Chapter 8 - Christmas Day Without a Wedding
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Victor canceled the wedding at 4:06 p.m. on Christmas Day.
No statement.
No negotiation.
No second chance.
Marina watched him remove the engagement ring from the family safe and place it in an evidence envelope.
“You can’t humiliate me like this.”
Victor looked at her.
“You fed dog food to my daughter.”
“I never let her eat it.”
“That’s your defense?”
Marina’s jaw tightened.
“I was proving a point.”
“To a nine-month-old?”
“She won’t remember.”
Victor stepped closer.
“I will.”
Security escorted Marina to the guest wing while police and attorneys determined what could legally be seized.
Victor did not throw her into the snow.
He wanted every step documented.
Every device preserved.
Every account traceable.
Because Marina’s arrogance had depended on Victor losing control.
He refused to give her that gift.
Meanwhile, DNA samples were taken from Victor and the child Rebecca knew as Elias.
Rose was also tested.
The laboratory expedited the analysis.
Results were expected within twenty-four hours.
Victor visited Rebecca’s farmhouse again that evening.
The baby boy sat on a blanket beside a small Christmas tree.
Rebecca had bought him a toy truck.
Victor sat several feet away.
He didn’t pick him up immediately.
He remembered Elena’s voice.
Please come.
Nine months too late.
Rebecca noticed his hesitation.
“You can hold him.”
Victor shook his head.
“Not until we know.”
“You already know.”
“I think I know.”
He looked at the baby.
“But he’s had enough adults deciding who he belongs to.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
Victor waited until the child crawled toward him.
Then Gabriel—or Elias—grabbed Victor’s polished shoe and tried to stand.
Victor laughed.
A sound Rebecca clearly did not expect from him.
He picked the boy up.
For several minutes, no one spoke.
Then Rebecca handed Victor a small bag.
“This came with him.”
Inside was a blue hospital blanket.
A newborn cap.
And a plastic identification bracelet.
BABY A — MORETTI.
Victor turned it over.
On the back, someone had written one word in blue ink.
GABRIEL.
Victor stopped breathing.
Elena’s handwriting.
He recognized it immediately.
She had named him.
She had held him.
At least long enough to write his name.
Victor pressed the bracelet into his palm.
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“Marina always told me the mother rejected him.”
Victor shook his head.
“Elena named him.”
That was all he could say.
Then Rebecca remembered something.
“There was another item.”
Victor looked up.
“A flash drive.”
“Where is it?”
“Marina took it two weeks ago.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“What was on it?”
“I never opened it.”
“Why take it after nine months?”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Because I told her I was thinking about contacting you.”
May you like
👉 Marina had removed one final piece of evidence only after Rebecca threatened to expose the child—meaning the flash drive probably contained something she feared even more than DNA.
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