Chapter 5 - The Bloodline Lie
The DNA test arrived in a sealed envelope.
Damian refused to open it.
Not because he was afraid of the truth.
Because he knew Roman had expected him to react emotionally.
Instead, he handed it to Gabriel.
“Verify the laboratory.”
Three hours later, Gabriel returned.
“The lab exists.”
“And?”
“The sample was contaminated.”
Damian smiled.
“Then Roman is desperate.”
Leah looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because desperate men make mistakes.”
The real DNA test took place under three different independent witnesses.
The result confirmed Damian was the biological son of Lorenzo Rossetti.
Roman's documents were false.
But there was still something strange.
The test revealed another match.
A half-sister.
Leah looked at Damian.
“Your father had another daughter.”
Damian stared at the report.
The name was Elena Rossetti.
Dead at age two.
Leah's eyes widened.
“Dead?”
“According to this.”
“But your father's records…”
“Were altered.”
The pieces came together.
Elena was not dead.
She had been hidden.
And Leah's mother knew where she was.
Sable had spent years searching for her because Elena was the only surviving heir who could access the final trust Lorenzo had established.
The trust contained billions.
But money wasn't the real prize.
The trust included evidence.
Names.
Payments.
Recordings.
Proof of Sable's existence.
Roman wanted it.
Damian's enemies wanted it.
The government wanted it.
And Leah's mother had hidden the access key inside the family.
The key was Leah's bracelet.
The watch was a separate piece.
Together they opened the trust.
Damian looked at Leah.
“They used you as the hiding place.”
“My mother did?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To make sure no one would suspect a waitress.”
Leah laughed sadly.
“I'm more than a waitress.”
“I know.”
The trust was held in a private bank.
They needed three biometric confirmations.
Damian.
Isabel.
And Elena.
The problem was finding Elena.
They followed records across Europe.
Then Mexico.
Then back to Chicago.
Finally, they discovered a small town in Oregon.
A woman named Elena Ross worked at a public library.
Damian traveled there with Leah.
When the librarian saw him, she froze.
“You have your father's eyes.”
Damian stared.
“You're Elena.”
She nodded.
He expected her to embrace him.
She didn't.
Instead she whispered, “You shouldn't have found me.”
“Why?”
“Because they will follow.”
Leah stepped forward.
“They already did.”
Elena looked at her.
Then smiled.
“So you're the girl.”
Leah frowned.
“What girl?”
“The waitress who wasn't supposed to survive.”
Damian's expression hardened.
“How do you know her?”
“Your mother told me.”
“She knew?”
“Yes.”
Elena explained that Lorenzo had been trying to dismantle Sable quietly.
He had learned Roman was involved.
He had also discovered that the final Sable ledger had been hidden by Leah's mother.
To protect the evidence, Lorenzo helped fake the death of several people.
Including Elena.
Including Leah's mother.
But then Roman found them.
Leah's mother fled.
Rafael protected her.
Then both disappeared.
Elena stayed hidden.
“I thought my brother died,” she said.
Damian shook his head.
“I survived.”
She smiled.
“You shouldn't have.”
“People have tried.”
Elena laughed softly.
Then looked at Leah.
“She has the same courage as your mother.”
Damian said quietly, “And the same stubbornness.”
Leah smiled.
“Thank you.”
Elena looked between them.
“You're in love.”
Neither answered.
She smiled.
“Good.”
They returned to Chicago with Elena.
But before they reached the Rossetti estate, the convoy was attacked.
Their vehicles were forced apart.
Leah's car spun.
She heard gunfire.
Then a masked man opened the door.
He grabbed her.
She fought.
A second man pulled her free.
Then Damian appeared.
He was on foot.
Running.
Actually running.
He tackled the first attacker.
Leah stared.
“Damian!”
He turned.
“Go!”
She obeyed.
They escaped into a warehouse.
But Isabel had been taken.
Roman sent one message.
BRING ELENA.
Leah looked at Damian.
“No.”
“I know.”
“He has my sister.”
“Yes.”
“You're going after him.”
“Yes.”
“And you're not taking me.”
He stared.
“You're coming anyway.”
She smiled.
“Correct.”
He shook his head.
“You're impossible.”
“You love me.”
He stopped.
She froze.
Neither of them had said it.
Not aloud.
Damian walked toward her.
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“I do.”
Then he kissed her.
May you like
Not because they were safe.
Because they were not.
