Chapter 5 - Unearthing the Past
An hour earlier, before Rocco returned to catch Maria in the hallway, the raid on St. Helena Private Hospital had been swift, brutal, and absolute.
At 4:00 AM, three black SUVs had smashed through the private security gates of St. Helena’s executive wing. Rocco’s men, armed with tactical submachine guns and clad in dark body armor, had swept through the administrative offices within three minutes, neutralizing the private security staff without firing a single shot.
Rocco had walked through the pristine glass doors of Dr. Arthur Vance’s penthouse office on the top floor.
Dr. Vance, a tall, distinguished man in his late fifties with silver hair and wire-rimmed glasses, sat behind his mahogany desk, frantically shredding documents into a high-capacity machine.
When the door blew off its hinges, Vance dropped his papers, raising his hands in terror as four laser sights locked onto his chest.
Rocco walked in slowly, pulling a thick, black leather-bound ledger from his coat—a book his team had retrieved from Valentina’s safe twenty minutes prior.
"Dr. Vance," Rocco said, taking a seat in the leather armchair across from the doctor, resting his arms on his knees. "You look like a man who is running out of time."
"Don Moretti..." Vance stammered, his voice trembling violently. "This is a private medical facility! You can't just burst in here—"
"I paid eight million dollars to your hospital's building fund last year, Arthur," Rocco interrupted calmly. "I own the bricks under your feet. And right now, I own your life."
Rocco flipped the ledger open onto the desk, pointing to a series of wire transfers totaling two million dollars sent from an offshore account controlled by Valentina to a private bank in the Cayman Islands registered under Vance’s name.
"Three weeks ago," Rocco said, leaning forward, "you stood in front of me in Ward 4. You told me my son’s heart had failed. You handed me a death certificate with your signature on it. You gave me an empty urn."
Vance’s mouth worked uselessly, no sound coming out.
"Tonight," Rocco continued, his voice dropping into a terrifying whisper, "my son was found in a trash bag outside my kitchen. He is healthy. His heart is strong. And he is wearing a St. Helena hospital bracelet with his true birth code on it."
Vance slumped back into his leather chair, clutching his chest as if he were having a heart attack himself. "She... she promised me no one would ever know, Rocco! She told me the child was going to be raised by a wealthy family in Europe!"
"You lied to a father about his son's death," Rocco said, his eyes black with murderous rage. "You stole my heir."
"I have the real medical records!" Vance shrieked, reaching frantically for a key on his desk. "I kept the original birth certificate! I kept the DNA match reports! I kept everything in my private vault! I can give them to you right now!"
"Open it," Rocco ordered.
Vance scrambled over to a floor safe hidden behind a painting, his hands shaking so violently he failed the combination twice before the heavy door clicked open. He pulled out a thick blue folder and placed it on the desk before Rocco.
Rocco opened the folder. Inside were the official, unedited medical records from the night of the delivery.
The documents proved everything. The baby was 100% Rocco’s biological son, delivered by a surrogate selected by Valentina after her secret miscarriage. The surrogate had been paid to sign over all rights and leave the country immediately. Valentina had planned to keep the baby hidden until she could orchestrate a fake adoption scheme, but when Rocco’s financial audit threatened to expose the money trail, she decided to have the infant eliminated entirely.
Rocco held the official birth certificate in his hands. He read the line clearly:
Child Name: Leo Moretti. Father: Rocco Moretti.
Tears of fierce, possessive pride welled in Rocco’s eyes. His son was real. His blood was pure. The lie was exposed.
Rocco stood up, taking the blue folder and tucking it securely inside his coat.
"What... what about me, Don Rocco?" Vance wept, cowering on the floor. "I gave you the proof! I cooperated!"
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Rocco looked down at the doctor with utter contempt. "You are a disgrace to your oath, Arthur. Mateo will ensure you spend the rest of your days in a federal prison for child trafficking and medical fraud."
Rocco turned and walked out of the office as his enforcers pulled Vance to his feet, handing him over to the federal authorities who had been tipped off by Mateo's legal team.
