Chapter 8 - The Brother Nobody RememberedThe power returned at 3:17 a.m.
But the message remained burned into everyone's minds.
Find his brother.
Liana sat beside Nico.
He slept peacefully for the first time since she'd entered the house.
Her hand rested against his tiny back.
“Brother,” she whispered.
Matteo stood by the window.
“We need to know what that means.”
They searched every file.
Every birth record.
Every hospital database.
Every photograph.
There were two babies.
Gabriel Graves.
Nico Varric.
But only one had survived publicly.
Nico.
Liana's son had disappeared.
Then the investigator found something.
A scanned document.
“Boss.”
Matteo moved closer.
“What?”
“This is from the hospital's maternity archive.”
Liana joined them.
The record showed Sofia's admission.
But there was another entry.
SECOND DELIVERY.
Matteo stared.
“Sofia had twins?”
“No,” the investigator said.
“Then whose second child was this?”
They read the mother's name.
Unknown.
Liana felt cold.
The baby's blood type was the same as Nico's.
The sex was male.
Birth time: 5:12 a.m.
Then the record abruptly ended.
A handwritten notation appeared:
DECEASED.
Liana shook her head.
“That's him.”
Matteo frowned.
“Who?”
“The body I buried.”
Silence.
The investigator looked at her.
“You think the baby in the coffin was this unknown child?”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
“Because somebody needed Nico to disappear on paper.”
Matteo slowly understood.
“They used one dead infant to erase one living infant.”
Liana nodded.
“But why did they need Gabriel's identity?”
The investigator opened another file.
A genetic screening report.
The result made everyone freeze.
Gabriel Graves and Nico Varric shared an unusual genetic sequence.
Not enough to prove they were the same child.
But enough to prove they were biological brothers.
Liana felt dizzy.
“Brothers.”
Matteo stared at the report.
“Then where is the second child?”
A number appeared beside his name.
SUBJECT B-17-03
The investigator searched the database.
Nothing.
No death record.
No adoption.
No transfer.
Then he found an old shipping manifest.
Medical equipment.
Three infant transport units.
One destination.
An offshore private clinic.
The clinic was owned by a company called Northstar Medical Holdings.
Matteo knew the name.
His face hardened.
“That's one of my competitors.”
“Not medically,” Liana said.
“What?”
“They own transport companies.”
Matteo stared at her.
“So somebody inside your network helped move the babies.”
Liana looked at him.
“Maybe someone above the hospital.”
Matteo clenched his jaw.
One of his men entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have another problem.”
“Speak.”
“The DNA lab called.”
“What did they find?”
The man hesitated.
“They ran the comparison twice.”
“And?”
“They say Nico is not only Liana's son.”
Matteo turned.
“What?”
The man placed the report on the table.
“There's a second match.”
Liana's hands went numb.
“Whose?”
The investigator looked at Matteo.
“Yours.”
Matteo did not move.
Liana stared at him.
The room became silent.
The man continued.
“The probability is overwhelming.”
Matteo's face turned pale.
“Nico…”
He looked at the sleeping child.
“…is my biological son.”
Liana's eyes widened.
“Then Gabriel was…”
“Your son.”
She looked at Matteo.
“And yours.”
For nine months, Matteo had unknowingly raised the son of another woman.
And Liana had unknowingly buried the son of the man standing in front of her.
Then the investigator whispered,
“There is one more result.”
Matteo looked up.
“What?”
“The hospital records show Gabriel Graves had a twin.”
Liana's breath caught.
“And that twin…”
May you like
The man swallowed.
“…was registered under Matteo Varric's mother's maiden name.”
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