Chapter 15 - The Three NamesLiana stood frozen.
Sofia's recording continued.
“I didn't know who to trust.”
Her voice trembled.
“Not Matteo.”
Not Bell.
Not Roman.
No one.
The screen showed photographs.
Liana's mother.
The hospital.
Three newborn babies.
One of them had the same crescent mark.
Another had the three dots.
The third had a small scar across his wrist.
Sofia continued.
“The babies were separated because the program was designed to erase bloodlines.”
Liana's eyes filled.
“Your family believed it was protecting itself.”
A photograph appeared.
Roman.
Then another.
Matteo's mother.
Then a third.
Liana's mother.
“They were all connected.”
Matteo looked toward Liana.
Sofia's voice became quieter.
“But there was one person who tried to destroy the program.”
The photograph changed.
Sofia.
Pregnant.
Holding an envelope.
“I found the truth after Nico was born.”
“I discovered that Nico, Gabriel, and Samuel were all connected.”
“They were brothers.”
“Not by accident.”
“By design.”
The screen changed again.
A list of names.
Families.
Children.
Hospitals.
Payments.
The entire network.
Sofia had documented everything.
Then came the final recording.
Her face appeared.
“This is the part I never told Matteo.”
She looked directly at the camera.
“The babies were never meant to be sold.”
Liana frowned.
“Then why?”
Sofia whispered,
“They were meant to be replaced.”
Matteo's face changed.
“Replaced?”
“Every powerful family involved in the program was given a child.”
“A child with another family's blood.”
“A child who could inherit.”
“A child who could be controlled.”
“A child who could later be used to change ownership.”
Liana suddenly understood.
Nico wasn't valuable because of his genes.
He was valuable because of his identity.
If Nico legally remained Matteo's son, he could inherit everything.
If someone could prove he wasn't, they could manipulate the inheritance.
The entire program was built around future power.
Sofia had discovered it.
She tried to expose it.
They killed her.
Then they targeted Liana.
Bell lowered his gun.
“You finally understand.”
Matteo stared at him.
“You killed Sofia.”
Bell shook his head.
“Roman did.”
“And you helped.”
“I had no choice.”
Liana looked at Samuel.
“What happens now?”
Bell's eyes filled with exhaustion.
“Now the last file opens.”
He pressed a button.
A locked cabinet opened.
Inside was one envelope.
Three birth certificates.
One for Gabriel Graves.
One for Nico Varric.
One for Samuel Moretti.
Each had the same birth date.
Same hospital.
Same mother.
Liana looked at the mother's name.
Her eyes widened.
It wasn't her.
It wasn't Matteo's mother.
It wasn't anyone she knew.
The name belonged to a woman who had died thirty years earlier.
A woman listed as a patient in the original Project Seventeen files.
Liana whispered,
“That's impossible.”
Matteo took the document.
“What is?”
She pointed.
“This woman…”
Her voice shook.
“She was my biological mother.”
Matteo stared.
The investigator checked the genetic database.
The result came back.
Liana was not genetically related to the woman who raised her.
Her entire childhood had been built on a lie.
Then Samuel stepped forward.
He looked at Liana.
“Mom?”
She knelt.
He wrapped his arms around her.
Liana held him tightly.
Nico began crying.
She lifted him.
The baby stopped instantly.
For the first time, all three children were in the same room.
Three stolen identities.
Three brothers.
One mother.
One truth.
Then Matteo looked at the files.
“There is still one missing.”
Liana turned.
“Who?”
“The woman who ordered all of this.”
Bell's face went pale.
“I thought she was dead.”
“Who?”
Bell whispered her name.
Liana froze.
“Who?”
Bell looked toward the doorway.
“She isn't dead.”
The doors opened.
A woman stepped into the room.
Gray hair.
Elegant black suit.
A silver cane.
Liana stared at her.
She had seen that face before.
In old photographs.
In hospital archives.
At the funeral.
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Liana.”
Matteo raised his gun.
The woman didn't flinch.
“You don't remember me.”
Liana's voice shook.
“Who are you?”
The woman smiled.
“The woman who held you first.”
Liana stared.
The woman continued.
“I was there when you were born.”
Silence.
“I was there when Gabriel was born.”
Another step.
“I was there when Nico was taken.”
She looked at Samuel.
“And I was there when Samuel disappeared.”
Liana tightened her arms around the children.
“Why?”
The woman smiled.
“Because none of you were accidents.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“What do you want?”
The woman looked at him.
“Your empire.”
Then she looked at Liana.
“Your blood.”
Finally, she looked at the three boys.
“And the one thing your family has spent thirty years trying to keep hidden.”
Liana's heart pounded.
“What?”
The woman's smile disappeared.
“The original Project Seventeen subject is still alive.”
Matteo froze.
“Who?”
The woman looked directly at Liana.
“You.”
The room went silent.
And for the first time in twenty years, the truth about Liana's birth was finally about to be opened.
But before anyone could move, every screen in the hospital flashed red.
A single sentence appeared.
SUBJECT ZERO HAS AWAKENED.
And somewhere beneath the hospital floor, something began pounding against a locked steel door.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
May you like
Then a child's voice screamed from the darkness:
“LET ME OUT!”
