He had seen it once before, twenty years earlier, when Isabella showed him the pendant in their bedroom.
"Only our daughter can activate it," Isabella had told him with a smile.
"How?"
"Her fingerprint. Her mother's design."
Alessandro looked at Elena's hand.
Then at her face.
His voice almost disappeared.
"What's your birthday?"
Elena frowned.
"Why are you asking me that?"
"Please. Just tell me."
"December seventeenth."
Alessandro's fingers began to tremble.
December seventeenth.
The exact date his daughter had been born.
He looked at Marco.
"Call Dr. Bennett."
Marco immediately pulled out his phone.
Elena became frightened.
"Wait. What's happening?"
Alessandro looked at her.
For the first time in twenty years, tears appeared in his eyes.
"I think..."
He swallowed.
"I think I've been looking for you my entire life."
Elena stared at him.
She had no idea what he meant.
And she had absolutely no idea that the man kneeling in front of her was about to turn her entire world upside down.
But before Alessandro could explain anything, Victor Romano stood from his chair.
"Alessandro, we should discuss this privately."
Alessandro did not turn.
"Sit down, Victor."
"You're making a mistake."
Alessandro slowly looked over his shoulder.
"What did you just say?"
Victor forced a smile.
"Nothing. I only think this is an inappropriate place for personal matters."
Alessandro studied him.
There was something in Victor's expression that he recognized.
Fear.
Not fear of being caught in a lie.
Fear of being discovered.
And suddenly, Alessandro remembered something.
Twenty years ago, when Sofia disappeared, Victor had been one of the few men who knew about the secret route Isabella planned to use to escape the city.
At the time, Alessandro had trusted him.
He had even allowed Victor to organize the search.
Now, for the first time, he wondered whether the man had been involved in his daughter's disappearance.
"Marco," Alessandro said quietly.
"Yes, boss?"
"Nobody leaves this restaurant."
The security guards immediately moved toward the entrances.
Guests began whispering.
Victor's face turned pale.
Elena looked between the men.
"Sir, I really don't understand what's happening."
Alessandro turned toward her again.
His expression softened.
"You're not in trouble, sweetheart."
The word escaped his mouth before he could stop himself.
Sweetheart.
He had called Sofia that when she was a little girl.
Elena looked confused.
Alessandro slowly extended his hand.
"What's your full name?"
"Elena Margaret Carter."
"Elena..."
He repeated it as though he wanted to memorize every syllable.
"Would you come with me somewhere quiet? I promise nobody will hurt you."
She looked at the broken glass around her knees.
Then at the tattooed men standing behind him.
She did not know whether to trust him.
But something about his eyes made it difficult to refuse.
Not because he looked powerful.
Because he looked devastated.
And for reasons she could not explain, she suddenly felt as though this stranger was afraid of losing her.
Again.
...
Twenty minutes later, Elena sat inside Alessandro's private office.
The room was enormous, decorated with dark wooden shelves, antique paintings, and a large fireplace.
A photograph of a beautiful woman stood on the desk.
Beside it was a photograph of a little girl.
Elena looked at the child's face.
Something about her seemed strangely familiar.
Alessandro noticed.
"That's Sofia," he said.
Elena looked at him.
"Your daughter?"
He nodded.
"She disappeared when she was four years old."
Elena slowly returned her attention to the photograph.
The little girl was wearing a heart-shaped necklace.
Her heart began beating faster.
"That's the same necklace."
"Yes."
Alessandro opened a drawer and removed a small velvet box.
Inside was a photograph of the pendant from every angle.
He turned it over.
On the back was an inscription.
Forever, my little star.
Elena instinctively touched the back of her own necklace.
There was an inscription there too.
She had read it hundreds of times.
But she had never understood why her mother had always become emotional whenever she asked about it.
"My mother told me that she found me when I was a baby," Elena whispered.
Alessandro slowly raised his eyes.
"Where?"
"Near a hospital. That's what she said."
"Which hospital?"
"St. Mary's."
Alessandro went completely still.
St. Mary's Hospital.
That was where Isabella had been taken twenty years earlier.
He stood abruptly.
"Marco!"
The door opened almost immediately.
"Yes, boss?"
"Find out everything about Margaret Carter. Birth records, adoption records, hospital files. Everything."
Marco nodded.
Alessandro turned back to Elena.
"Do you have anything that belonged to your mother?"
Elena thought for a moment.
Then she reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
"I have this."
It was an old photograph.
The edges were damaged, and the colors had faded.
Elena handed it to him.
Alessandro looked at the photograph.
His entire body stiffened.
It showed Isabella.
Holding a baby.
And standing beside her was Margaret Carter.
Alessandro recognized both women immediately.
But the most disturbing detail was written on the back.
December 18.
One day after Sofia's birth.
And beneath the date were six handwritten words.
If anything happens to us, protect her.
Alessandro sat down.
For several seconds, he could not speak.
Then he looked at Elena.
"Your mother knew my wife."
Elena shook her head.
"That's impossible. She never mentioned anyone named Isabella."
"She saved my daughter's life."
"Then why didn't she tell me?"
Alessandro had no answer.
He wanted to embrace Elena.
He wanted to hold her the way he had held Sofia when she was a child.
He wanted to ask where she had been during all those years.
But he did not move.
He understood something important.
To him, this was the return of his daughter.
To Elena, he was a complete stranger.
And she had every right to be afraid.