CHAPTER 6 — THE BABY IN MY ARMS
For several seconds, nobody moved.
I stared at the baby.
His tiny chest rose and fell peacefully.
He had no idea that three adults were standing around him, watching their entire world collapse.
I wanted to reject Rebecca's words.
I wanted to scream that she was lying.
But the birth certificate was still in her hands.
And the name printed across it belonged to Alejandro Castillo.
Father: Alejandro Castillo.
I looked at him.
He looked like a man who had just been struck by lightning.
“My son?”
His voice was barely audible.
Rebecca nodded.
“That was the original record.”
Alejandro shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel stepped toward him.
“Rebecca, explain everything.”
She looked at the documents.
“Twenty-four hours before Emily gave birth, Victoria discovered that Alejandro had secretly fathered a child.”
Alejandro's face tightened.
“With whom?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“A woman named Sofia Morales.”
I frowned.
“Who is she?”
Alejandro looked away.
“I don't know anyone by that name.”
Rebecca answered quietly.
“You did.”
He stared at her.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
She opened another file.
A photograph fell onto the table.
A young woman stood beside Alejandro.
Pregnant.
Alejandro picked it up.
His hands began trembling.
“Sofia…”
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew her.”
Alejandro swallowed.
“She worked at the foundation.”
“And?”
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Almost a year ago.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Victoria made her disappear.”
I looked at the baby.
“Why would she take Sofia's child?”
“Because Alejandro was supposed to inherit the Castillo empire.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Until Father changed the inheritance.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Exactly.”
She pointed at the legal documents.
“Your father's final amendment named Daniel's first legitimate male descendant as the controlling heir.”
Daniel looked at his son.
“But Victoria believed I was dead.”
“Yes.”
“So she needed another heir.”
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“She needed a child she could control.”
I whispered:
“Then why did she take mine?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“Because she didn't know which baby would survive the night.”
My blood went cold.
“What?”
“Your delivery was complicated.”
“I know.”
“You lost consciousness.”
“I know.”
“During that time, two women gave birth in the same hospital.”
I stared at her.
“Me and Sofia.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Sofia delivered first.”
Alejandro's face tightened.
“What happened to her?”
“She was told her baby died.”
He closed his eyes.
Rebecca continued.
“Twenty minutes later, Emily delivered her son.”
My hands began shaking.
“Elias.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Your son.”
“Then where is he?”
She looked down.
“We don't know.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Where is my baby?”
“Victoria took him.”
“Where?”
“We don't know.”
My knees buckled.
Daniel caught me.
“No.”
I pushed him away.
“You told me he was here.”
“I thought he was.”
“You said he was alive.”
“He is alive.”
“Then where is he?”
Daniel had no answer.
I screamed.
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
My voice echoed through the archive.
The baby began crying.
Alejandro stared at me.
Then at the infant.
He walked toward us slowly.
“I need to know.”
I looked at him.
“Know what?”
“Whether that's my son.”
Rebecca nodded.
“The genetic record says yes.”
Alejandro's eyes filled with tears.
He reached toward the baby.
I instinctively pulled him back.
“He's not yours.”
Alejandro stopped.
“He may be.”
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“I don't care what a piece of paper says.”
I held the baby close.
“He needs someone.”
Alejandro looked at me.
“And so do you.”
I hated that he was right.
Then Daniel stepped forward.
“Whatever his blood says, we protect him.”
Alejandro nodded.
“Together.”
I looked between them.
Two brothers.
One dead.
One billionaire.
And a baby whose identity could destroy an empire.
But my son was still missing.
That was all that mattered.
Rebecca suddenly pulled another envelope from the archive.
“There is something else.”
She handed it to Daniel.
He opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A baby.
Wrapped in a blue blanket.
A hospital bracelet around his wrist.
And beside him stood Victoria.
Daniel's face went white.
“Where?”
Rebecca pointed to the back.
“Taken six weeks ago.”
I grabbed the photograph.
Six weeks.
My son was six weeks old.
I looked closer.
The baby had a tiny mark on his left ear.
A small crescent-shaped scar.
I remembered it.
My baby had been born with it.
I had kissed that little ear before they took him away.
“That is him.”
Daniel looked at me.
“How do you know?”
“His ear.”
I touched the photograph.
“He has the same mark.”
Rebecca nodded.
“The photograph was taken in a private clinic outside Boston.”
Alejandro immediately pulled out his phone.
“I'll have someone check.”
“No.”
Daniel stopped him.
“We don't know who we can trust.”
Alejandro looked at him.
“You don't trust my people?”
“Not after the roadblock.”
Alejandro understood.
“We go ourselves.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“You're too late.”
“Why?”
“She moved him.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
My heart broke.
“Where?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“Castillo Island.”
I frowned.
“What is that?”
Alejandro answered.
