Chapter 2 – THE SILVER RATTLE

Leonardo stopped halfway across the room.

He looked at the silver rattle in the doctor’s hand.

Then he looked at Bianca.

“Early induction?”

Bianca backed away until her spine hit the grand fireplace.

“He’s lying! I never gave him that!”

Dr. Thorne smiled calmly and set the velvet box on the banquet table.

“I have the signed authorization forms in my car, Miss Romano. Dated yesterday.”

He turned to Leonardo.

“She requested we induce Emma’s labor at thirty-two weeks. And she paid a very handsome premium to ensure the birth certificate listed Bianca and Leonardo Moretti as the biological parents.”

The room began to spin.

I grabbed the edge of the table to keep from collapsing.

They weren’t just trying to hide me.

They were going to steal my baby.

“You were going to take my child,” I choked out, tears blinding me.

Bianca pointed a trembling finger at me.

“You’re a maid! You have nothing! That baby carries the Moretti bloodline. It belongs in this house, not in the slums with you!”

Leonardo moved so fast I barely saw him.

He crossed the room and slammed his hand against the stone mantel beside Bianca’s head.

The heavy vases rattled.

“You planned to kidnap my brother’s child?”

His voice shook the floorboards.

“I was giving it a future!” Bianca screamed, breaking down completely. “You refused to marry me, Leonardo! For three years, you kept making excuses! I needed an heir to secure my family’s merger with yours!”

Leonardo stared at her with absolute disgust.

“So you decided to harvest my brother’s widow.”

He turned to Dr. Thorne.

“And you. You facilitate this for wealthy clients.”

“I provide solutions,” Dr. Thorne said smoothly. “Richard Romano has been a vital investor in my clinic for a decade.”

“Including the first baby?” Leonardo asked softly.

Dr. Thorne tilted his head.

“The Russo girl? Ah, yes. A tragic case. But highly profitable.”

Leonardo’s jaw clenched.

“Where is Matteo’s first child?”

Dr. Thorne buttoned his silver suit jacket.

“That information is protected by attorney-client privilege. And since your brother believed the child was dead, he surrendered all parental rights.”

“I am the executor of his estate,” Leonardo said.

“And I am a man who doesn’t respond to threats,” Dr. Thorne replied, his smile fading. “You touch me, Leonardo, and the files regarding your family’s… unique medical history… go directly to the FBI.”

Leonardo stared at him.

He didn’t yell. He didn’t pull a weapon.

He simply looked at his attorney.

“Anthony. Call the front gate. Lock down the estate. Nobody leaves.”

Anthony pulled out his phone.

But his hands were shaking so badly he dropped it.

The phone shattered against the marble floor.

“I… I can’t do that, Leonardo,” Anthony whispered.

Leonardo frowned.

“What?”

Anthony stepped away from the table, moving closer to Richard and Dr. Thorne.

“I drew up the adoption papers for Emma’s baby myself.”

My heart completely stopped.

Leonardo’s own attorney. The man who had been sitting at our table.

“You betrayed my family?” Leonardo asked quietly.

“I protected my own!” Anthony snapped, wiping sweat from his forehead. “Richard promised me a partnership. And Matteo was going to ruin everything!”

Anthony reached into his briefcase.

He pulled out a thick stack of documents.

“The surrender papers are already filed with the family court, Leonardo.”

Leonardo’s eyes narrowed.

“Emma never signed anything.”

Anthony smiled nervously.

“She didn’t have to. You did.”

He turned the top page around.

At the bottom of the legal document, declaring Emma unfit and transferring custody to Bianca Romano…

Was Leonardo’s perfect, unmistakable signature.

“I slipped it into your quarterly tax filings,” Anthony whispered. “Legally, the moment that baby is born, it belongs to Bianca.”

Suddenly, my stomach tightened with a pain so sharp I cried out.

It wasn’t a kick.

It was a contraction.

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