Chapter 17 - The Third MorettiDominic received the photograph three days later.
No envelope.
No return address.
It had simply been placed on his desk.
He stared at it.
Anthony.
Daniel.
And the unfamiliar man.
Joseph.
His grandfather's third son.
Dominic had never heard the name.
He immediately called Daniel.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then the office door opened.
Evelyn walked in.
“You look pale.”
Dominic handed her the photograph.
She stared.
“Who is that?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why is he wearing your family ring?”
Dominic looked closer.
The man had the Moretti crest on his finger.
Marco entered.
“Dominic.”
He saw the photograph.
His expression changed.
“I know him.”
Dominic turned.
“Who?”
“Joseph Moretti.”
“Where did you hear that name?”
“My father mentioned him once.”
“Why?”
Marco hesitated.
“He said Joseph was worse than Anthony.”
Dominic's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A voice spoke.
“You're looking at the photograph.”
Dominic stood.
“Who are you?”
“You have your father's eyes.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the man your family tried to erase.”
Dominic's heart stopped.
“Joseph?”
A laugh.
“No.”
The line went dead.
Dominic stared at the phone.
Evelyn whispered:
“Then who?”
Dominic didn't know.
That evening, Lily found another box in the attic.
This one contained children's drawings.
Pictures of three brothers.
Anthony.
Daniel.
Joseph.
But beneath Joseph's picture was a fourth name.
Thomas.
Lily carried the drawing downstairs.
“Dad?”
Dominic looked at it.
His face changed.
There were four brothers.
Not three.
He had spent his entire life believing his family history was complicated.
Now he realized it had been deliberately rewritten.
He took the drawing to Daniel's abandoned apartment.
Inside a hidden wall compartment, they found a diary.
Anthony's diary.
The final entry was dated three days before his death.
Joseph is not dead.
Thomas is not dead.
And one of them has Dominic's son.
Dominic stopped reading.
His son?
He looked at Evelyn.
“I never had a son.”
She stared at him.
Then slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Dominic's face became pale.
Unless...
There had been another child.
Before Lily.
Before their separation.
A child they had never known existed.
Then the phone rang.
This time, Lily answered.
“Hello?”
Dominic rushed toward her.
A man's voice came through.
“Hello, little girl.”
Lily's face went white.
The man continued:
“Tell your father his family has one more secret.”
The call ended.
Dominic grabbed the phone.
Too late.
He looked at Evelyn.
“Find every record of my father's hospital visits twenty years ago.”
Marco nodded.
Minutes later, he returned.
“There is something.”
“What?”
“A woman named Sarah Bennett.”
Dominic frowned.
“Who is she?”
Marco looked at him.
“She gave birth at the same hospital where Evelyn had Lily.”
Evelyn's eyes widened.
“And the father?”
Marco swallowed.
“Dominic Moretti.”
May you like
Silence.
Dominic felt the world disappear beneath his feet.
