Chapter 7 - The Child My Father Buried
Gabriel held the phone against his ear.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Because everyone in that hidden room had heard it.
A child’s voice.
A small voice.
A voice calling him by a name he had spent his entire life waiting to hear.
“Daddy…”
Gabriel looked down at the photograph in his hand.
The hospital room.
The newborn baby.
His father standing beside the bed.
His first child.
His fingers tightened around the picture.
“Who is this?”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
The child on the phone did not answer immediately.
Only silence.
Then a small breath.
Like someone was afraid to speak.
Gabriel’s expression changed.
The same instinct that had made him protect his family for years took over.
The anger disappeared.
The businessman disappeared.
The man everyone feared disappeared.
Only a father remained.
“Where are you?”
A pause.
Then the child whispered:
“I don’t know.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
“Look around.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Another silence.
Then:
“Because she told me not to look outside.”
Gabriel’s heart sank.
“She?”
The child did not answer.
Gabriel looked at Elena.
Her face had changed.
She knew something.
“Who is she?” Gabriel asked.
The child’s voice became smaller.
“She said if you found me, everything would start again.”
Gabriel gripped the phone.
“Who said that?”
The line suddenly became distorted.
A strange sound appeared.
Like someone had moved the phone.
Then the child whispered:
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“I think she knows you found me.”
The call ended.
Gabriel stood frozen.
The room remained silent.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
“Find that number.”
Luca was not there.
Nobody had noticed when he disappeared after the first call.
Gabriel looked around.
“Where is Luca?”
No answer.
That bothered him.
Luca never left without telling him.
Never.
Gabriel turned to Elena.
“Where did he go?”
She looked confused.
“I thought he was with you.”
Gabriel looked at the hidden room entrance.
The same entrance where Luca had entered earlier.
The same entrance where someone had appeared.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The man beside him noticed too.
“He left.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“What?”
“He received a message.”
“When?”
“Before the lights went out.”
Gabriel’s expression hardened.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
The man looked down.
“Because I didn’t know if he was helping us.”
That sentence changed everything.
Gabriel stepped back.
For years, Luca had been more than an employee.
He was family.
The man who stood beside him during wars.
The man who protected his home.
The man who knew every secret.
And now…
Gabriel wondered if Luca had been protecting him.
Or protecting the truth.
“Open the security system.”
The man shook his head.
“It’s disabled.”
“Fix it.”
“I can’t.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“Why?”
The man hesitated.
Then answered:
“Because someone changed the access codes.”
“Who?”
The man looked at the screen.
“Someone with your father’s authorization.”
Gabriel stared.
“My father has been dead for twelve years.”
Nobody spoke.
Because they all knew what that meant.
Someone had been using his father’s identity.
Or…
someone knew secrets that should have disappeared with him.
Gabriel walked back to the table.
He picked up the photograph again.
The baby.
The hospital.
His father.
He studied every detail.
Then he noticed something.
A bracelet on the newborn’s wrist.
A small hospital bracelet.
The name was almost impossible to read.
But it was there.
Gabriel moved closer to the light.
His breathing stopped.
The name was not Lily.
It was not Norah.
It was not anyone he knew.
It was his own last name.
Costa.
Underneath it was a date.
A date from twenty-eight years ago.
Gabriel looked up.
“That’s impossible.”
Elena approached.
“What?”
He handed her the photograph.
She read it.
Then her face changed.
“What?”
Gabriel looked at her.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew there was another child.”
Elena shook her head.
“Not this one.”
The room became quiet.
The man looked at the photograph.
Then he whispered:
“Your father never told us.”
Gabriel stared.
“Who is this child?”
Nobody answered.
Then the hidden computer screen turned on.
Everyone turned.
No one touched it.
A video file appeared.
Created moments ago.
The title:
"FOR GABRIEL."
His face became cold.
Another message.
Another person watching.
Another secret waiting.
Gabriel clicked the file.
The screen showed a woman.
She was older.
Tired.
Her eyes were full of fear.
But Gabriel recognized her immediately.
Because he had seen her before.
In the hospital photograph.
The woman standing beside his father.
The woman who had given birth.
“Gabriel.”
Her voice trembled.
“If you are watching this, then you finally found the truth your father buried.”
Gabriel moved closer.
The woman continued.
“My son was never supposed to disappear.”
Gabriel froze.
“My son.”
The words echoed.
The baby.
The photograph.
The first child.
“He was taken because your father believed he could control the future.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“What?”
The woman looked away.
“He told me my child would destroy everything.”
The screen flickered.
“He said if Gabriel Costa ever learned the truth, the entire family would collapse.”
Gabriel felt his stomach tighten.
The woman looked back at the camera.
“But your father was wrong about one thing.”
A pause.
“Your son was never the threat.”
Gabriel stopped breathing.
The room went silent.
“My son?”
Elena covered her mouth.
The man stepped back.
The woman on the screen continued.
“The child you were told never existed…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Is the reason Norah disappeared.”
Gabriel stared.
No.
Impossible.
Another child.
Another secret.
Another life stolen from him.
The video suddenly cut.
A new message appeared.
One sentence.
"Ask Gabriel why he forgot his first child."
He stepped backward.
“I didn’t forget.”
But nobody answered.
Because somewhere deep inside…
he knew there was something missing.
Something his own mind refused to remember.
Something someone had taken from him.
Then the computer displayed one final image.
A recent security photograph.
A child standing outside the Costa estate.
The child was older now.
Around seven years old.
And standing beside her…
was Norah.
Gabriel moved closer.
His hands started shaking.
Because beneath the photograph was a name.
A name he had never heard.
And a message:
"Your first child has been living beside you all along."
The basement lights suddenly turned off.
Then a voice came from behind Gabriel.
A voice he recognized.
“Gabriel…”
May you like
He turned.
Because the person standing in the doorway was the last person he expected to see.
