Chapter 7: The Truth Behind Bianca’s Arrival
I stared at the photograph until the words on the back stopped looking real.
She knows the truth.
My fingers tightened around the paper.
Bianca.
Not years later.
Not recently.
Not after she entered my life.
She was there when Livia was born.
She knew Isabella.
She knew the hospital.
She knew the secret.
And somehow, she had become the woman standing beside me, preparing to become my wife.
I looked at Evelyn.
“How?””
The nurse lowered her eyes.
“I don’t know everything.””
“But you know something.””
She nodded slowly.
“That night was complicated. There was confusion. Doctors were moving between rooms.
Your wife had complications. Everyone was focused on saving her.””
I swallowed.
“And Bianca?””
“She arrived about an hour after the delivery.””
“Why?””
Evelyn hesitated.
“She said she was a friend.””
A friend.
The word felt impossible.
I had known Isabella’s closest friends.
I knew her family.
I knew the people she trusted.
Bianca had never been mentioned.
“Did Isabella know her?””
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.
“Yes.””
My heart sank.
“What do you mean?””
“She recognized her.””
I sat down.
The room suddenly felt too small.
“What did Isabella say?””
Evelyn looked at the old file.
“She asked me not to let Bianca take anything.””
My chest tightened.
“Take what?””
The nurse opened another page.
“Your wife was holding a small envelope when Bianca arrived.””
I froze.
The letter.
“The envelope…”
Evelyn nodded.
“She had written something before delivery.””
My mind raced.
“But I found that letter hidden in Livia’s box.””
“Yes.””
“Then why would Bianca have it?””
Evelyn looked at me.
“Because she didn’t leave empty-handed.””
Silence.
Every piece was falling into place.
Bianca didn’t randomly discover Isabella’s secret.
She had been searching for something.
Something Isabella left behind.
Something connected to Livia.
I left the hospital with more questions than answers.
When I arrived home, I found Bianca waiting outside the gate.
She looked different.
No confidence.
No perfect smile.
Just exhaustion.
“I knew you would find out eventually,” she said.
I stopped several feet away.
“You were at the hospital.””
She looked down.
“Yes.””
“You knew Isabella.””
Another pause.
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Her eyes filled with emotion.
“I tried.””
I almost laughed.
“No, Bianca. You lied.””
“I was afraid.””
“Afraid of what?””
She looked at the house.
“At losing everything.””
I stared at her.
“You were never supposed to be part of my family.””
Her expression changed.
“That’s not true.””
“Then explain.””
She took a breath.
“Isabella and I knew each other before you met me.””
I said nothing.
“She helped me during the hardest time in my life.””
“What time?””
Bianca looked away.
“I lost my child.””
The anger in me paused.
For a moment, I saw pain instead of manipulation.
But then I remembered Livia crying.
I remembered the clippers.
Pain did not excuse everything.
“What does that have to do with my son?””
Bianca’s eyes became wet.
“Everything.””
I stepped back.
“What?””
“She knew.””
“Who?””
“Isabella.””
The air left my lungs.
“Your wife knew I lost my baby. She knew I couldn’t have children.””
I stayed silent.
“She told me Livia needed someone who loved him.””
My stomach twisted.
“She wanted you to marry me?””
“No.””
Bianca shook her head.
“She wanted me to help.””
The words were almost a whisper.
“But after Isabella died, everything changed.””
I watched her carefully.
“What changed?””
Her face hardened.
“You disappeared into grief. You barely noticed anyone around you.””
“That doesn’t explain anything.””
“No.””
She looked at me.
“But it explains why I thought I had to take control.””
There it was.
The sentence.
The excuse.
“You thought you had to control my son?””
Her silence answered.
I felt sick.
Bianca stepped closer.
“I never wanted to hurt him.””
“Then why was he afraid of you?””
She looked away.
“I made mistakes.””
“Mistakes?””
My voice rose.
“You don’t accidentally make a child afraid to be alone with you.””
She flinched.
Then she reached into her purse.
“I have something you need to see.””
I didn’t move.
“What?””
“A recording.””
My eyes narrowed.
“Of what?””
“Isabella.””
My heart stopped.
Bianca held out a small storage device.
“She recorded a message before she died.””
I stared at it.
“If this is another game—”
“It isn’t.””
Her voice broke.
“She wanted you to know the truth.””
I took the device.
But before I could ask anything else, Bianca said:
“There’s one thing Isabella never told you.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She whispered:
“The baby you thought you lost…”
May you like
She paused.
“…may not have died.””
