Chapter 5 - THE SISTER WHO NEVER HAD A GRAVE
Dante remembered Elena only in fragments.
A little girl running through the garden.
Dark curls bouncing.
A pink ribbon in her hair.
Then one morning, she was gone.
His father told him she'd become ill.
His mother stopped speaking for weeks.
There was no funeral.
No grave.
No explanation.
Dante had been twelve.
He'd believed what he was told.
Now, twenty-nine years later, he stood in a hidden room holding proof that his sister had been taken.
Alessia watched him carefully.
"Are you okay?"
Dante laughed once.
A broken sound.
"No."
He sat down.
For the first time in years, he looked lost.
"My father told me she died," he whispered.
Alessia sat beside him.
"I'm sorry."
He stared at the photograph.
"She was four."
His voice cracked.
"She used to sleep with a stuffed rabbit."
Alessia said nothing.
Dante closed his eyes.
"I remember her asking me to read to her."
He looked toward the filing cabinets.
"How many children?"
Alessia swallowed.
"Too many."
They spent hours documenting the room with Nathan and independent investigators.
The files revealed a network of fraudulent guardianship transfers.
Children had been removed from vulnerable families.
Some parents were told their children had died.
Others were coerced into signing documents.
The records suggested that Vittorio Moretti had financed the operation.
Bellini had managed the payments.
And several powerful families had benefited.
But Bianca had discovered the truth.
She'd gathered evidence.
Hidden it.
And tried to expose the network.
Dante found a second letter.
This one was addressed to Elena.
My darling girl,
If you ever read this, know that I never stopped looking for you.
You were not unwanted.
You were stolen from us.
And I will spend the rest of my life trying to bring you home.
Dante began crying.
Alessia reached for his hand.
He held it tightly.
Later that evening, Nathan arrived with news.
He'd located a record connected to Elena's transfer.
A private agency in Wisconsin.
Closed for decades.
But one former employee was still alive.
Her name was Margaret Ellis.
She lived in a nursing home outside Madison.
Dante stood.
"We're going."
Nathan hesitated.
"Tomorrow?"
"Now."
Alessia looked at him.
"Dante, you haven't slept."
He turned.
"My sister has been missing for twenty-nine years."
She nodded.
"I know."
He swallowed.
"I can't wait another night."
They drove north through the darkness.
Snow began falling.
The highway stretched ahead.
Dante sat beside Alessia in the back seat.
For a long time, neither spoke.
Then he whispered:
"What if she's dead?"
Alessia looked at him.
"Then we'll find out."
He nodded.
"And if she's alive?"
She squeezed his hand.
"Then you'll tell her you've been looking."
At 2:14 a.m., Dante's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice whispered:
"Your sister is alive."
Dante stopped breathing.
"Who is this?"
"Someone who knows what Bellini did."
"Where is she?"
A pause.
Then:
"Ask the maid what happened to her own sister."
The line went dead.
May you like
Dante slowly turned toward Alessia.
Her face had gone pale.
