CHAPTER 9 THE GIRL WHO WASN’T SUPPOSED TO EXIST
The helicopter blades were already turning when Adrian carried Elena through the snow.
“Open the door!”
Two medics rushed toward him.
Adrian refused to let go.
“She was shot in the abdomen.”
“I need to examine her.”
“You'll do it here.”
“Mr. Moretti—”
“She stays where I can see her.”
The medic looked at Vincent.
Vincent nodded.
“Do what he says.”
They transferred Elena onto a stretcher.
Adrian climbed inside.
Maya followed.
Anna stood frozen beside the helicopter.
Sarah held Lily.
Gabriel approached them.
“Come on.”
Anna didn't move.
“I don't belong with them.”
Maya turned.
“Yes, you do.”
Anna looked at her.
“We don't even know each other.”
Maya's eyes filled.
“Neither did I know you existed.”
She held out her hand.
Anna stared at it.
Then slowly took it.
The sisters climbed aboard.
Lily sat between them.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Lily looked from Maya to Anna.
“Are you both my sisters?”
Maya nodded.
“Yes.”
Anna whispered:
“I think so.”
Lily smiled.
“Then I have two.”
Adrian watched them.
His chest tightened.
Not from pain this time.
From something deeper.
Something almost unbearable.
He had spent years believing his greatest fear was death.
Now he understood.
Death wasn't the worst thing.
The worst thing was finally finding your children—
and realizing how much time you'd already lost.
The helicopter lifted.
Chicago disappeared beneath clouds.
Elena's blood pressure dropped.
The medic shouted:
“She's crashing.”
Adrian grabbed the side of the stretcher.
“Stay with us.”
Elena's eyes opened.
She looked at him.
“Adrian…”
“I'm here.”
“You have to listen.”
“Save your strength.”
“No.”
She reached for his hand.
He took it.
“The girl.”
Adrian looked toward Anna.
“What about her?”
“She's not…”
Elena struggled to breathe.
“She's not your daughter.”
Adrian froze.
“What?”
Anna heard.
Her face went white.
Maya stared.
Sarah covered Lily's ears.
Elena continued.
“Anna isn't…”
Her monitor screamed.
The medic shouted:
“She's coding!”
Adrian stepped back.
“Do something!”
The defibrillator charged.
“Clear!”
Her body jerked.
Nothing.
“Again!”
“Clear!”
Another shock.
The monitor remained flat.
Adrian stared.
“No.”
“Again!”
“Clear!”
The line jumped.
Then—
beep.
One beat.
Another.
Elena breathed.
The medic exhaled.
“She’s back.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
But the words remained.
Anna isn't your daughter.
He looked across the cabin.
Anna was crying silently.
Maya had her arm around her.
Lily was asleep against Sarah.
Adrian's mind raced.
If Anna wasn't his daughter—
who was she?
Three hours later, the helicopter landed on the roof of a private medical center.
Elena was rushed into surgery.
Adrian remained outside.
Maya sat beside him.
Anna sat across from them.
Neither spoke.
Finally Anna whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
Adrian looked at her.
“For what?”
“For lying.”
“You didn't lie.”
“I knew I wasn't really part of the family.”
Adrian frowned.
“How?”
Anna looked down.
“Because Victor told me.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That I was a replacement.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“A replacement for whom?”
Anna looked at Maya.
“For her.”
Maya stared.
Anna continued.
“When Maya was taken, Victor couldn't find another child with the genetic marker.”
“So he created you?”
Anna nodded.
Adrian went still.
“What does that mean?”
Anna swallowed.
“I was born in a laboratory.”
Silence.
Maya's face went pale.
Adrian stared at her.
“Explain.”
Anna wiped her eyes.
“They took genetic material from the Moretti family.”
“Whose?”
“Your father's.”
Adrian's stomach turned.
“They used it to create me.”
Gabriel, standing nearby, stepped forward.
“That explains the matching DNA.”
Adrian looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Suspected?”
“I didn't have proof.”
Anna spoke softly.
“Victor called me Subject A-17.”
Maya reached for her hand.
“You're not a subject.”
Anna looked at her.
“What am I?”
