Chapter 9 - The scream tore through the underground room."Lily!"
I ran toward the steel door.
Dad grabbed me.
"Wait."
Another scream.
"Mommy!"
I knew that voice.
My daughter.
I had never held her.
Never kissed her.
Never heard her call me Mommy.
But somehow I knew.
Luca entered a code.
The door opened.
We rushed inside.
The room was empty.
A small pink chair sat in the corner.
The stuffed rabbit lay on the floor.
But Lily was gone.
I fell to my knees.
"No."
Dad's men searched every wall.
There was no exit.
Then I saw blood.
A few drops on the floor.
My heart stopped.
"Lily was hurt."
Luca crouched.
He touched the blood.
"Not hers."
"What?"
He stood.
"Someone wanted us to think she was taken."
My mother appeared in the doorway.
She looked at the blood.
Then whispered:
"Ryan."
Dad turned.
"What do you mean?"
She looked at me.
"He knew exactly how to move her."
I stared.
"Because he is the one who saved her."
Silence.
"What?"
My mother took a breath.
"The night you were told Lily died, Ryan stole her."
I couldn't understand.
"Stole?"
"He refused to hand her over."
"To whom?"
"The men who controlled his father."
Dad stared at her.
"Then why did he lie to Emily?"
"Because he knew you would hunt him."
Dad's expression darkened.
"And the abuse?"
My mother looked at me.
"That was not all Ryan."
I felt cold.
"What?"
She shook her head.
"He was trying to make them believe you were unstable."
"Why?"
"So they would underestimate you."
I thought of the cameras.
The medicine.
The bruises.
The lies.
"He hurt me to protect me?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"Not all of them were his."
I stared.
"Then who?"
She didn't answer.
A voice came from the doorway.
Ryan.
Everyone turned.
He stood there holding a gun.
Luca immediately raised his weapon.
Dad stepped in front of me.
Ryan's hands were shaking.
"I have Lily."
My heart stopped.
"Where?"
"Safe."
"Let me see her."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if you see her, they will know I failed."
Dad shouted:
"Put the gun down."
Ryan looked at him.
"I can't."
"You're finished."
Ryan laughed bitterly.
"No, Vincent."
He looked at me.
"It's only starting."
He tossed a phone onto the floor.
The screen showed a live video.
Lily sat in a car.
She was alive.
Crying.
A man sat beside her.
His face was hidden.
The man spoke.
"Emily."
I stepped closer.
"Give us the ledger."
My mother whispered:
"Don't."
The man continued:
"Give us everything your grandfather left behind."
Dad shook his head.
"And if we refuse?"
The man smiled.
"Then Lily disappears forever."
Ryan lowered the gun.
"I can get her back."
Dad glared.
"Why should I trust you?"
Ryan looked at me.
"Because I already sacrificed everything."
I stepped forward.
"Then tell me the truth."
Ryan's eyes filled with tears.
"Your child..."
He looked at my stomach.
"...isn't mine."
I already knew.
But hearing it aloud destroyed something inside me.
Ryan continued:
"The father is Luca."
Luca froze.
I turned toward him.
He looked at me.
Then at Ryan.
Ryan whispered:
"And the people hunting you know exactly who he is."
Before anyone could speak, another video appeared.
A laboratory.
A DNA report.
Luca Moretti.
Emily Moretti.
Pregnancy sample.
MATCH.
Then one final message appeared.
THE BABY IS A MORETTI HEIR.
The video ended.
My mother whispered:
"That's why they're terrified."
"Why?"
She looked at me.
"Because your baby can legally expose everything."
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Then the lights shut off.
And someone grabbed me from behind.
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