Cesare Accardi stepped out of his son's hospital room, appearing as a cold as the god of death. His chiselled face was clenched into a tight frown, as his brown eyes failed to hide the storm within.
He had stormed over as soon as he heard the news of his son's rescue, leaving all other task to his right-hand man and secretary, Archibald.
This team had followed up on an unlikely clue, so there were no expectations that they would actually find him there. But against anyone's belief, they had found him there, in the middle of escaping.
When he was first delivered to him four years ago, he had doubted that the child was actually his. It was only after multiple DNA and blood tests, that he acknowledged the child was his. He took him in, and gave him the name Ethan, for his ability to persist and come to him, even after his mother had been taken away.
He had returned to him, even if it was alone.
Ethan's mother had been taken while she was early in her pregnancy, so Cesare was certain that the child would have been terminated. He suspected she had been taken by her family, and they would not have welcomed his child. There was too much animosity between their families.
And if it wasn't her family who had taken her, he had expected her to be killed, as there had been no requests for ransom.
But then Ethan was delivered to him, and a hope had ignited within him anew. If they had kept her alive and allowed to give birth to his child, then she would surely be out there somewhere, waiting for him.
So, that's how he had spent the last four years, traveling all over the world, looking for her. The clues had been few and far between, but he had persisted in his search.
And now he had found her, together with their son. Only... Why would she be there? Why was she now going by a different name? What had she been up to for the last almost five years, since he last had seen her? Why had she not come to find him?
He was still full of questions and agitated emotions from when he had watched her lying unconscious in her hospital bed, in the room next to their son.
He looked towards his secretary that had been politely waiting outside. He had no desire for his son to hear what they were going to discuss next. His personal security team was spread around the hallway and surrounding area, making sure they had complete privacy.
"So," Cesare started, "what have you found out?"
His secretary, Archibald, corrected his glasses, which was never a good sign. This was a tell Cesare had long told him to correct, which always preceded bad news.
Archibald tapped on his tablet, before getting straight into his briefing.
"It appears miss Valentina is now going under a different name, namely Rosalyn Bell. She has taken the identity of the Bell family's adopted daughter and is currently involved with multiple businesses..."
Archibald took a small break in his briefing, considering his boss's reaction. Cesare's face was still in a scowl, seemingly contemplating the information given to him.
"She is the CEO and co-founder of TODYEN, which she is running with her friend and co-founder, Elliott Larsen," he continued.
"What do we know of this man?" Cesare interrupted, his voice steady.
Tapping a few times on the tablet, Archibald started reading, "Elliott Larsen, 27 years old, works primarily as a broker and comes from a middle-class family in Norway. Our sources say his personality is both assertive and dominant but that he combines this with a laidback and cheery disposition, making him great at creating connections with the upper class.
The preliminary investigation shows nothing sketchy about neither his connections or background, making him appear as a normal citizen without any connection to the criminal underworld."
Archibald looked up from his tablet, "this is of course only the preliminary findings. Given more time, we will make a more thorough profile on the man."
Cesare nodded, before asking the most important question, "is there any romantic involvement between him and Valentina?"
Archibald looked confused at his boss, before he remembered that he had indeed skipped the portion about Elliott's past relationships.
"No, sir. As of the findings right now, Mr. Larson has only had past relationships with men, and it is assumed that he is gay..."
Archibald had to bite his lips to keep from laughing, when he saw the obvious relief that flashed over Cesare's face. It was usually Cesare commenting on how he was too easy to read but look at him now; unable to hide his emotions.
Getting a cold glare from his boss, he quickly cleared his throat before looking away.
"Enough about that guy and continue the report about Valentina," Cesare ordered, the scowl back on his face.
"Let's see," Archibald answered, once again tapping on his tablet.
"From our investigation into the young miss, our assumption is that she has lost her memories... Your private doctor is viewing the medical records belonging to the name Rosalyn Bell as we speak, but they seemed to have been fabricated. Or at the very least changed..."
"What does that mean?" Cesare angrily questioned.
"Well, Sir," Archibald started while correcting his glasses, "her medical records say nothing about her having given birth, and rather state that she was in a coma from a car crash, in the time period miss Valentina was with you..."