CHAPTER 3 — The Enemy Who Stole Twenty Years
The safe house sat hidden beneath an abandoned steel factory outside Chicago.
Joseph hadn't used it in twelve years.
Tonight...
It became the only place he trusted.
Rose watched armed guards secure every entrance.
Audrey could barely process the truth.
One morning she had been a waitress struggling to pay rent.
Now...
She was the daughter of the most powerful mafia boss in Chicago.
And someone wanted her dead.
Joseph entered an underground vault.
Inside stood an old wooden chest he had never opened.
Because opening it meant accepting the worst day of his life.
Slowly...
He lifted the lid.
Letters.
Rose's engagement ring.
Ultrasound photographs.
Hospital records.
Everything he had received twenty years earlier.
Audrey noticed something strange.
"The doctor's signature..."
"It appears on every page."
Joseph nodded.
"The same doctor who confirmed Rose's miscarriage."
Rose suddenly turned pale.
"I remember him."
"He never examined me."
Joseph looked up sharply.
"What?"
"I was unconscious after the kidnapping."
"When I woke up..."
"...someone only handed me papers."
Marco immediately contacted his investigators.
Less than an hour later...
The results arrived.
The doctor had never worked at that hospital.
He had been paid millions.
Then disappeared.
Another lie.
Another piece of the puzzle.
Before anyone could speak...
The factory alarms screamed.
Red lights flashed across every corridor.
Marco grabbed his rifle.
"They're inside!"
Explosions rocked the building.
Masked gunmen poured through hidden tunnels.
Joseph shielded Rose and Audrey while bullets tore through concrete.
The firefight lasted eight brutal minutes.
When the smoke cleared...
Twenty attackers lay defeated.
One remained alive.
Joseph dragged the wounded assassin forward.
"Who sent you?"
The man laughed through blood.
"You still don't understand."
Joseph pressed the pistol harder.
The assassin smiled.
"It wasn't Victor."
Joseph frowned.
"What?"
The dying man looked directly at Rose.
"The person who separated you..."
"...was someone you both trusted."
Then he swallowed a cyanide capsule.
Dead.
Instantly.
Hours later...
Marco entered carrying an old DNA report recovered from the fake doctor's private files.
He handed it to Joseph.
Joseph stared.
Then slowly looked toward Audrey.
His hands began shaking.
Rose whispered...
"What is it?"
Joseph couldn't answer.
Audrey took the folder herself.
Across the first page, printed in bold letters, were words that stole the air from the room.
PATERNITY TEST
Probability Joseph Salvini is the biological father: 99.9998%
The report had been completed...
Twenty years earlier.
Someone had known the truth from the very beginning.
Someone had hidden it.
Someone close enough to manipulate hospitals...
Police...
Doctors...
And both of their lives.
Joseph slowly closed the folder.
His voice became colder than ice.
"This was never about revenge."
"It was about inheritance."
He looked toward the burning city skyline.
"If they stole twenty years from my family..."
"I'm taking everything from theirs."
Far away...
Inside a luxurious mansion...
An elegant elderly woman watched the news coverage of the factory attack.
She smiled softly.
Then whispered to herself...
"They're finally following the trail."
She opened a hidden drawer.
Inside rested a photograph of Joseph, Rose...
...and a baby girl taken in secret at the hospital twenty years ago.
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On the back, written in black ink, were five chilling words.
Only I know the truth.
