Chapter 2: What Was Hidden in the Dark
Matteo crossed to the crib without a word.
He gripped the mattress edge and lifted it.
Nothing.
Just the wooden slat beneath.
"I told you," he said.
"The frame," Liana said quietly.
"Check underneath the frame."
He went still.
Then he crouched.
His hand moved along the underside of the crib until his fingers found something taped to the wood.
Small.
Flat.
Sealed in plastic.
A photograph.
He peeled it free and stood.
For a long moment he didn't speak.
His face had gone the color of ash.
Liana shifted Nico gently.
"What is it?"
Matteo turned the photograph so she could see it.
Her breath left her body.
It was a woman holding a newborn.
The woman's face was turned slightly away.
But the baby — the baby was wrapped in a yellow cloth that Liana recognized.
Because she had bought it herself.
Because she had brought it home and washed it twice before her son ever wore it.
"That's not possible," she whispered.
"Who is she?" Matteo's voice was dangerously quiet.
Liana's legs felt wrong beneath her.
Nico made a small sound and pressed his face harder into her neck, as if he already knew what was coming.
"Liana." Matteo stepped closer.
"Who is that woman?"
She looked up at him.
Her eyes were full.
"I don't know," she said.
"But I think she's the reason my baby d*ed."
---
What Liana revealed next made Matteo lock every door in that mansion.
The truth hidden in that photograph goes deeper than anyone imagined.
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