Chapter 3 — The Woman Beside Him
By seven the next morning, Luca had already read the original fertility report four times.
It still said the same thing.
No evidence of infertility.
No diagnosis.
No warning.
No medical reason for a doctor to tell him that Nia might never have children.
Yet seven years ago, that was exactly what he had believed.
Not because he had read the original report himself.
Because someone had interpreted it for him.
Someone he trusted.
Luca closed the folder.
The thought made his stomach turn.
He had spent years telling himself the divorce had been painful but necessary.
Now he wasn't sure whether the decision had ever truly belonged to him.
His assistant knocked softly.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Come in.”
She entered with a tablet.
“Evelyn is here.”
Luca looked up.
His wife stood outside the glass office doors.
He hadn't expected her.
“Send her in.”
Evelyn walked inside carrying a coffee.
She looked elegant as always.
Perfectly dressed.
Perfectly composed.
But today there was something different in her expression.
Concern.
She placed the coffee on the desk.
“You haven't slept.”
“No.”
“Is this about Nia?”
Luca looked at her.
“Yes.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I thought so.”
He frowned.
“You thought so?”
“She was your wife.”
“Seven years ago.”
“She was still the woman you loved.”
Luca looked away.
“I don't know what I feel.”
Evelyn smiled sadly.
“That isn't what scares you.”
“What does?”
“That you might find out you were wrong.”
Luca didn't respond.
Evelyn sat across from him.
“You looked at those children like you had been hit.”
“I was.”
“Because they looked like you.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe they're yours?”
Luca hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Evelyn studied him.
“Then find out.”
He looked at her.
“You're not angry?”
“At what?”
“At the fact that I might have children with my ex-wife.”
Evelyn gave a quiet laugh.
“I would be lying if I said it doesn't hurt.”
Luca's face tightened.
“I didn't expect—”
“I know.”
She interrupted gently.
“But something else hurts more.”
“What?”
“You're discovering that your marriage may have ended because you trusted the wrong person.”
Luca stared at her.
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“I know what that's like.”
He frowned.
“What does that mean?”
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she asked:
“Do you remember the month before your divorce?”
“Of course.”
“Do you remember what happened at my family's foundation?”
Luca frowned.
“Yes.”
“You met my brother.”
“Daniel.”
She nodded.
“He asked you whether you were certain about staying with Nia.”
“I remember.”
“And what did he say?”
Luca searched his memory.
Something about responsibility.
Something about family.
Something about having a child before it was too late.
Then another memory surfaced.
Daniel had handed him a file.
“You've been trying for years.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe it's time to accept reality.”
Luca closed his eyes.
That conversation had seemed harmless then.
Now it felt different.
“You're saying Daniel was involved?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then why bring him up?”
“Because people rarely act alone.”
Luca stared at her.
“Evelyn.”
She took a breath.
“There were things I didn't know when I married you.”
“Such as?”
“That your family cared so much about whether you had children.”
Luca frowned.
“My family always wanted an heir.”
“Not just an heir.”
She looked directly at him.
“They wanted control.”
That afternoon, Luca returned to the medical archive.
He wanted the entire chain of custody.
Not just the fertility report.
Everything.
Who requested it.
Who opened it.
Who copied it.
Who received it.
Who altered it.
The records manager pulled up the digital history.
“This account accessed the file seventeen times.”
Luca stared at the screen.
“Whose account?”
“Dr. Adrian Cole.”
The same name again.
Luca's closest adviser.
His oldest friend.
The man who had stood beside him during the divorce.
The man who had told him he was doing the responsible thing.
“What did he access?”
The manager scrolled.
“Lab results.”
“Appointments.”
“Imaging.”
“Follow-up recommendations.”
“And the original report?”
“Yes.”
“Did he alter it?”
The manager hesitated.
“We can't tell.”
“Why?”
“The original system was migrated six years ago.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Then get the backup.”
“We're working on it.”
“Work faster.”
He turned away.
His phone rang.
A message from his investigator.
We found something.
A second message followed.
The consultant who reviewed Nia's records was paid by a Moretti family foundation.
Luca stared at the screen.
He felt the room tilt.
A third message appeared.
Payment authorized by Giovanni Moretti's former office.
His dead father.
Luca called immediately.
“How much?”
The investigator answered.
“Seventy-five thousand dollars.”
“For what?”
“Medical consulting.”
“Consulting about Nia?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Luca closed his eyes.
His father had been involved.
But why?
What did he gain from making Luca believe his marriage was doomed?
Nia spent the afternoon at a small neighborhood park.
Leo and Mia were playing near the fountain.
She sat on a bench watching them.
For a few minutes, she let herself breathe.
Then she noticed the black SUV.
Parked across the street.
Engine off.
Windows tinted.
She stared at it.
The vehicle didn't move.
Nia's heart began racing.
She stood immediately.
“Leo.”
Her son looked over.
“Mom?”
“Come here.”
Mia ran toward her.
Nia took both their hands.
“We're leaving.”
“But we just got here.”
“Now.”
She didn't tell them why.
She didn't want them afraid.
They walked quickly toward the car.
The black SUV remained still.
Then Nia heard footsteps behind her.
She turned.
A woman stood near the park entrance.
Late forties.
Dark hair.
Plain clothes.
She looked at Nia.
Not threateningly.
Almost apologetically.
Then she said:
“You need to talk to Luca.”
Nia stared.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Rachel.”
“How do you know Luca?”
“I worked for his father.”
Nia's stomach tightened.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
Rachel shook her head.
