Chapter 4 - Chiara Had Discovered a Secret Network of Children—and One of Them Had Been Born Into the Russo FamilyThe red box was eventually found.
Not in Valentina's room.
In a safe hidden behind the library fireplace.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens.
Children.
Some infants.
Some toddlers.
Some teenagers.
Every photograph carried a number.
No names.
No parents.
No addresses.
Just numbers.
I stared at them.
"What is this?"
Marco shook his head.
Then he found a spreadsheet.
The numbers corresponded to genetic profiles.
Blood types.
Medical conditions.
Family histories.
My own name appeared near the bottom.
I froze.
"What?"
Marco looked at me.
"You're number 47."
My blood turned cold.
I searched the file.
The first entry was dated the year I was born.
My mother had supposedly suffered a complicated pregnancy.
But the records showed something else.
I had been born healthy.
A blood test had been taken immediately.
Then another.
Then one when I was five.
The same genetic marker appeared.
A marker connected to a rare disease.
The same disease affecting some of the children in the photographs.
I realized then that my family hadn't been choosing victims.
They had been collecting bloodlines.
Valentina wasn't stealing money.
She was funding a research network.
And Chiara had discovered it.
Then a note fell from the box.
Chiara's handwriting.
Dante, you were never supposed to see this.
I read the next line.
Valentina thinks I know about the children. She doesn't know I know about you.
I stared.
My hands shook.
You are one of them.
I couldn't breathe.
What did that mean?
I called the medical laboratory.
The old records confirmed it.
My childhood blood samples had been stored at a private facility.
Owned by—
Valentina.
She had been studying me since birth.
I confronted her.
She didn't deny it.
"Why?"
"Because your blood is valuable."
I stared at her.
"To whom?"
"To people who can save thousands of lives."
"By kidnapping children?"
"They weren't kidnapped."
"Then what?"
"Some were given voluntarily."
"Some."
She looked away.
"What happened to the others?"
Silence.
"Valentina."
She finally said:
"Some died."
My stomach turned.
"And Chiara?"
"She tried to stop it."
"Did you kill her?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Valentina looked at me.
"Chiara discovered who was really controlling the program."
"Who?"
She whispered:
"Our father."
I stared.
Our father had died ten years ago.
"No."
"He never left."
"What?"
May you like
Valentina's eyes filled with tears.
"He's alive."
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