Chapter 1 - THE MAN IN BLACK AND FILE M-17The sterile smell of antiseptic hung thick in the maternity ward corridor. Elena Vance clutched her newborn daughter tighter against her chest, her thin pink hospital gown offering little protection against the chill of the hallway.
Her husband, Richard Vance, had just vanished down the elevator with his mistress, Valerie. He hadn't looked back. He hadn't asked about the baby. He had simply walked away, leaving Elena stranded with a newborn child, unpaid medical bills, and a shattered heart.
Then, Luka Moretti had stepped into her life.
With dark tattoos climbing his neck and framing the sharp angles of his face, he looked like a shadow carved from stone. Yet, when he signed his name on the line marked FATHER on her newborn daughter’s birth certificate, his hands were steady.
Now, standing in the quiet postpartum recovery room, Elena stared at him in utter bewilderment.
"You can't just do that," Elena whispered, her voice trembling. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
Luka closed the medical folder with a soft snap. His hazel eyes—intense, calculating, yet strangely protective—met hers.
"You think I’m a stranger, Elena," Luka said, his voice deep and resonant. "You think I just happened to walk past your door because your husband is a coward. But I’ve been watching this hospital for three days. And I’ve been looking for File M-17 for three years."
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Elena’s breath hitched. "File M-17? What are you talking about? That was my father’s medical research file before he died in the lab fire!"
"Your father didn't die in an accident, Elena," Luka said quietly, stepping closer. "He was murdered. And Richard—your loving, ambitious husband—helped burn the laboratory down to steal your father's genetic sequencing patents. Patents that your daughter now carries in her DNA."
