The Boy Nobody Could Comfort
Chapter 04 - The Boy Nobody Could Comfort
The following day Luca arranged a pediatric assessment for Gabriel and requested a review of every employee who had cared for him. He did not accuse anyone without evidence, but he canceled Rocco's authority over the nursery immediately. Rocco called it an insult. Luca called it a precaution.
Gabriel clung to his father throughout the appointment. The pediatrician explained that repeated separation, disrupted routines, and distress could affect a young child's behavior, but the cause could not be diagnosed from one visit. Consistent caregiving mattered more than forcing the child to tolerate new people.
Luca asked Sophie whether she would visit with a professional caregiver present. She agreed after meeting the pediatrician herself. She refused payment for the visit and insisted that Gabriel should not be made to think she was Elena.
"He needs his mother," Sophie said. "I'm not going to pretend to be her."
"I wasn't asking you to."
"I know. But I need you to understand."
At the estate she noticed a child's handprint in washable blue paint on a nursery cabinet. Elena had painted a similar star on Sophie's school lunchbox when they were young. She smiled at the memory, then cried suddenly. Gabriel crawled toward her, pulling himself upright against a chair. Sophie sat on the carpet and let him come at his own pace.
Rocco appeared in the doorway. "So this is the miracle waitress."
Sophie went rigid.
Luca moved between them. "You're not authorized to be here."
Rocco's smile thinned. "You really believe a stranger over your own brother?"
"I believe what I can verify."
That evening, Sophie received a photograph on her phone. It showed her apartment door, taken only moments before. Beneath it was a message: *Stop asking about Elena.*
She called Luca. For the first time, her voice was angry rather than afraid. "You promised you'd keep my name out of this."
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He listened without defending himself, then arranged for her to speak with the police and offered help finding temporary accommodation. Sophie accepted assistance contacting a victim-support advocate but refused to move into the Romano estate.
She had grown up poor, but she was not willing to surrender her freedom in exchange for protection.
