Chapter 7 - THE TWIST IN THE BLOODSix months later.
The wedding of Lorenzo Rossi and Hunter Higgins was the event of the decade in New York, though it was held in complete secrecy at the private chapel on the Rossi estate. Hunter wore a simple, breathtaking ivory silk gown, her hair pinned up, looking like royalty.
Leo, now a chubby, wildly active eight-month-old, sat in the front row in the arms of Gianni, babbling happily throughout the ceremony.
The celebration was quiet, attended only by Lorenzo’s most trusted lieutenants and their wives. For the first time in years, the Rossi estate was alive with music, warmth, and genuine joy.
At midnight, as the guests were leaving, Dr. Julian Halloran—the disgraced pediatrician who had been fired six months earlier—appeared at the iron gates of the estate.
Gianni immediately intercepted him, pulling a gun. "You were warned never to come back here, Halloran."
"I have to speak to Lorenzo!" Halloran shouted, his face frantic, holding a yellowed medical folder. "It’s about the baby’s blood work! The original DNA panels from the hospital!"
Lorenzo, hearing the commotion from the terrace, walked down the grand steps with Hunter by his side.
"Lower your weapon, Gianni," Lorenzo commanded. He looked at Halloran with cold disdain. "You have thirty seconds to explain why you shouldn't be thrown into the sea, Doctor."
"Mr. Rossi... please, you must listen to me," Halloran panted, thrusting the folder forward with trembling hands. "When Leo was born after the explosion, we ran full metabolic and genetic screenings at St. Gabriel's. I... I kept a copy of the raw sequencing data."
"We know he had no genetic disorders," Hunter said, stepping forward. "He was starving because he couldn't process the formula."
"No! You don't understand!" Halloran cried. "It wasn't a metabolic failure! It was a biological match requirement! Look at the maternal blood markers!"
Lorenzo took the file, opening it under the bright lights of the driveway lantern. Hunter leaned in to look over his shoulder.
The document showed the comparative DNA sequencing between baby Leo, Lorenzo Rossi, and Sophia Rossi.
Lorenzo’s eyes widened. His breath caught in his throat.
"This is impossible," Lorenzo whispered, his voice trembling for the first time in his adult life. "This... this is scientifically impossible."
"What is it, Lorenzo?" Hunter asked, her heart racing with a sudden, unexplainable dread.
Lorenzo looked at the doctor, then looked at Hunter, his face completely pale.
"Sophia wasn't Leo's biological mother," Lorenzo stammered, holding the official hospital report. "The emergency delivery at St. Gabriel's... during the chaos of the car explosion..."
Halloran fell to his knees, weeping. "The night of the bombing... two pregnant women were brought into the ER at St. Gabriel's at the exact same time. One was Sophia Rossi, who died on impact... her baby did not survive the blast. The other was a woman who had been pushed down a flight of stairs in Queens... her baby was delivered by emergency C-section while she was unconscious..."
Hunter felt the entire world stop revolving. The sound of the wind, the waves, the ocean—everything vanished into a high-pitched, deafening roar.
"What are you saying?" Hunter whispered, her knees buckling.
"The night you thought your baby died in the hospital, Hunter," Halloran wept, looking up at her with terror and remorse. "The head of pediatrics was paid off by Carmela Rossi to swap the surviving infant! Carmela wanted Lorenzo to have an heir so she could kidnap the child later and control the estate! The baby you held for twenty-seven minutes in that hospital wasn't yours... it was Sophia's deceased infant!"
Hunter dropped to her knees on the cold marble driveway.
"Leo..." Hunter sobbed, her hands clutching her chest as tears poured down her face. "Leo isn't Sophia's son..."
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Lorenzo fell to his knees beside her, grabbing her hands, his eyes overflowing with tears of absolute disbelief and overwhelming joy.
"Leo is your daughter, Hunter," Lorenzo choked out, his voice breaking into a sob. "Leo is your child. The baby you thought you lost... she was here the whole time. You didn't just save my son... you came back for your own flesh and blood!"
