nobody was handling the matter privately.
Victor moved toward another door.
It opened before he reached it.
Margaret stood there.
Her eyes were red.
"Enough, Victor."
He stared at his wife.
"You betrayed me."
"No."
She shook her head.
"I finally stopped being afraid of you."
Victor looked toward the window.
There was nowhere to go.
He was taken into custody minutes later.
But Lily wasn't there.
Victor had lied.
Again.
Then investigators searched his phone.
One recent location appeared repeatedly.
A private pediatric recovery center sixty miles away.
We drove there before dawn.
I could barely breathe when we arrived.
A nurse checked a room number.
Then she looked at me.
"You're Elena?"
"Yes."
Her face softened.
"There's someone you should meet."
My legs trembled as I followed her.
We stopped outside a small room.
Through the glass, I saw a crib.
A baby was sleeping inside.
Dark hair.
Tiny fists.
A yellow blanket.
I touched the glass.
"Lily?"
The nurse nodded.
My knees gave out.
Lorenzo caught me.
"She's alive."
I began sobbing.
Not the controlled tears I'd lived with for weeks.
These came from somewhere deeper.
I reached for the door.
Then the nurse stopped me.
"Ms. Morales."
I turned.
Her expression had changed.
"Before you go inside, there's something you need to know."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She looked toward Lily's crib.
"Your daughter isn't the only child they brought here."
May you like
Behind us, another door slowly opened.
And Dr. Reed stepped out.
