CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER THREE
THE CHILD SHE HID
At 4:07 in the morning, Julian Rossi stopped believing in coincidences.
Too many things had happened in too short a time.
Elena was alive.
Elena was pregnant.
His father had threatened her.
Someone had erased hotel footage.
Someone had broken into the Rossi mansion.
And now an anonymous stranger had told him that Elena had another pregnancy six years ago.
But one question kept cutting through everything else.
Who was the father of the child she was carrying now?
Julian had already seen the answer.
He simply didn't know whether he could trust it.
The ultrasound photograph.
The words on the back.
Our baby deserves a father.
Those words had been written by Elena.
But Elena had refused to say the child was his.
Why?
Julian drove back to the Grand Alcazar before dawn.
He ignored the front entrance and went directly to the staff quarters.
The hallway was empty.
He knocked on Elena's door.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
“Elena.”
Still nothing.
His heart began pounding.
He tried the handle.
Locked.
“Open the door.”
Silence.
Then he heard something.
A faint sound from inside.
A child crying?
No.
He listened.
Nothing.
“I'm coming in.”
He stepped back and kicked the door.
The lock broke.
The room was empty.
The bed was untouched.
The small wardrobe was open.
Elena's uniform was gone.
So was her bag.
Julian's blood ran cold.
He rushed toward the bathroom.
Empty.
Then he noticed the window.
Open.
A blanket had been tied around the frame.
Someone had helped Elena escape.
Julian grabbed his phone.
He called the hotel manager.
“Find her.”
“Mr. Rossi—”
“Now.”
“We're searching.”
“Lock every exit.”
“We already have.”
Julian stopped.
“Wait.”
He walked toward the window.
There were footprints below.
Small.
Fresh.
He looked toward the parking area.
A black van was leaving through the service gate.
Julian ran.
He reached the garage just as the van disappeared.
He shouted:
“Elena!”
The vehicle didn't stop.
Julian stood there breathing heavily.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Where is she?”
A woman's voice replied.
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“Who are you?”
“Someone trying to keep her alive.”
“Where is my wife?”
A pause.
Then:
“She doesn't want you to find her.”
Julian's jaw tightened.
“Put her on the phone.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because she's terrified.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then of whom?”
The woman hesitated.
“Your father.”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Where are they taking her?”
The call ended.
Julian stared at the phone.
Then he received a message.
A photograph.
Elena.
Sitting inside a car.
One hand over her stomach.
She was looking out the window.
Beneath the photograph was one sentence.
STOP ASKING ABOUT THE BABY.
Julian's anger exploded.
He called Adrian Vale.
This time, the doctor answered.
“Julian?”
“Where is Elena?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie to me.”
“I am not.”
“You knew she was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew the child was mine.”
Silence.
Julian's voice dropped.
“Didn't you?”
Adrian finally said:
“I knew Elena believed the child was yours.”
Julian froze.
“Believed?”
“Yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you need to hear the entire story from her.”
“Then tell me.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because I promised her.”
Julian clenched his fists.
“Everyone keeps protecting Elena.”
Adrian sighed.
“Because she has been protecting you.”
Julian went silent.
Adrian continued.
“You keep asking who the father is.”
“Yes.”
“Ask yourself why Elena refuses to tell you.”
Julian thought of the hotel.
The fear in her eyes.
The cameras.
His father's threats.
“Because she thinks I'll be killed.”
“Yes.”
“Why would knowing the father put me in danger?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Julian understood.
Unless the answer wasn't what he wanted.
Unless the baby's identity was dangerous for another reason.
He whispered:
“Is the baby really mine?”
Adrian paused.
Then:
“Biologically, there is a very high probability.”
Julian's heart pounded.
“But?”
“I didn't say there was a 'but.'”
“You did.”
Adrian sighed.
“Julian, Elena had a difficult medical history.”
“What history?”
“Six years ago, she lost a pregnancy.”
“I know.”
