Chapter 5 - ELENA’S WARNING
The call ended before I could ask where she was.
I stared at the phone, my heart beating so hard I could feel it in my
throat. Daniel arrived ten minutes later with two guards. He checked the
hallway, the fire stairs, and the building entrance. No one was there.
Vincent called from Wisconsin.
“We found her,” he said. “She’s alive.”
“Was that Elena who called me?”
“Yes. She used a nurse’s phone. She asked for you by name.”
“Why me?”
“I don’t know. She says she has something she needs to tell you before
she speaks to me.”
The next morning, Vincent arranged a secure video call. Elena appeared
on the screen in a pale blue sweater. Her dark hair was shorter, and
there was a faint scar near her temple. She looked tired, but her eyes
were warm and alert.
“Clara,” she said.
I swallowed. “You know who I am?”
“I’ve heard about you. Margaret told me you were kind to Gabriel. And I
saw you in the photograph from the mansion.”
“What photograph?”
“The one Vanessa kept. She took it from my room when I was moved.”
I waited.
Elena looked down at her hands.
“I didn’t leave Vincent. I was trying to get back to him. When I
discovered I was pregnant, I found documents showing that his father had
arranged illegal transfers through the family trust. I wanted to tell
Vincent, but his father warned me that if I did, the baby would
disappear.”
“Did Vanessa help him?”
Elena nodded.
“She was working for the family before Vincent proposed to her. She told
me she wanted to protect him. I believed her. Then she gave the hospital
staff a false order saying I had agreed to a private adoption.”
“What happened after Gabriel was born?”
“They told me he died. I knew he hadn’t. I heard him cry. Margaret
helped me copy the birth record, but before she could get me out, I was
taken to a private clinic. They said I was unstable and that I had tried
to harm my baby.”
Her voice trembled.
“I was kept under medication for months. When I finally escaped, I went
to find Gabriel. Margaret had him. I visited twice, but Vanessa’s men
followed me. I realized they would hurt him if I stayed near him.”
“So you disappeared to protect him.”
“I disappeared because I had no other choice.”
I felt tears gather.
“Why did you call me?”
Elena looked directly into the camera.
“Because Vanessa knows you’re pregnant. She knows Vincent has started
asking questions. She believes your child could give him a reason to
change the trust again.”
“What does she want?”
“To make sure no child can challenge her place in the family.”
A chill moved through me.
Elena continued. “There is something in that suitcase you haven’t found.
The ring is not the only thing I left. Look inside the heel of the brown
leather glove. I hid a small memory card there. It contains a recording
of Vincent’s father discussing the hospital transfer.”
Vincent leaned closer to the screen.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Elena’s eyes filled.
“I tried. I sent letters. I called the house. Every message was
intercepted. I thought you had chosen to believe I abandoned you.”
Vincent looked devastated.
“I never stopped loving you.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I know that now. But we can’t repair the past until the truth is safe.”
She asked him to find the memory card before Vanessa did. It contained
evidence not only of the stolen baby but of a plan to take control of
the Moretti businesses through the trust.
The call ended with Elena promising to meet them in person.
Vincent turned to me.
“She is alive,” he said, as if he still couldn’t believe it.
I nodded.
“And she’s been alone for four years.”
May you like
He looked at the suitcase photograph.
“No more.”
