LOGINValentina’s POVThe voice came again.“Daddy?”I couldn’t move.Serena was standing across the room.She was staring at the door too.Her face had gone completely white.“That isn’t me,” she whispered.Dante looked at her.“Then who is it?”Serena shook her head.“I don’t know.”The baby in Dante’s arms began to cry.Immediately, the voice outside stopped.The silence that followed was worse.Dante looked down at the baby.She was restless, turning her head from side to side.“She’s reacting to the voice,” Emilia said.I looked at her.“How would she know it?”“I don’t know.”A knock sounded again.Three times.Then Helena spoke.“Valentina, open the door.”I stepped closer.“No.”“You’re making this harder than it needs to be.”“You’ve made everything hard.”Helena laughed.“You still think you have a choice.”Dante moved beside me.“This ends tonight.”“No, Dante.”Her voice became almost gentle.“It begins tonight.”Carlo raised his gun.“Open the door and find out.”Dante shook hi
Dante’s POVFour.The word stayed in my head.Four children.I looked at Valentina.She was staring at Helena as if the woman in front of her had just torn open every memory she had ever trusted.“You’re lying,” Valentina said.Helena didn’t react.“I wish I were.”She held the newborn against her chest.The baby was tiny.Wrapped in a white blanket.A silver bracelet around one wrist.My eyes went straight to it.There was no name.Only a number.04.My stomach dropped.Valentina stepped forward.“Give me my baby.”Helena smiled.“You don’t even know which one is yours.”“I know all my children.”“No.”Helena shook her head.“You know the children we allowed you to remember.”Valentina’s face hardened.“You drugged me.”“Yes.”“You altered my records.”“Yes.”“You took my babies.”Helena’s expression changed.“I saved them.”Dante stepped in front of Valentina.“You keep using that word.”Helena looked at me.“Because you still don’t understand.”“I understand enough.”“No, Dante.”S
Valentina’s POVI couldn’t breathe.There were two Isabellas.One was standing beside me.The other was standing at the end of the corridor.Both had the same face.The same dark hair.The same eyes.Even the same little crease between their eyebrows.For several seconds, nobody moved.Then the girl at the end of the corridor smiled.“Daddy.”Dante’s hand tightened around mine.Neither of us answered.The little girl took one step toward us.“Daddy, it’s me.”The child beside me began crying.“Daddy…”Dante looked between them.His face had gone completely pale.I had never seen him look so lost.“Don’t come any closer,” he said.The girl stopped.“Why?”“Who are you?”She looked confused.“I’m Isabella.”The child beside me buried her face against my side.“No,” she whispered.I looked down at her.She was shaking.“Mommy, that’s not me.”My heart broke.I crouched beside her.“Look at me.”She lifted her face.“Are you Isabella?”She nodded.“Yes.”“Then who is she?”She looked down
Dante’s POV“Hello, son.”I couldn’t move.I knew that face.I’d seen it in old photographs.I’d seen it in my nightmares.And I’d spent seventeen years believing the man behind that face was dead.My father.Adrian Ferraro.But that wasn’t possible.He had been upstairs.We had left him behind.The man standing in front of us was supposed to be someone else.Yet there was no mistaking him now.The woman had pulled away the mask, revealing Adrian’s face beneath it.Valentina stared at him in disbelief.“That’s not a woman.”“No,” Anthony said.Adrian smiled.“It never was.”I raised my gun.“Don’t move.”Adrian looked at the weapon.Then at me.“You still point a gun at your own father.”“You’ve earned it.”His smile faded.“I suppose I have.”Valentina stepped closer to me.“You were pretending to be someone else?”“For years.”“Why?”Adrian looked at her.“Because Helena was looking for me.”Anthony laughed bitterly.“You expect us to believe that?”Adrian’s eyes hardened.“You shou
Dante’s POVThe explosion threw everyone to the floor.Dust filled the room.I heard Valentina scream my name, then the sharp sound of something crashing against the wall.“Valentina!”“I’m here!”I pushed myself up.My ears were ringing.Smoke hung in the air, making it hard to see.“Isabella!”“I have her!”Valentina’s voice came from somewhere to my left.I moved toward her.She was crouched behind an overturned table, holding Lucia against her chest.Isabella was on the floor beside her, crying.The nurse was gone.So was Helena.“Are you hurt?”Valentina shook her head.“No.”I grabbed Isabella and pulled her into my arms.She buried her face against my chest.“Daddy.”“I’ve got you.”I looked around.The wall behind us was gone.A hole had opened into another room.And someone was standing inside it.A man.Older.Blood covered one side of his face.But I knew him.My breath caught.“Anthony Ricci.”Valentina looked up.“Dad?”The man stared at her.For a second, he couldn’t spe
Valentina’s POV“Hello, granddaughter.”For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.Helena stood at the end of the corridor as if she had been waiting for us.Alive.Calm.Almost amused.My eyes moved from her to Isabella.My little girl was pressed against the woman holding the gun.“Mommy,” Isabella whispered.My heart broke.“It’s okay, sweetheart.”I forced my voice to stay steady.“Mommy is here.”Helena smiled.“She always was.”I stared at her.“You kidnapped my daughter.”“No.”Her answer was calm.“I protected her.”“You’ve been lying to me my entire life.”“Not your entire life.”She took one step forward.“Only when the truth would have destroyed you.”I almost laughed.“You think this is protection?”I pointed at the gun.“You’re holding a gun to a child’s head.”The woman holding Isabella looked uncomfortable.For the first time, I noticed something in her expression.Fear.She wasn’t like Helena.She didn’t want to be here.“Who are you?” I asked her.The woman didn’t answer.Hele







