Chapter 12 - The Empty Law Office
Celia’s law office occupied the top floor of a glass tower owned by Moretti Properties.
By the time Alessandro arrived, every employee had been dismissed for the day. The reception lights remained on. Coffee was still warm in the conference room.
Celia had left in a hurry.
Her computer was gone.
So were her personal files.
But she had not erased everything.
A printer technician recovered a record of documents produced during the previous six months. The list included Elena’s forged medical forms, Rosa’s false bank statements, Emma’s guardianship petition, and several versions of Vanessa’s paternity declaration.
Celia had prepared the legal machinery behind the conspiracy.
Yet one file did not fit the plan.
It was a petition requesting emergency protection for an unnamed three-year-old girl.
The document accused an unidentified guardian of concealing the child’s identity and moving her repeatedly between private residences.
Celia had been attempting to locate the missing Moretti daughter.
“She was working both sides,” Tomas said.
“Or pretending to.”
Alessandro opened the draft petition.
The child was described as having dark hair, gray eyes, a crescent-shaped birthmark behind her left ear, and a heart condition detected shortly after birth.
Emma had the same birthmark.
She did not have the heart condition.
At the bottom of the document, Celia had written a note to herself.
Find Miriam before October 18.
October 18 was two weeks away.
“Why that date?” Tomas asked.
Alessandro searched the remaining files.
A calendar entry provided the answer.
On October 18, the Moretti family trust would complete a scheduled twenty-year review. Any biological heir not registered before midnight would lose the right to make an immediate claim.
After that date, proving the child’s identity could take years.
Someone had designed the fake pregnancy to seize control before the review.
Someone else had triggered its exposure to force Alessandro to search for the real child before the deadline.
Both sides were racing toward the same date.
A hidden drawer inside Celia’s desk contained a photograph of Elena in the Belladonna Hotel.
Elena stood outside Room 614 with Celia.
Between them was Miriam Cole, the missing nurse.
Miriam held a baby carrier.
The infant’s face was hidden beneath a blanket.
Written on the back were four words.
She is safer unnamed.
Beneath the photograph lay a key to a private train station locker.
Alessandro and Tomas reached the station before noon.
The locker contained Elena’s medical bracelet, a map marked with five addresses, and a sealed letter addressed to Alessandro.
He recognized Elena’s handwriting.
He opened it with shaking hands.
Alessandro,
If Celia gives you this, then she has finally chosen a side.
Our daughter lived.
I saw her three months after the hospital told us she was dead.
I could not bring her home because the person watching us threatened Emma.
I believed separating the girls would keep them alive until I found proof.
I was wrong.
Someone inside our family knew every move I made.
Do not search only for the child.
Search for the person who benefits when the sisters never meet.
The letter ended abruptly.
The second page had been removed.
Tomas examined the envelope.
“There’s another name beneath yours.”
Faint pressure marks remained where Elena had written on the missing page.
They used a forensic light to reveal the indentation.
May you like
The sentence became visible slowly.
Do not trust the woman in the family portrait.