Maya squeezed her fingers.
“My sister.”
Anna started crying.
Adrian looked away.
The word struck him harder than any bullet.
My sister.
Not because Anna was his biological daughter.
Because she had been created by people who had decided a human life could be reduced to a key.
A number.
A tool.
Adrian stood.
“Where is Victor?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“We don't know.”
“Find him.”
“We're trying.”
“Try harder.”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Boss.”
Adrian turned.
“What?”
“We found something.”
The conference room was empty.
Vincent placed a laptop on the table.
“Victor transferred money six months ago.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred million.”
“To whom?”
“Several shell companies.”
Adrian looked at the list.
One name repeated.
Helix Biomedical.
Adrian frowned.
“What is that?”
Gabriel answered.
“A genetic research company.”
“Legal?”
“Technically.”
Adrian looked at him.
“Meaning?”
“They operate in the gray.”
“What kind of research?”
Gabriel hesitated.
“Human genetics.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Cloning?”
“No.”
“Gene editing?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared at the screen.
“Victor created Anna there.”
“Probably.”
“Why?”
Gabriel pointed to the medical records.
“The genetic marker.”
Adrian looked.
A sequence had been highlighted.
“This?”
“Yes.”
“What does it do?”
Gabriel took a breath.
“It affects cardiac electrical conduction.”
Adrian's face changed.
“My heart.”
“Yes.”
“Anna's?”
“Yes.”
“And Maya?”
“Yes.”
Adrian stared.
“So the three of us…”
Gabriel nodded.
“Share the same mutation.”
Adrian slowly sat down.
“The trust.”
Gabriel nodded.
“The trust wasn't activated by blood alone.”
“Then what?”
“By the mutation.”
Adrian understood.
“The genetic key.”
“Yes.”
Maya walked into the room.
“What are you talking about?”
Adrian turned.
He didn't want to tell her.
But he couldn't keep lying.
“Your DNA.”
Maya frowned.
“What about it?”
“It carries a genetic mutation.”
“So?”
Adrian hesitated.
“It affects the heart.”
Maya stared.
“And?”
Adrian's voice softened.
“That's why you shake.”
Her face changed.
“That's why they gave me medication.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad…”
“Yes.”
“You have it too.”
Adrian nodded.
Maya sat down.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then:
“Does Lily have it?”
Adrian looked toward the door.
“No.”
Maya exhaled.
“Then she's safe.”
Adrian didn't answer.
Maya noticed.
“What?”
Adrian looked at her.
“We don't know.”
The surgery lasted four hours.
When Elena finally came out, she was alive.
Barely.
Adrian stood beside her bed.
Her eyes opened.
“Did you find out?”
“About Anna?”
“Yes.”
“She was created.”
Elena nodded.
“I know.”
“By Victor.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you wouldn't have believed me.”
Adrian stared.
“You were right.”
Elena smiled weakly.
“Your father used the trust to fund the research.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted immortality.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“He believed the genetic mutation could be controlled.”
“To live forever?”
“No.”
Elena's voice became quieter.
“To survive death.”
Adrian stared.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to him.”
She took a breath.
“Your grandfather died from the same heart condition.”
Adrian nodded.
“My father did too.”
“Yes.”
“And I'm next.”
Elena looked at him.
“Unless you undergo the procedure.”
“What procedure?”
“The one they developed using Anna's DNA.”
Adrian froze.
“What procedure?”
“A complete genetic correction.”
“Can it cure me?”
Elena nodded.
“Possibly.”
“Possibly?”
“It's experimental.”
“How experimental?”
“No human has survived the full protocol.”
Silence.
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
Maya stood there.
She had heard everything.
“No.”
Adrian turned.
“Maya—”
“You're not doing it.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“They've been experimenting on people for years.”
“And I'm already dying.”
“You're not dying.”
“You heard the doctor.”
Maya shook her head.
“You have Lily.”
Adrian's eyes softened.
“I know.”
“You have me.”
“Yes.”
“You have Anna.”
Adrian looked at her.
Maya's voice broke.
“So stop talking like you're already gone.”
He stared at her.
Then nodded.
“Okay.”
She hugged him.
