Chapter 14 - The Man in the Photograph
The photograph broke time.
Vittorio DeLuca died eighteen months before Elena’s crash.
Julian saw the bullets.
Saw the blood.
Held his father’s hand.
Took the watch from his wrist.
Yet the timestamp claimed Vittorio stood beside Elena and newborn Grace afterward.
Marco examined the file.
“Timestamp can be altered.”
“Image?”
“Looks authentic.”
“Old photograph manipulated?”
“Maybe.”
Grace crossed her arms.
“There’s that word.”
Julian almost smiled.
“Welcome to the family.”
“I’m reconsidering.”
Elena entered.
She saw the photograph and sat down immediately.
“No.”
“You recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“Was my father there?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Elena zoomed in.
The man resembled Vittorio.
Same heavy eyebrows.
Same build.
Same scar at the jaw.
Then she whispered, “Antonio.”
Julian froze.
His father had a younger brother.
Antonio DeLuca.
Family photographs showed them as nearly identical in adulthood.
Antonio disappeared when Julian was ten.
Vittorio said he moved to Argentina.
“Is he alive?”
Elena nodded.
“He was the one who came to the hospital.”
“Why did you think he was my father?”
“I didn’t. Thomas introduced him.”
“What did he want?”
“Grace.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
“He said Vittorio left instructions that any DeLuca grandchild had to be protected.”
“Protected by taking her?”
“Yes.”
Elena had refused.
Thomas sided with her.
Antonio backed down.
Then disappeared again.
“Why did nobody tell me?”
Elena laughed sadly.
“You know the answer.”
Protection.
Again.
Marco traced the message source.
A burner phone purchased near Hawthorne Academy.
Could be Celeste’s people.
Could be someone else.
Thomas was brought in.
He confirmed Antonio survived.
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Eight years ago.”
“Why?”
Thomas looked at Julian.
“Lily.”
Julian’s stomach tightened.
“Why would Antonio care about Lily? She isn’t DeLuca by blood.”
Thomas hesitated.
Then remembered that silence had caused enough damage.
“Because Cassandra is Vittorio’s daughter.”
Julian nodded.
“So Lily is his granddaughter.”
“Exactly.”
Antonio saw all descendants of Vittorio as family assets to protect.
Or control.
“What did he do eight years ago?”
“He wanted Cassandra’s baby placed with DeLuca guardians.”
“Nora?”
“He considered Nora unsuitable.”
Nora heard this later and laughed.
“Because I was poor?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Good thing money makes adults moral.”
He did not answer.
Thomas said Isabella blocked Antonio.
She signed Lily’s placement to Nora.
That explained Julian’s mother on the birth record.
Isabella had chosen Nora deliberately.
Not because Nora was convenient.
Because Nora was outside the DeLuca power structure.
A maid’s life, Celeste later mocked.
Yet that ordinary life may have been the safest option available.
Until Caleb entered it.
“Antonio hired Caleb?” Julian asked.
“No.”
“Celeste?”
“Yes.”
“Then Antonio opposed her?”
“Usually.”
“Usually?”
Thomas rubbed his face.
“These people did not form clean teams.”
No kidding.
Antonio wanted DeLuca blood protected and controlled.
Celeste wanted records and influence.
Isabella wanted children moved away from both.
Thomas wanted the network used for emergency protection.
Gabriel wanted it destroyed.
Everyone believed their version was the least harmful.
Meanwhile children lived with consequences.
Marco found Antonio through old property records.
An assisted-living facility in Wisconsin.
Not under DeLuca.
Under Antonio Marino.
They drove there with federal agents.
Antonio was eighty-two.
Thin.
Oxygen tube.
No resemblance to Vittorio now except the eyes.
Julian sat across from him.
Antonio smiled.
“Little Jules.”
Julian hated the nickname in his mouth.
“Why send the photograph?”
Antonio looked confused.
“I didn’t.”
“Someone did.”
“Then someone wants you to find me.”
“Why?”
Antonio laughed.
“Because I’m dying.”
“Everybody’s dying.”
“Spoken like a DeLuca.”
Julian leaned forward.
“Tell me about Grace.”
Antonio’s expression softened.
“Beautiful baby.”
“You tried to take her.”
“I tried to keep her from Celeste.”
“By putting her where?”
“With Isabella.”
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Elena refused.”
“She didn’t trust DeLucas.”
“Smart.”
Antonio nodded.
“She was.”
“Why did you want Lily eight years ago?”
“Same reason.”
“You considered Nora unsuitable.”
Antonio looked away.
“That was arrogance.”
“Say it clearly.”
“I thought money made safety.”
Nora would have appreciated the admission.
“It doesn’t.”
“I learned.”
“Too late.”
“Yes.”
Julian asked about the original network.
Antonio surprised him.
“I was the one who told Vittorio to shut it down.”
“Why?”
“A boy named Samuel.”
Julian waited.
Samuel was nine when placed with a wealthy political donor family.
The family abused him emotionally, confined him as punishment, and treated him as a possession. A teacher reported concerns. The network moved Samuel again under another identity rather than exposing the donor.
Antonio discovered it.
“That boy taught me what we had become,” he said.
“Where is Samuel now?”
Antonio looked at Julian.
“You know him.”
Julian frowned.
“Who?”
“Marco Ruiz.”
Julian froze.
Marco’s face went blank.
Antonio continued.
“His father was not his biological father.”
Marco stared.
“My father adopted me legally.”
“After the second placement.”
Marco stepped closer.
“What was my original name?”
Antonio whispered, “Samuel Vega.”
Marco turned away.
His entire life shifted without changing a single memory.
Julian said, “His father signed placement records.”
“Yes.”
“Because he adopted him.”
“Yes.”
Marco’s supposed connection to the network was not corruption.
It was rescue.
Again, the ledger without context lied.
Antonio coughed.
Then looked at Marco.
“Your father was a good man.”
Marco’s eyes filled.
“He never told me.”
“He wanted you to be his son, not his case.”
Marco did not answer.
Julian understood.
Some secrets came from love.
That did not mean they were harmless.
Before they left, Antonio grabbed Julian’s wrist.
“Celeste is not the last one.”
Julian stopped.
“Who?”
“The money people.”
“What money people?”
“The network outgrew families. A foundation took over the financial side.”
“Name.”
Antonio’s breathing became shallow.
“Northstar Children’s Trust.”
Julian knew it.
A respected national nonprofit.
Celebrity donors.
Government grants.
Adoption reform campaigns.
Its current chairwoman had attended the DeLuca gala.
Senator Evelyn Cross.
Julian remembered her raising a champagne glass.
Smiling.
Standing close to the tray.
“Did she know Vittorio?”
Antonio nodded.
“Very well.”
“How well?”
Antonio’s eyes closed.
“She was his lawyer.”
Julian stood.
“Did she arrange the original placements?”
“Some.”
“Did she know Elena?”
“Yes.”
“Did she order the crash?”
Antonio opened his eyes.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“She ordered the cleanup afterward.”
The photograph.
The hidden hospital.
The altered records.
Celeste may have ordered the road attack.
But Senator Cross had buried the consequences.
Julian’s phone rang.
A federal prosecutor.
“Mr. DeLuca, we need you back in Chicago.”
“What happened?”
“Celeste Vale has offered cooperation.”
“Against whom?”
A pause.
“Senator Cross.”
May you like
Julian looked at Antonio.
The old man whispered, “There’s always someone above the person you can see.”
