Chapter 12 - The Child They Never CountedThe darkness lasted only seconds.
When the emergency lights came on, Bell was gone.
So was Samuel.
Liana screamed his name.
“Samuel!”
No answer.
The passage had only one entrance.
No second door.
No window.
The investigator searched the walls.
Nothing.
Then Matteo spotted blood on the floor.
Not much.
A few drops.
Samuel had been injured.
They followed the trail.
It led to the old elevator.
The doors were closed.
Matteo opened them.
Inside was another passage.
A hidden basement.
The air smelled of antiseptic.
The walls were lined with medical equipment.
One monitor remained active.
On the screen were three patient profiles.
B-17-03
B-17-04
B-17-05
Liana stared.
“Three babies.”
The investigator scrolled.
B-17-05: Nico Varric.
B-17-04: Gabriel Graves.
B-17-03: Samuel Moretti.
She looked at Matteo.
“Moretti?”
He nodded slowly.
“My mother's name.”
Then the monitor displayed something else.
RELATIONSHIP: TRIPLE BIOLOGICAL SIBLING GROUP
Liana's knees weakened.
“Triplets.”
Matteo stared.
“You were carrying three babies.”
Liana shook her head.
“No.”
“You didn't know.”
“I had one ultrasound.”
“Maybe they hid the others.”
The investigator found an archived scan.
Three fetal heartbeats.
Three.
Liana's breath broke.
She remembered.
Nine months earlier.
The doctor had told her the second heartbeat was a machine error.
She had cried with relief when they said there was only one baby.
Now she understood.
They had lied.
The three babies had been separated immediately after birth.
Gabriel was assigned to her.
Nico to Sofia.
Samuel disappeared.
“Why?” Liana whispered.
The investigator looked at the files.
“There are notes about genetic testing.”
Matteo read them.
“Rare hereditary markers.”
Liana frowned.
“So?”
“They believed the children carried something valuable.”
“What?”
The investigator hesitated.
A line appeared.
GENETIC PREDISPOSITION FOR ENZYME ABNORMALITY.
Liana stared.
“This doesn't sound valuable.”
Matteo's expression was grim.
“It was to them.”
“Why?”
“Because certain pharmaceutical companies pay fortunes for rare genetic samples.”
Liana looked sick.
“They used babies as research subjects.”
“Yes.”
Matteo's fist hit the wall.
“Who funded it?”
The investigator opened a financial file.
Names appeared.
Doctors.
Investors.
Private clinics.
Then one company.
VARRIC FOUNDATION.
Matteo froze.
“What?”
His own foundation.
The money had come from his charitable organization.
He had unknowingly financed Project Seventeen.
Liana stared at him.
“You funded them.”
“I funded a children's medical charity.”
“But the money went here.”
Matteo looked devastated.
“I didn't know.”
The investigator shook his head.
“Your signature is on twelve transfers.”
“Forged?”
“No.”
Matteo stared at the page.
He remembered.
Sofia had asked him to sign paperwork.
She said it was for children's hospitals.
He had trusted her.
Liana saw something.
“Sofia.”
The investigator looked up.
“She knew.”
Matteo's voice broke.
“She discovered where the money went.”
“And they killed her.”
A sound came from the monitor.
A recording activated.
Sofia appeared.
Her face was bruised.
She was speaking directly into the camera.
“Matteo, if you're watching this, then they've taken control of everything.”
She looked exhausted.
“I tried to stop them.”
Liana couldn't move.
Sofia continued.
“I was wrong about one thing.”
She looked down.
“It's not about the babies' genes.”
A long pause.
“It's about whose names the babies carry.”
Matteo leaned closer.
Sofia whispered,
“Your family has been hiding children for generations.”
The screen flickered.
Then the image changed.
A photograph of Matteo's mother.
Beside her stood another man.
A younger Dr. Bell.
And between them was a newborn.
Sofia's voice returned.
“The first child wasn't mine.”
“The second wasn't Liana's.”
“The third was never supposed to exist.”
The video ended.
A final message appeared.
SAMUEL IS THE KEY.
May you like
Then the basement door slammed shut.
From somewhere above them came three gunshots.