Adrian went silent.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You treated her?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because your father contacted me afterward.”
Julian's blood went cold.
“What did he want?”
“To know whether Elena could have children again.”
Julian swallowed.
“And?”
“I told him yes.”
“Why did he care?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Because he believed the next child would change the Rossi inheritance.”
Julian stared into the darkness.
“What does that mean?”
“I think you should ask your father.”
Julian hung up.
Two hours later, Julian found Elena.
Not at the hotel.
Not at the mansion.
At a small private clinic on the outskirts of the city.
She was sitting alone in a waiting room.
Her face was exhausted.
Her hands rested over her stomach.
Julian stopped in the doorway.
Elena looked up.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Elena whispered:
“You shouldn't have come.”
Julian closed the door behind him.
“You disappeared again.”
“I had to.”
“Someone came for you.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
She looked down.
“You already know.”
“My father.”
Elena nodded.
Julian walked toward her.
“Why didn't you call me?”
“Because I knew you would come.”
“I would have.”
“That was the problem.”
Julian stared at her.
“I don't understand.”
“You would have walked straight into their trap.”
“Then we face them together.”
“You don't know what you're facing.”
“Then tell me.”
Elena shook her head.
“Not yet.”
Julian's patience broke.
“Not yet?”
She looked at him.
“You've been gone for eight months.”
“You thought I left you.”
“You let me think that.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always had a choice.”
Elena flinched.
Julian immediately regretted his words.
His voice softened.
“I'm sorry.”
She looked away.
He sat beside her.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Julian said:
“Is the baby mine?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“Please don't ask.”
“I need to know.”
“You already know.”
“I need to hear you say it.”
She remained silent.
Julian looked at her stomach.
“How far along?”
“Thirty-one weeks.”
He swallowed.
Thirty-one weeks.
He calculated.
His mind raced backward.
The date.
Their last night together.
The argument.
The morning she disappeared.
Everything fit.
The baby could be his.
More than that.
The timing almost made it certain.
Julian whispered:
“It's mine.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
She didn't deny it.
That was enough.
Julian exhaled shakily.
“Our baby.”
Elena finally looked at him.
“Yes.”
The word broke him.
For eight months, he had imagined Elena leaving because she no longer loved him.
Now he realized she had been carrying his child alone.
His eyes filled with tears.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father knew.”
“What did he know?”
“That you were going to inherit the Rossi controlling shares.”
Julian frowned.
“What does my inheritance have to do with our baby?”
“Everything.”
Elena reached into her bag.
She pulled out a folded document.
She handed it to him.
Julian opened it.
It was a copy of an old family trust.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
Then stopped.
The controlling interest in Rossi Holdings could not pass directly to Julian under certain circumstances.
Instead, it would pass to his biological heir.
His unborn child.
Julian looked up.
“That's why.”
Elena nodded.
“Your father doesn't want you to control the company.”
“He wants my child to inherit.”
“Yes.”
“But the child is unborn.”
“He doesn't need the child to be born.”
Julian's face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Elena looked toward the clinic door.
“He needs the pregnancy to remain under his control.”
Julian understood.
“That's why you ran.”
“Yes.”
“And why you hid the baby.”
“Yes.”
“From everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Even me.”
Elena nodded.
“I was afraid you would bring me home.”
Julian stared at her.
“I would have protected you.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because I knew your father would use you.”
“How?”
“He would make you choose.”
“Choose what?”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“Me…”
She touched her stomach.
“…or your family.”
Julian shook his head.
“I would choose you.”
“You say that now.”
“I mean it.”
“You don't know what he threatened.”
“Tell me.”
Elena looked away.
“Your father's men came to my mother's house.”
Julian froze.
“My mother?”
“They told her that if I didn't leave, she would disappear too.”
Julian's face hardened.
“They threatened your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Is she safe?”
Elena nodded.
“For now.”
Julian stood.
“We're going to get her.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because that's exactly what they want.”