“You don't understand.”
She looked at the twins.
“I know what happened before they were born.”
Nia's face went cold.
“What do you mean?”
Rachel stepped closer.
“Someone was watching your pregnancy.”
Nia pulled the children behind her.
“Stay away from them.”
“I don't want to hurt you.”
“Then leave.”
Rachel hesitated.
Then reached into her purse.
She handed Nia a photograph.
Nia looked at it.
Her blood turned cold.
It was her.
Seven years earlier.
Standing outside a clinic.
Pregnant.
She had never seen the photograph.
Not once.
On the back was a date.
Three weeks before the twins were born.
And beneath it:
They still don't know about the father.
Nia stared.
“Who took this?”
Rachel whispered:
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I was told to watch you.”
“By whom?”
Rachel looked toward the road.
“I can't tell you here.”
Nia's voice became sharp.
“You knew I was pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was carrying twins.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you come to me?”
Rachel's eyes filled with regret.
“Because the person who ordered me to watch you wasn't trying to protect you.”
Nia felt dizzy.
“Who?”
Rachel shook her head.
“You'll need to ask Luca.”
Then she turned and walked away.
Nia called after her.
“Wait!”
Rachel stopped.
Without turning, she said:
“Don't let him convince you that you were wrong for leaving.”
Then she disappeared into the crowd.
Nia stood there holding the photograph.
Her past had just reached into her present.
And she didn't know how many people had been watching her all those years.
That evening, Luca arrived at Nia's neighborhood.
He didn't go directly to her building.
He parked several streets away.
He wanted to think before facing her.
He had rehearsed what he would say.
I'm sorry.
I was wrong.
I didn't know.
But none of those sentences felt sufficient.
He had missed six years of his children's lives.
No apology could buy that time back.
He was about to get out of the car when his phone rang.
His investigator.
“We found the doctor who signed the original fertility report.”
Luca straightened.
“Where is he?”
“Florida.”
“Get him on a flight.”
“He agreed to talk.”
“What did he say?”
“He claims the original report wasn't the one shown to you.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Who changed it?”
“We're still trying to establish that.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“The doctor remembers your father asking a strange question.”
Luca went still.
“What question?”
“He asked whether you and Nia were actively trying to conceive.”
Luca's heart hammered.
“And what did the doctor tell him?”
“That there was no medical reason to assume Nia couldn't become pregnant.”
Luca tightened his grip on the phone.
His father knew.
At least he had known enough to ask.
“Anything more?”
The investigator hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“He also asked whether a future child would have any claim to Moretti Global.”
Luca's face went blank.
That wasn't a medical question.
It was a business question.
A succession question.
An inheritance question.
His father hadn't been interested in Luca's marriage.
He had been interested in what would happen if Luca and Nia had children.
Luca whispered:
“Find every document my father ever signed concerning Nia.”
“Already working on it.”
“And find Adrian Cole.”
“Why?”
“I need to ask him a question.”
Luca finally reached Nia's building at 9:32.
He stood outside for nearly a minute before pressing the intercom.
No answer.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
His phone rang.
Evelyn.
He answered.
“What?”
Her voice was quiet.
“Where are you?”
“Near Nia's building.”
A pause.
“Don't go inside.”
Luca frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I think someone else has been looking for her.”
His expression hardened.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I found something.”
“What?”
“The day you filed for divorce.”
Luca waited.
Evelyn continued:
“Someone accessed your private legal account.”
“Who?”
“I don't know yet.”
“What did they access?”
“The divorce papers.”
Luca stared at the dark building.
“Anything else?”
“The medical records.”
His blood ran cold.
“Who had access?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your father.”
Luca closed his eyes.
“Again.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you tell me sooner?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That I'd become part of the same lie.”
Luca looked up.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes?”
“Did you know Nia was pregnant?”
Silence.
Too long.
Luca's face changed.
“You knew.”
Evelyn finally answered.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before the divorce was finalized.”
Luca felt as though the ground had disappeared beneath him.
“You knew she was pregnant?”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because by the time I found out, you had already signed.”
His voice broke.
“And you let me leave?”
“I thought the truth would destroy you.”
“No.”
Luca's voice became cold.
“You thought the truth would destroy something else.”
Evelyn said nothing.
He hung up.
At that same moment, Nia was sitting alone in her apartment.
The children were asleep.
The photograph Rachel had given her lay on the kitchen counter.
Nia turned it over again.
The message still haunted her.
They still don't know about the father.
She opened an old drawer.
Inside was the small box she had kept since the twins were born.
A hospital bracelet.
Two newborn photographs.
Leo's first lock of hair.
Mia's tiny hospital cap.
And a folded piece of paper.
She had never shown it to anyone.
Not even the children.
She opened it.
A sentence was written in her handwriting.
Luca is their father.
Below it:
But he is not ready to be their father.
Nia closed her eyes.
She had written those words six years ago.
At the time, she believed she was protecting her children.
Now she wasn't sure.
Maybe she had been protecting herself too.
Her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
He knows the records were changed.
Nia stared.
Another message appeared.
Soon he will know why.
She didn't move.
Then came the final message.
And when he does, you will have to decide whether he deserves another chance.
Nia slowly set the phone down.
Across the city, Luca was standing outside her building.
Neither knew the other was only a few minutes away from making a decision that would change all four of their lives.
Because the mystery was no longer simply why Luca had divorced Nia.
May you like
It was who had convinced him to do it—
and what they had been so desperate to prevent.