Adrian closed his eyes.
For the first time in twenty years, someone was holding him because they were afraid of losing him.
Not because they needed something.
Not because they feared him.
Because they loved him.
That night, Adrian entered Elena's room alone.
She was awake.
“I need the truth.”
Elena looked at him.
“About what?”
“The trust.”
She sighed.
“You're not going to like it.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“The trust isn't worth one hundred fourteen billion.”
Adrian frowned.
“You said it was.”
“I lied.”
“How much?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“Four hundred eighty billion.”
Adrian stared.
“That's impossible.”
“It includes controlling interests.”
“Where?”
“Ports. Banks. Energy. Telecommunications. Defense contracts.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“Who controls it now?”
“No one.”
“Then why is everyone fighting?”
“Because whoever activates it controls the network.”
Adrian understood.
“Victor.”
“He has one key.”
“Evelyn?”
“The second.”
“Lily?”
“The third.”
Adrian froze.
“The third?”
Elena nodded.
“The trust doesn't need Maya.”
Adrian stared.
“Then why did Victor say she was the key?”
“Because he needed you to believe it.”
“Why?”
“To make you protect her.”
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“From whom?”
“From him.”
Elena's voice dropped.
“Victor isn't trying to steal the trust.”
“Then what is he doing?”
“He's trying to destroy it.”
Adrian went still.
“Why?”
“Because the trust contains something worse than money.”
“What?”
Elena looked toward the door.
Then whispered:
“A list.”
“A list of what?”
“Everyone who has ever paid the Moretti family.”
Adrian's expression changed.
“Politicians.”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Executives.”
“Foreign officials.”
“Every corrupt institution your grandfather ever controlled.”
Adrian stared.
“If that list becomes public…”
“Governments collapse.”
“Markets collapse.”
“People die.”
Elena nodded.
“And Victor wants the chaos.”
Adrian finally understood.
His father hadn't built an empire.
He had built a weapon.
At 2:13 a.m., the hospital lights flickered.
Adrian immediately stood.
Vincent entered.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
Vincent handed him a phone.
A message appeared.
YOU HAVE SIX HOURS.
Below it was a photograph.
Lily.
Sleeping.
In Sarah's arms.
Taken inside the hospital.
Adrian's blood turned cold.
Another message appeared.
BRING MAYA TO THE OLD MORETTI THEATER.
COME ALONE.
IF YOU BRING SECURITY, SHE DIES.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then another photograph arrived.
Anna.
Then Elena.
Then Vincent.
Then Sarah.
Everyone.
The enemy had eyes everywhere.
Maya stepped into the doorway.
She saw Adrian's face.
“What happened?”
He didn't answer.
She walked closer.
“What happened?”
Adrian turned the screen toward her.
She read the message.
Her face went pale.
“They have Lily.”
“Not yet.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Adrian grabbed his coat.
Maya followed.
“You're not going alone.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“Maya.”
“I said no.”
He stared at her.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She stepped closer.
“They want me.”
“Yes.”
“Then I'll go.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my daughter.”
“And because of that, you think you can lock me in a room while everyone else risks their lives?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Maya's eyes filled.
“You've already lost twenty years with me.”
She swallowed.
“Don't lose another night.”
Adrian looked at her.
Then slowly nodded.
“Fine.”
He turned toward Vincent.
“Get the car.”
Vincent nodded.
Maya grabbed Adrian's hand.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“If this goes wrong…”
He looked at her.
“Don't.”
“I need to say it.”
“No.”
“I'm glad I found you.”
Adrian's eyes filled.
“Me too.”
Then they walked into the elevator.
Neither noticed the small red light blinking beneath Maya's sleeve.
A tracking device.
Someone had already marked her.
And five floors below them, a man watched their location appear on a screen.
Victor Moretti smiled.
“Finally.”
He looked at the woman standing beside him.
“Bring the other girl.”
She nodded.
“And the little one?”
Victor's smile disappeared.
“Leave her alive.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian will come for her.”
He turned toward the monitor.
“And when he arrives…”
He pressed a button.
The screen changed.
A countdown appeared.
05:59:47
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Victor whispered:
“His heart will finish the job.”
