Don’t Drink That, Michael

“Luca!””

I pressed both hands against his chest.

Blood spread between my fingers.

His eyes were open, but his breathing came in shallow, broken gasps.

Elena fired at Isabella.

The bullet struck a metal cabinet, sending sparks across the floor. Isabella ducked behind the terminal, firing twice in return.

Adrian dragged me and Luca behind a row of cabinets.

“Keep pressure on the wound!””

“I am!””

“Harder!””

Luca groaned.

“Would you two stop shouting?””

I almost laughed.

Then he coughed, and blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The laughter died.

“Stay with me,” I whispered.

He squeezed my wrist.

“I'm trying.””

Across the room, Elena was shouting at Isabella.

“Why are you doing this?””

Isabella's voice was calm.

“Because you never understood what we were protecting.””

“You're protecting Victor!””

“I'm protecting Michael.””

Elena fired again.

“You stole his childhood!””

“I kept him alive!””

The terminal chimed.

*UPLOAD: 04:12 REMAINING.*

Adrian looked at the screen.

“We need to keep the system running.””

“Then keep it running,” I snapped.

He moved toward the terminal, keeping low.

Isabella saw him.

“Don't touch that computer!””

She fired.

Adrian dropped behind a cabinet.

The bullet struck the terminal's outer casing, and the screen flickered.

*UPLOAD PAUSED.*

A warning appeared.

*SYSTEM INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. RESTART REQUIRED.*

“No!”” Luca whispered.

I looked at him.

“Don't move.””

He grabbed my sleeve.

“Anna, listen to me.””

“Not now.””

“The envelope.””

I glanced toward the terminal.

The white envelope remained where Isabella had placed it.

“What about it?””

“Take it.””

“Luca, you're bleeding.””

“And you're wasting time.””

He tried to sit up, then collapsed with a groan.

I pressed harder against his wound.

He gritted his teeth.

“The envelope contains the original birth record. Victor kept it separate from the archive because he didn't want anyone to see the truth.””

“What truth?””

Luca looked at me.

“The reason he chose you.””

Before I could ask what he meant, a gunshot shattered the silence.

Adrian cried out.

His shoulder struck the wall, and he slid to the floor.

Isabella stepped from behind the terminal.

“Enough.””

She aimed at Elena.

“Put the gun down.””

Elena stood motionless.

“Isabella, look at what you've become.””

“I became what I had to become.””

“You became Victor.””

For the first time, Isabella's expression cracked.

“Don't you dare compare me to him.””

“You sold children.””

“I saved children.””

“You changed their names, stole their families, and gave them to strangers.””

“I gave them lives they would never have had otherwise!””

Her voice echoed through the room.

“Do you know how many children died in that hospital before I took control? Do you know how many were abandoned, abused, or left to starve? I found families willing to pay for them. Families who could give them homes.””

“You gave them identities that weren't theirs.””

“I gave them a future.””

“You gave Victor leverage.””

Isabella's face hardened.

“And what did you give them, Elena? A lifetime of hiding? A sister who grew up believing her mother was dead? A brother who disappeared trying to undo your mistakes?””

She turned toward me.

“Tell me, Anna. Would you rather have grown up in that hospital? Would you rather have died in the fire?””

I couldn't answer.

Because a small, terrible part of me understood what she was saying.

And I hated her for making me understand.

Isabella lowered her gun slightly.

“Victor wanted a child who could inherit his empire without being tainted by the Moretti name. He wanted someone the Bellinis could not use against him. Someone whose identity was legally clean.””

I looked at the envelope.

“Why me?””

“Because you were the only child born to Victor and Elena who survived.””

Elena went rigid.

“What?””

Isabella looked at her sister.

“You didn't know, did you?””

Her smile was cruel.

“Victor told you the baby died because he knew you would never forgive him for what he planned to do.””

I stared at Elena.

She shook her head slowly.

“No. I gave birth to a girl. She was alive when they took her away.””

Isabella nodded.

“Yes. They took her away.””

“Where did you get that information?””

“From the doctor who delivered her.””

Elena's face went white.

“Dr. Voss.””

“He told me everything before he died.””

I felt a coldness spread through me.

The archive said Victor was my father.

Elena said she had given me away to Catherine.

Isabella said I had survived a birth she believed had ended in tragedy.

But if Victor and Elena were my biological parents, why had the original record named Isabella as the woman holding me?

And why did the document list two different birth dates?

I crawled toward the terminal.

Isabella raised her gun.

“Don't.””

I stopped.

“Tell me the truth.””

“I have.””

“No. You've told me three different versions of the truth. I want the one that doesn't change when someone asks a question.””

For several seconds, Isabella stared at me.

Then she lowered the gun.

“You really are Elena's daughter.””

Elena gasped.

Isabella continued.

“You have her stubbornness. Her need to believe that every person can be saved.””

She placed the gun on the terminal.

“My sister gave birth to you. Victor was your father. But the baby in the photograph was not you.””

The words made no sense.

“What?””

