Chapter 10 – The Child They Could Never Possess
Julian awoke to the rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor.
His eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
The air smelled of antiseptic.
White ceiling.
Soft lighting.
Private hospital room.
For one brief second, he convinced himself the nightmare was over.
Then he noticed the leather restraints securing his wrists to the bed.
His eyes flew open.
He pulled hard.
The restraints didn't budge.
A nurse immediately looked up from a tablet.
"He's awake."
The words had barely left her mouth when the door opened.
Isabella Moretti entered alone.
She had changed into an elegant ivory suit.
No trace remained of the chaos from the hotel.
She looked composed.
Almost maternal.
"Good morning, Julian."
He struggled against the restraints.
"Where's Elena?"
"Alive."
"Where is she?"
"Recovering."
Julian's voice cracked.
"And the baby?"
For the first time since entering the room...
Isabella hesitated.
"They're both alive."
Relief flooded through Julian's body.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
"Then why am I tied down?"
"Because if you weren't..."
"...you'd try to kill the first person who walks through that door."
Julian stared at her.
"I still might."
Across the hall...
Elena slowly regained consciousness.
The first thing she felt was emptiness.
Her hands instinctively moved to her stomach.
Flat.
Completely flat.
Her breathing stopped.
"No..."
She whispered.
"No..."
A doctor hurried to her bedside.
"Mrs. Rossi."
She grabbed his sleeve.
"My baby."
"Where is my baby?"
The doctor smiled gently.
"Congratulations."
"You have a healthy little boy."
Tears immediately spilled down Elena's face.
"Can I see him?"
The doctor's smile slowly disappeared.
"I'm afraid..."
"...not yet."
Fear instantly replaced relief.
"Why?"
The doctor looked toward the closed door.
"They're arguing."
Two floors below...
Inside a private conference room...
A newborn cried loudly.
The tiny infant lay inside a transparent bassinet.
Six armed guards surrounded him.
As though protecting a head of state.
Or a priceless treasure.
Camila stood beside the bassinet.
Her perfectly manicured finger gently traced the edge of the blanket.
"So..."
"This is him."
One of the guards shifted uncomfortably.
"Ma'am..."
"...are you sure this is necessary?"
Camila smiled.
"You have no idea what you're looking at."
She gently lifted the baby's tiny wrist.
A faint birthmark rested just beneath it.
A small crescent moon.
Exactly like Julian's.
Exactly like Antonio Rossi's.
Generation after generation.
The same mark.
Camila's smile widened.
"The last heir."
Meanwhile...
Marco slipped unnoticed into the hospital's underground parking garage.
His security team had finally located Julian.
But something felt wrong.
Far too many guards.
Far too much secrecy.
He ducked behind a concrete pillar as two doctors walked past.
"I've never seen security like this," one whispered.
"The baby must be important."
"You don't know the half of it."
Marco quietly followed them.
They entered a restricted wing.
One door.
No name.
Just a biometric scanner.
As it opened...
Marco caught a glimpse inside.
Rows of temperature-controlled vaults.
Hundreds of sealed document boxes.
Medical records.
DNA samples.
Family archives.
This wasn't a hospital.
It was an archive.
Back upstairs...
Julian refused to take his eyes off Isabella.
"You said my son is alive."
"He is."
"I want to see him."
"You will."
"When?"
"When you understand why everyone has been hunting him."
Julian laughed bitterly.
"He's a newborn."
"What could anyone possibly want from him?"
Isabella slowly removed a leather folder from her handbag.
She placed it on Julian's lap.
Inside...
Were DNA reports.
Birth certificates.
Corporate ownership documents.
And one yellowed handwritten contract dated thirty years earlier.
Julian read the heading.
THE ROSSI–MORETTI SUCCESSION AGREEMENT
He frowned.
"My father never mentioned this."
"He couldn't."
"Why?"
"Because he tried to destroy it."
Julian turned another page.
His expression changed.
Another.
Then another.
His breathing became uneven.
"No..."
He whispered.
"This can't be real."
The contract stated that control of the Rossi International Trust—
An empire worth over $18 billion—
Could never be inherited through marriage...
Only through a direct blood descendant carrying verified biological lineage.
Julian looked up slowly.
"So..."
"My son..."
Isabella nodded.
"The moment he was born..."
"...he became the legal owner of assets powerful people have been fighting over for three decades."
Julian slammed the folder shut.
"I don't care about the money."
"I know."
"But they do."
Just then...
A frantic nurse burst into the room.
"Mrs. Moretti!"
"What?"
"The nursery!"
Everyone froze.
"What happened?"
The nurse struggled to breathe.
"The baby..."
"...is gone."
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
Julian felt the blood drain from his face.
"No."
The nurse nodded, trembling.
"The security cameras..."
"They show someone wearing a doctor's coat entering the nursery."
"They left carrying a baby."
Julian ripped one wrist free from the restraint with sheer force, tearing the leather strap apart.
"Who was it?"
The nurse swallowed hard.
"The facial recognition system identified her."
Julian already knew the answer before she spoke.
But hearing the name shattered him anyway.
May you like
"It was..."
"...Camila."