“An old private estate.”
“Where?”
“Off the Massachusetts coast.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Mother's old property.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Victoria has been moving assets there for months.”
I stared at the photograph.
My son had been there.
Somewhere.
Alive.
Waiting.
And I had been working inside the same mansion where his stolen brother was being raised.
The cruelty was almost too much to comprehend.
Then Alejandro's phone rang.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A man's voice said:
“Your mother knows you're in the archive.”
Alejandro's expression changed.
“Who is this?”
“You have one hour.”
“One hour for what?”
“To choose which child survives.”
The call ended.
Alejandro stared at the phone.
Daniel stepped forward.
“What did he say?”
Alejandro looked at us.
“Victoria has both babies.”
My blood froze.
“No.”
“She took the baby from this mansion.”
“And my son?”
“Both are on the island.”
Daniel's face became pale.
“She's forcing us to choose.”
I shook my head.
“She won't get to choose.”
Alejandro looked at me.
“What are you planning?”
I wiped my tears.
“To get both babies.”
Daniel stared at me.
“How?”
I looked at the documents.
Then at the photograph.
Then at the inheritance agreement.
“Victoria thinks these children are pieces on a chessboard.”
I closed the folder.
“She forgot one thing.”
“What?”
I looked at Daniel.
“They're babies.”
I looked at Alejandro.
“And we're their parents.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Rebecca stepped forward.
“I know how to get onto the island.”
Alejandro looked at her.
“How?”
“There's an old service tunnel beneath the lighthouse.”
Daniel nodded.
“My father built it.”
“Then let's go.”
We left the archive.
But before we reached the elevator, I noticed something.
A small envelope tucked beneath the photograph.
I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Three words.
ASK YOUR HUSBAND.
I looked at Daniel.
“What is this?”
He stared at the note.
His face changed.
“I don't know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
I held it up.
“Then why does Victoria want me to ask you?”
Daniel didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“There is something you're not telling me.”
“I swear—”
“You knew about Sofia.”
“No.”
“You knew about the inheritance.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Victoria wanted a male heir.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew Adrian was involved.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“What else?”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
He finally whispered:
“Before I disappeared…”
He swallowed.
“I signed something.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“A custody agreement.”
My heart stopped.
“For our son?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Daniel looked at the baby in my arms.
“For Victoria.”
I stared at him.
“You gave her custody?”
“I thought you were dead.”
“You signed away our child?”
“I was trying to save him.”
“You don't get to decide that!”
My voice echoed through the hallway.
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
I turned away.
Then he said:
“There was one condition.”
I stopped.
“What condition?”
Daniel's voice shook.
“The child had to be raised under the Castillo name.”
I slowly turned back.
“And if it wasn't?”
“They would kill him.”
The words hung in the air.
Then Alejandro spoke.
“That's why Mother took the baby.”
Daniel nodded.
“And that's why she has your son.”
I looked down at the child.
My heart was breaking.
Two babies.
Two stolen identities.
One empire.
And a woman willing to destroy every person standing between her and power.
We reached the elevator.
The doors opened.
Before I stepped inside, I heard a tiny sound.
The baby was awake.
His eyes opened.
He stared directly at me.
Then he smiled.
I froze.
Because behind his ear was that same tiny crescent-shaped mark.
The mark from the photograph.
The mark I remembered from my own child.
I touched it.
My heart pounded.
Then I noticed something else.
A tiny scar across his wrist.
I remembered seeing it before.
On the baby Victoria had called the miracle child.
I looked at Daniel.
“Wait.”
“What?”
I whispered:
“The babies…”
Everyone looked at me.
“I think we've made a terrible mistake.”
Alejandro frowned.
“What?”
I looked at the child.
Then at Rebecca.
“Those marks aren't identifying them.”
Rebecca's face went pale.
“They're matching.”
I nodded.
“The children were deliberately marked.”
Daniel stared at me.
“Why?”
I looked toward the island on the map.
“To make sure nobody could tell them apart.”
Silence.
Then Rebecca whispered:
“Oh God.”
“What?”
She looked terrified.
“Then Victoria didn't switch the babies.”
I stared at her.
“What did she do?”
Rebecca's voice barely came out.
“She created a third identity.”
My blood froze.
“For whom?”
Rebecca looked directly at me.
“For a child who was never supposed to exist.”
The elevator doors began closing.
And from somewhere behind us, a man's voice echoed through the corridor.
Adrian.
“Don't go to the island.”
The doors stopped.
He stepped into view.
His face looked exactly like Daniel's.
But his eyes were full of hatred.
He raised a photograph.
“Because your son isn't there.”
I stared at him.
“Where is he?”
Adrian smiled.
“Closer than you think.”
Then he looked at the baby in my arms.
And whispered:
May you like
“Because you've been holding him all along.”
My heart stopped.
