Chapter 7 - The Missing Child
The revelation echoed across the sprawling estate, freezing everyone in their tracks.
Rosa felt the ground drop out from beneath her feet as the devastating words registered in her mind.
She looked at Alessandro, her eyes swimming with fresh, agonizing tears of betrayal.
Alessandro’s face was a mask of pure shock, his grip on his rifle loosening for a fraction of a second.
He turned to Isabella, who had stepped out onto the portico with a smug, victorious smile on her lips.
He angrily whispered that the pregnancy was completely impossible because they had not shared a bed in over six months.
Isabella simply smirked, loudly declaring that a DNA test would prove the baby was a true Moretti.
She demanded that Rosa and her bastard child be thrown out onto the streets where they belonged.
Rosa could not bear the humiliation and the overwhelming danger any longer.
She let go of Alessandro's arm, deciding that running was the only way to keep Lily safe from this toxic war.
She turned around and sprinted back inside the mansion, desperate to pack a bag and flee through the servant tunnels.
Alessandro shouted her name, but he was forced to turn back to the armed standoff to prevent a massacre.
Rosa raced up the grand staircase, her lungs burning as she burst through the doors of the master suite.
She called out Lily's name, grabbing a duffel bag from the closet and stuffing clothes into it frantically.
There was no answer from the massive king-sized bed.
Rosa dropped the bag and ran into the adjoining bathroom, assuming the little girl was hiding from the loud sirens.
The bathroom was completely empty.
She checked under the bed, behind the heavy velvet curtains, and inside the massive walk-in closets.
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Panic seized her throat like a physical vice as she realized the stuffed rabbit was lying abandoned on the floor.
Lily was nowhere to be found.