“Victor had another child that night. A boy.””

Elena stumbled backward.

“No.””

“Yes.””

Isabella opened the envelope and removed a second document.

She held it up.

Two birth certificates.

One named Sofia Elena Moretti.

The other named an unidentified male infant.

Both carried the same date.

Both listed Saint Agnes Medical Center as the place of birth.

Both bore Dr. Voss's signature.

Isabella placed them side by side.

“Victor wanted a daughter because he believed a daughter could inherit his empire without challenging him. But when Elena gave birth to twins, he panicked.””

I looked at Elena.

Her hands had begun to shake.

“Twins?””

She nodded slowly.

“I remember hearing two cries.””

Her voice broke.

“I thought the second baby belonged to another mother. They told me the room was crowded. They told me I was confused.””

Isabella pointed to the second certificate.

“The boy was taken from Saint Agnes before the fire. Victor arranged for him to be raised by a family outside Chicago. The girl was given to Catherine.””

My thoughts raced.

“If I was the girl, then who was the boy?””

Isabella looked toward the steel door.

“Your brother.””

I stopped breathing.

Luca stared at her.

“What?””

“Luca Reed was not Catherine's biological child. He was the male infant born beside you.””

“No,” I whispered.

Luca shook his head.

“That's impossible. I remember our mother.””

“You remember Catherine,” Isabella said.

“The woman who raised you.””

She turned toward me.

“Victor separated you because he wanted to see which child would become stronger. You were raised outside the family, taught kindness and loyalty. Luca was placed in a home where he learned to fight for everything he wanted.””

Elena covered her mouth.

“My children.””

The words emerged as a broken whisper.

“My children.””

I looked at Luca.

His face had gone pale beneath the blood.

“You're my twin?””

He tried to smile.

“Looks like you got the better half of the deal.””

I laughed through my tears.

Then I pressed my forehead against his.

“You're still an idiot.””

“Yeah.””

He squeezed my hand.

“But I'm your idiot.””

For one fragile second, the world stopped collapsing.

Then the terminal chimed again.

*UPLOAD RESUMED.*

The countdown restarted at 03:48.

Adrian pushed himself upright, clutching his wounded shoulder.

“We need to leave. Now.””

Isabella picked up her gun.

“Not without the archive.””

Elena raised hers.

“Then you'll have to kill me.””

Isabella looked at her sister.

“I never wanted to.””

“You shot my daughter.””

“I shot Luca.””

“You shot my son!””

The room fell silent.

Isabella's face changed.

She looked at Luca, then at me.

Something like regret crossed her features.

It disappeared almost immediately.

“Victor is coming,” she said.

“You don't understand what happens when that upload finishes.””

“Everyone learns the truth,” I answered.

“No. Everyone learns a version of the truth that Victor has already prepared to survive.””

She pulled a small device from her pocket and pressed a button.

The terminal began to beep.

A new warning flashed across the screen.

*REMOTE PURGE INITIATED.*

Adrian scrambled toward the keyboard.

“She's wiping the archive!””

Luca reached for the laptop.

“Anna, the pendant!””

I pulled it from my neck.

The tiny strip of paper inside bore the word ORCHARD and a sequence of numbers.

I entered them into the terminal.

The purge stopped.

A new window opened.

*PRIMARY AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED.*

Below it appeared a name.

*VICTOR MORETTI.*

Isabella smiled.

“You can't open the final file without him.””

I stared at the screen.

Then I saw a second option beneath the authentication field.

*ALTERNATE AUTHORIZATION: BIOLOGICAL HEIR AND WITNESS.*

Two empty boxes appeared.

One for my fingerprint.

One for a witness signature.

I pressed my thumb against the scanner.

The first box turned green.

Then I picked up the pen beside the terminal.

“Who counts as a witness?”” I asked.

Isabella's smile faded.

“Someone who was present at the birth.””

I looked at Elena.

She stepped forward.

Her hand shook as she signed her name.

The second box turned green.

The terminal chimed.

*FINAL FILE UNLOCKED.*

A video began playing.

Victor Moretti appeared on the screen, younger and clean-shaven, standing in a hospital room beside Dr. Voss.

He held a newborn in his arms.

Then he looked directly at the camera.

“If you're watching this,” Victor said, “then my children have discovered what I did.””

He smiled.

“But there's one thing they still don't know.””

He leaned closer.

“The child I raised to inherit my empire was never my biological son.””

I looked at the screen.

Michael.

Victor continued.

“I stole Michael from another family before he was a year old. I gave him my name, my money, and my enemies. I taught him to become a Moretti because I needed someone the police could never connect to my bloodline.””

My heart hammered.

Victor's smile widened.

“And now, after twenty-eight years, the boy I stole is the only person who can destroy everything I built.””

The video ended.

A new file opened.

It contained a list of names.

One was highlighted in red.

*MICHAEL MORETTI — BIOLOGICAL FATHER: DANIEL CROSS.*

I stared at the screen.

Daniel.

The man who had shot Vanessa.

The man whose daughter had disappeared.