Chapter 7: Where you belong

"Are you sure?" Soraya asked hesitantly. "I mean... they could have simply pretended to know me. All these years, they never tried to contact me, and now, all of a sudden, they’re claiming to be my family."

"Miss, why would I lie to you?" the officer replied calmly. "I’m with the police department. The Dalias family is a prestigious and well-known family in Italy. You can search for them on the internet yourself if you still have doubts."

He paused and glanced at the DNA report in her hand.

"As for this DNA report, I can assure you that it isn’t forged. The details have been verified. Beyond that, however, this is a personal family matter, so I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to comment further."

As the officer explained everything to her, Soraya’s doubts slowly began to fade. She still had countless questions, but at least she could no longer dismiss the people in front of her as fraudsters.

"Thank you," she said. "And I’m sorry for bothering you."

"It’s alright, Miss. You were simply trying to make sure you were safe."

The officer then turned toward Antoine and Evelina, giving them a brief nod before preparing to leave.

Soraya shut the door behind the officer and slowly returned to the living room. Her mind was still struggling to process everything she had learned in such a short time. She looked at Antoine and Evelina, then finally broke the silence.

"You mentioned that Santino helped you find me. How?" she asked, her brows furrowing. "He’s the Mafia King."

"We are also a mafia family," Antoine replied without hesitation. "However, we no longer involve ourselves in that line of work. Your grandfather decided to leave that life behind and shifted the family’s focus entirely toward legitimate businesses during his prime."

Soraya stared at him, still trying to reconcile the respectable family sitting before her with the dangerous world Santino belonged to.

"We’ve been searching for you for years," Evelina said, her voice trembling.

She walked toward Soraya and gently took both of her hands in hers.

"A maid abducted you when you were only two years old. We weren’t home that day, and by the time we returned, you were gone." Her eyes filled with tears as she struggled to continue. "Her name was Isabelle Moretti and her husband was Marco Moretti. They kept your name the same and changed their own surnames to Dalias."

Soraya was shocked to learn that. Indeed, her parents’ names were Isabella and Marco.

"Look, these are their pictures." Angelo showed her the images from his phone.

Soraya nodded as she recognized them.

"Why couldn’t any of you find me?" Soraya asked. "And why did this to me?"

"They erased every record that could be traced back to them. They were smuggling illegal weapons to a terrifying mafia group. Before we could make an arrest of them, Isabella abducted you and kept you as an assurance that nothing would happen to them," Antoine stated. "They relied entirely on cash transactions, ensuring no financial records could ever be tracked. We spent years searching for you, but no one had seen a trace of you until Santino came to us and claimed he could bring our daughter back."

"Wait. I didn’t even know Santino. How did he know about me?" Soraya asked, her gaze sharpening with suspicion.

"He is my childhood friend," Angelo answered. "When you were taken, we were both eight years old. I remembered mentioning the distinct birthmark on your arm to him—the pink, butterfly-shaped mark you’ve had since birth."

Soraya’s eyes widened, and she gave a slow nod. "Yes, I have that birthmark."

"He never revealed where he saw you. Santino has always been guarded," Angelo said, offering a warm smile. "But none of that matters now. I am just glad my sister is home."

The weight of everything being revealed felt overwhelming. Soraya sank onto the couch, her mind racing as her parents sat on either side of her.

"Dear, we are so sorry," Evelina said gently, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "We know you grew up enduring endless hardship. But that part of your life is over now. You are our daughter, and you are finally back where you belong."

"I truly suffered through hell," Soraya admitted, her voice trembling as tears gathered in her eyes. "Isabella and Marco died when I turned seven. After that, I was passed from one relative to another until they eventually abandoned me at an orphanage. I had no one to rely on."

She swallowed hard, trying to keep her emotions under control, but the memories were too painful to suppress.

"I even fell in love with a man and was engaged to him, only to discover that he had been cheating on me. He was only interested in the money I had managed to save after working multiple part-time jobs for years. Nothing in my life has ever been easy."

"What?" Angelo’s expression changed instantly. His hands curled into tight fists, and anger flashed across his face. "Who is that bastard?"

Soraya couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. They spilled down her cheeks as she turned toward Evelina and leaned into her.

Evelina immediately wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding her tightly as if she were afraid Soraya might disappear again. She gently rubbed her back, trying to soothe the daughter she had lost so many years ago.

"Shh... calm down, my baby," Evelina whispered, her own voice breaking with emotion. "You’re safe now. You’re with us, where you belong. No one is going to hurt you anymore."

Soraya hummed softly as she felt a strange warmth settle in her chest, accompanied by a kind of happiness she had never experienced before.

For the first time in a long while, she felt as though she had finally found a place where she belonged. Yet, despite the comfort surrounding her, one thought continued to trouble her—the question of what Santino truly wanted from her. She couldn’t simply forget that he had asked her to marry him.

’I’m thinking too much. My family would never force me to marry someone against my wishes. I shouldn’t even be worrying about marriage right now,’ Soraya reassured herself.

Still, no matter how many times she tried to dismiss the thought, the uneasiness in her heart refused to disappear. Instead, it continued to grow quietly, taking root in her mind and leaving her with a sense of anxiety she couldn’t quite shake.