LOGINThe explosion threw me against the floor.For a moment, all I could hear was the ringing in my ears. Dust filled the air, and pieces of broken glass scattered across the office.“Luca!”Adrian’s voice came from somewhere above me.A hand grabbed my shoulder and pulled me behind the overturned desk.“Are you hurt?”I coughed, struggling to breathe.“I think I’m fine.”Adrian examined my face, then checked my arms. His movements were quick, almost frantic.“You’re bleeding.”I touched my forehead and felt a warm trickle of blood.“It’s nothing.”“Stay down.”A gunshot interrupted him.Enzo fired toward the doorway, forcing two armed men to retreat.“Adrian!” he shouted. “Get him out of here!”Adrian looked at him.For a brief second, the two men seemed to forget their hatred.Then Adrian nodded.He pulled me toward the rear corridor while Enzo covered us.I stumbled over broken furniture.“Where’s the file?” I asked.“Forget the file.”“No! It contains the only information we have about
Marco stood frozen, staring at Clara’s photograph.“Forty-eight hours,” he muttered. “They’ve given us forty-eight hours to hand over the ledger.”Enzo placed a hand on his shoulder.“We’ll get her back.”“You can’t promise that.”“I can promise we’ll do everything necessary.”Marco looked away, fighting the tears gathering in his eyes.I understood his fear. Somewhere out there, my sister was also being held by people who knew exactly how to use our emotions against us.And the ledger had become the price of both their lives.“Let’s go to Adrian,” I said.Enzo glanced at me. “We still don’t know what he intends to show you.”“That’s why we’re going.”He studied my face before nodding.“Victor, prepare the vehicles.”⸻The abandoned office building looked as though it had been forgotten by the world.Its windows were covered in dust, and weeds grew through cracks in the concrete entrance. There was no visible security, no parked vehicles, and no sign that anyone had visited recently.
The photograph remained on the desk long after the call ended.I couldn’t stop looking at Adrian’s face.He stood outside the old Moretti residence, speaking to a man whose identity remained hidden. The timestamp showed the photograph had been taken three hours before our arrival.Adrian hadn’t stumbled upon the house.He had been waiting there.“Where did this come from?” I asked.Victor examined the photograph. “It was inside the envelope containing the hospital authorization. Whoever left it wanted us to find it.”Enzo’s expression hardened. “Which means we shouldn’t assume everything in it is true.”I turned toward him.“Are you defending Adrian?”“No. I’m questioning the person manipulating us.”“There’s always someone manipulating us, isn’t there?”Enzo didn’t respond.I looked down at the hospital document again. Adrian’s name was clearly written beneath the authorization.For years, I had wondered how much he knew about my family. Now I was beginning to wonder whether our marr
“Adrian?”My voice barely escaped my throat.A hand tightened around my arm.“Quiet,” he whispered.The darkness swallowed everything around us. Somewhere nearby, I heard Marco shouting Clara’s name, followed by the sound of furniture crashing against the floor.“Where is Enzo?” I whispered.“Not close enough.”I tried pulling away, but Adrian held me firmly.“Let go of me.”“Luca, listen. We don’t have time.”“Why are you here?”“Because someone wants you dead.”A gunshot echoed from the opposite side of the house.Adrian pulled me behind a thick wooden pillar just as footsteps approached.“Stay here,” he ordered.I stared at him in disbelief. “You don’t get to give me orders anymore.”His face was barely visible in the emergency light filtering through a distant window.For a moment, he looked like the man I had once loved.Then he stepped away.“Believe whatever you want about me. Just stay alive.”He disappeared into the darkness.I remained behind the pillar, my heart hammering.
I couldn’t stop staring at the message.Ask your husband what happened the night your sister was born.My husband.The words felt like a deliberate wound.Enzo stood across from me, his expression unreadable. Marco was still holding the photograph of Clara, while Victor silently examined the message.I finally looked at Enzo.“What happened that night?”He didn’t answer.“Enzo.”His jaw tightened. “I don’t know everything that happened.”“But you know something.”He glanced at the photograph of Elena. “My grandfather kept records of several operations involving the Valenti family. One file mentioned Saint Catherine’s Hospital.”My stomach twisted.“The hospital where we found our birth certificate?”He nodded.“What did the file say?”“That a second child was born to Gabriel and Isabella Valenti. It also mentioned an emergency transfer arranged before sunrise.”“Where was the child transferred?”“I don’t know.”I laughed bitterly. “You always seem to know just enough to keep me asking
“Clara’s phone?” Marco repeated.Victor nodded. “The message was routed through her device. But that doesn’t mean she’s the one who sent it.”Marco snatched the tablet from the table.“Call her.”“Marco—”“CALL HER!”Victor didn’t argue. He retrieved Clara’s number and dialed.We listened.One ring.Two.Three.Then the call connected.“Clara?” Marco’s voice trembled. “Baby, can you hear me?”Silence.“It’s me. Please, say something.”A faint rustling came through the speaker.Then a woman’s voice whispered, “Marco?”He nearly dropped the tablet.“Clara! Where are you? Are you hurt?”“Don’t come looking for me.”Marco froze.“What?”“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t come looking.”A sharp noise interrupted her. Someone was approaching.“Clara, listen to me. I’ll find you. I swear—”The call ended.Marco stared at the screen as though he could force it to ring again.Then he turned toward Enzo.“We’re going to that address.”Enzo glanced at Victor. “How long to prepare a team?”“Ten minu







