Chapter 5 - Sophia’s Secret
Dominic did not answer Ethan.
That was the worst answer of all.
The study felt smaller with the photo on the desk. Ethan’s face, bright and innocent from a birthday long before this one, had been marked with a red X like he was not a child at all.
Like he was a target.
Ethan stared at his father.
“What truth?”
Dominic picked up the photo and turned it facedown.
“You don’t need to carry that.”
Ethan’s voice cracked.
“It has my face on it.”
I wanted to take both children and run until the house disappeared behind us.
But the doors were guarded.
The gates were locked.
And outside those gates waited people who knew Lily’s name.
Dominic knelt in front of Ethan.
“Your mother loved you more than anything.”
Ethan’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
“There were things adults did around her. Things she tried to stop.”
“What things?”
Dominic looked at me.
I should have stepped out.
This was family.
This was private.
But Lily was asleep against my side, and my blood was still drying under a bandage because Dominic’s private war had reached my child.
So I stayed.
Dominic seemed to understand.
“When Sophia died,” he said, “everyone called it an accident.”
Ethan whispered, “It was raining.”
“Yes.”
“She was coming home from Grandma’s.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“That’s what I told you.”
Ethan went still.
My heart sank.
Dominic looked like every word was cutting him on the way out.
“Your mother was not coming from your grandmother’s house. She was coming from meeting a federal prosecutor.”
The room went silent.
Marco looked down.
He had known.
I had not.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“She found records,” Dominic said. “Payments. Names. Proof that Vincent was using my legitimate companies to move money for men I wanted nowhere near this family.”
“Uncle Vincent?”
“Yes.”
Ethan backed away.
Dominic reached for him, then stopped.
“Sophia wanted to take the records to the government. She wanted to protect you.”
“What happened?”
Dominic’s voice broke.
“Her brakes failed.”
I closed my eyes.
Ethan looked like he might be sick.
“You said it was an accident.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
The word landed hard.
Ethan ran from him and threw himself beside Lily on the sofa, crying silently into his hands.
Dominic stood there like a man being punished and knowing he deserved it.
I wanted to hate him.
Maybe part of me did.
But I also saw a father who had built walls around grief and called them protection.
Dr. Harris entered quietly.
“Dominic, the police want another statement.”
“Tell them to wait.”
“They found something else.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“A recording device under the cold room prep table.”
Marco cursed under his breath.
I held Lily tighter.
“A recording device?” I asked.
Dr. Harris nodded.
“It was still active.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“Someone wanted to hear what happened after the poisoning.”
“Or confirm it worked,” Marco said.
My skin crawled.
Then Lily stirred.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
She sat up and saw Ethan crying.
She touched his shoulder.
“Your tummy hurts?”
Ethan shook his head.
“My mom died because of bad people.”
Lily blinked with the solemn confusion of a child too young for evil but old enough to feel pain.
She leaned against him.
“My daddy left.”
I froze.
She rarely said that.
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Then she added, “But Mommy stayed.”
Ethan looked at me.
Dominic looked at me too.
I suddenly felt exposed.
I smoothed Lily’s hair.
“Yes, baby. I stayed.”
Ethan wiped his face.
“My dad stayed too.”
Dominic’s eyes closed briefly.
That tiny mercy from his son nearly broke him.
The detectives returned at noon.
Detective Carla Reyes led the questioning. She was sharp-eyed, controlled, and clearly unimpressed by the Moretti name.
She sat across from Dominic in the study while I kept Lily near the window.
“Mr. Moretti,” she said, “your brother has not been located.”
“I know.”
“His home is empty.”
Dominic’s face did not change.
“His accounts?”
“Frozen where we could reach them. Several were drained overnight.”
Marco muttered, “He planned this.”
Detective Reyes looked at him.
“Or someone helped him plan it.”
Then she turned to me.
“Ms. Carter, do you know anyone outside this house who would target your daughter?”
“No.”
“Her father?”
I stiffened.
Dominic’s head turned slightly.
“My ex-husband has not seen Lily in two years.”
“What’s his name?”
“Caleb Ward.”
“Any violent history?”
I hesitated too long.
Dominic noticed.
Detective Reyes noticed.
“Yes,” I admitted. “But not like this.”
“What does that mean?”
“He drank. He shouted. He punched walls. Once, he grabbed my wrist hard enough to bruise it. I left after that.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
That was only half true.
The last I heard, Caleb had been in Yonkers, working construction and losing jobs as quickly as he found them.
Detective Reyes wrote it down.
“We’ll find him.”
I hated the fear that rose in me.
Not because I thought Caleb poisoned a cake.
Because I knew what men did when they felt forgotten.
Dominic waited until the detective left before speaking.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I looked at him.
“You were my employer, not my priest.”
His mouth tightened.
Fair.
Then Marco’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
“We got something.”
He connected the phone to the study monitor.
A grainy image appeared.
The lower service road.
A black sedan.
Vincent getting in.
And beside him, half turned toward the camera, was another man.
I stopped breathing.
Dominic saw my face.
“Anna?”
I stepped closer to the screen.
The man’s hair was shorter.
His face heavier.
But I knew the slump of his shoulders.
The way he leaned forward like the world owed him space.
“That’s Caleb,” I whispered.
Dominic’s eyes sharpened.
“Your ex-husband?”
I nodded.
My legs felt numb.
On the screen, Caleb handed Vincent something.
An envelope.
Then he looked straight toward the camera.
Like he knew I would eventually see it.
Lily slid off the sofa and came to me.
“Mommy?”
I could not answer.
Dominic’s voice was deadly calm.
“Find Caleb Ward.”
Marco was already moving.
But my phone buzzed before anyone reached the door.
Unknown number.
A photo came through.
A photo of Lily at a playground from weeks ago.
My hands shook so badly I almost dropped it.
Then the message appeared.
You should have let me be her father.
May you like
A second message followed.
Now Vincent is paying me to take her back.