Julian turned.
“What?”
“They want you angry.”
He stopped.
“They want you to act without thinking.”
Elena reached for his hand.
“Please.”
Julian looked down.
Her fingers were trembling.
He sat again.
“I don't know how to do this.”
Elena looked at him.
“Neither do I.”
For the first time, they smiled faintly.
It lasted only a second.
Then the clinic lights flickered.
Elena stiffened.
Julian noticed.
“What?”
She whispered:
“They found us.”
The door opened.
A nurse stepped inside.
“Mrs. Rossi?”
“Yes?”
“We need you in the examination room.”
Julian stood.
“I'll come with her.”
The nurse shook her head.
“Only the patient.”
Julian immediately became suspicious.
“Show me your identification.”
The nurse froze.
Elena looked at Julian.
Then at the nurse.
The woman reached into her pocket.
Julian stepped forward.
But before she could pull anything out, another door burst open.
Two security officers rushed in.
The nurse ran.
One officer grabbed her.
The second locked the door.
Julian stared.
“What is happening?”
One of the officers looked at Elena.
“Mrs. Rossi, you need to leave immediately.”
“Who are you?”
“People your husband hired.”
Julian frowned.
“I didn't hire anyone.”
The officer looked at him.
“You didn't.”
Elena's face went pale.
“Then who did?”
The officer didn't answer.
Instead, he handed Julian an envelope.
“Your father.”
Julian opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
His father.
Standing beside Camila.
And between them—
a crib.
Julian stared at the photograph.
On the back was a message.
THE CHILD WILL BELONG TO THE ROSSI FAMILY.
Julian's hands began to shake.
He tore the photograph in half.
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
“Julian…”
He took her hand.
“This child belongs to you.”
She stared at him.
“And to me.”
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
“But if they come after the baby—”
“Then they'll have to come through me.”
He stood.
“We're leaving.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere my father can't find us.”
Elena shook her head.
“There is nowhere.”
Julian looked at her.
“There is.”
“Where?”
He thought for a moment.
Then remembered something.
An old property.
A private estate in the mountains.
Owned through a company nobody connected to Rossi Holdings.
Only three people knew it existed.
Julian.
His mother.
And Elena.
He whispered:
“My mother knew.”
Elena's face changed.
“Your mother?”
“She told me about it before she died.”
Elena stared.
“Julian…”
“What?”
“She didn't die.”
He froze.
“What did you say?”
“I told you.”
Elena's voice trembled.
“Your mother was alive when I left.”
Julian couldn't breathe.
“Where is she?”
Elena looked toward the window.
“I don't know.”
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Julian answered.
A man's voice said:
“You found the truth about the baby.”
Julian said nothing.
The man continued:
“Now find the truth about your mother.”
The call ended.
A message arrived seconds later.
A location.
An abandoned chapel.
And a time.
Midnight.
Julian looked at Elena.
She was crying.
“What is it?”
He showed her the screen.
Her face went white.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I know that place.”
“How?”
Elena swallowed.
“That's where your father took me the night I disappeared.”
Julian stared at the location.
The chapel.
His father.
Elena.
His unborn child.
His missing mother.
Everything was connected.
And somewhere in the darkness, someone was waiting for them.
Julian took Elena's hand.
This time, she didn't pull away.
“Whatever happens,” he whispered, “I won't let them take our child.”
Elena looked at him.
“I believe you.”
It was the first time she had said those words in eight months.
But neither of them knew that, inside the abandoned chapel, someone was already waiting.
A woman stood beneath the broken stained-glass window.
She held an old photograph.
A photograph of Elena.
A photograph of Julian.
And a photograph of a baby born six years earlier.
She looked at the three pictures.
Then smiled.
“Let them come.”
Because the child Elena had hidden for eight months was not the only secret the Rossi family had buried.
May you like
And when Julian discovered the truth about the first child…
he would finally understand why Elena had been terrified of telling him the truth.
